10b: Public Embarrassment

The Talmud has now shifted to discuss the Judah and Tamar story - another questionable sexual relationship. Instead of getting into the details of the Talmud's perush on it (which is pretty interesting), I'd rather focus on a short piece that rings out loudly this presidential season. The gemara explains that the reason Tamar showed Judah's seal and staff instead of just saying she was pregnant by Judah -- even though saying that would have surely worked things out for her - is before she didn't want to embarrass him in public. As R Yohanan says in the name of R Shimon bar Yochai: It is better for a person to throw himself into a fiery furnace than to embarrass his friend in public."

As I am watching this year's political campaign unfold, I am consistently upset by the negativity -- no, let's say malicious attacks - specifically from McCain on Obama. I'm sure part of this is because I am an Obama supporter, but it is the same strategy used again Kerry, Gore and McCain himself in South Caroline in 2000. The scariest part about these attacks is that they seem to work - or at least have in the past. Maybe those who claim to believe so strongly in the exact words of the bible should take a look back and see how Jesus would feel about this strategy. And for the Jews in the room - they have a lesson to learn from Tamar.