Girls in Trouble is an indie-folk song cycle about women in Torah by musician, writer and Torah teacher, Alicia Jo Rabins. The Girls in Trouble Curriculum links these musical midrashim with their source texts, Alicia's notes, and other artistic interpretations, inviting teachers, students, and individual learners on a journey through the world of women in Torah. We hope you enjoy this concise version of the Tamar unit. To download the full unit, including teacher's notes, please visit www.girlsintroublemusic.com.
Behind the Music: Notes from singer/songwriter Alicia Jo Rabins
Deception, sexuality, and a surprising move for power by a woman who seems to have none at all: Tamar’s tale is as dramatic and gripping as Shakespeare...or the best TV. Her story raises questions which are still relevant today. What are our obligations to one other? How should we use our sexuality? What does it mean to be truly seen?
I love how Tamar's story reflects the complexity of human experience, mirroring the radiant, compromised reality of our lives.
(6) Judah took a wife for Er his first-born; her name was Tamar. (7) But Er, Judah’s first-born, was displeasing to God, and God took his life. (8) Then Judah said to Onan, “Join with your brother’s wife and do your duty by her as a brother-in-law, and provide offspring for your brother.” (9) But Onan, knowing that the seed would not count as his, let it go to waste whenever he joined with his brother’s wife, so as not to provide offspring for his brother. (10) What he did was displeasing to God, and God took his life also. (11) Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Stay as a widow in your father’s house until my [last] son Shelah grows up”—for he thought, “He too might die like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.
(12) A long time afterward, Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died. When his period of mourning was over, Judah went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, together with his friend Hirah the Adullamite. (13) And Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is coming up to Timnah for the sheepshearing.” (14) So she took off her widow’s garb, covered her face with a veil, and, wrapping herself up, sat down at the entrance to Enaim ["Petach Enayim"], which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, yet she had not been given to him as wife. (15) When Judah saw her, he took her for a harlot; for she had covered her face. (16) So he turned aside to her by the road and said, “Here, let me sleep with you”—for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. “What,” she asked, “will you pay for sleeping with me?” (17) He replied, “I will send a kid from my flock.” But she said, “You must leave a pledge until you have sent it.” (18) And he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your seal and cord, and the staff which you carry.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she conceived by him. (19) Then she went on her way. She took off her veil and again put on her widow’s garb.
(20) Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to redeem the pledge from the woman; but he could not find her. (21) He inquired of the people of that town, “Where is the cult prostitute, the one at Enaim, by the road?” But they said, “There has been no prostitute here.” (22) So he returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her; moreover, the townspeople said: There has been no prostitute here.” (23) Judah said, “Let her keep them, lest we be shamed. I did send her this kid, but you did not find her.”
(24) About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot; in fact, she is with child by harlotry.” “Bring her out,” said Judah, “and let her be burned.” (25) As she was being brought out, she sent this message to her father-in-law, “I am with child by the man to whom these belong.” And she added, “Recognize these: whose seal and cord and staff are these?” (26) Judah recognized them, and said, “She is more in the right than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he was not intimate with her again. (27) When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb.
Translation: JPS, edited
Questions for Discussion:
1. What do you think Tamar’s motives are in this story? (For context, some commentators suggest Tamar was selflessly carrying on the line of Judah, others that she is working for her own survival; some portray her as brazenly sexual and others as pious.)
2. Can you think of any way Tamar and Judah’s story might relate to contemporary life? For example, can you think of a situation, real or fictional, where the balance between power or need for resourcefulness could be similar to this story?
SONG LYRICS
I WAS A DESERT
a song in Tamar's voice, by Alicia Jo Rabins/Girls in Trouble
I was a desert until I learned
to make the sky rain down on me
And I was a barren field until
I planted myself with borrowed seed.
You, you’re a strong one
they say you ground lead into dust with your teeth
But even a strong one
gets lonely at night when he can’t sleep.
All night long I bit my tongue
to keep from calling out your name
Don’t you know the voice of the one
Who brought you tea in the early dawn
I’d watch you sleeping
like a lion at rest, so gentle your breath
But when you’d awaken
your shouting would startle the birds from their nest
You did not know
You did not see
Questions:
1. What is your initial response to this song?
2. In this song, the artist imagines Tamar’s thoughts behind her veil. What do you imagine Tamar was thinking during her seduction of Judah?
3. Have you ever been in a situation where you felt unseen? How did you deal with that situation?
For more songs and study guides about women in Torah, as well as upcoming performances, come visit us at www.girlsintroublemusic.com.