[Avodah] Tamar's Theatrics

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

After Tamar tricked Yehuda, I suppose Yehuda said something to the effect that, "I'll send one of my men in the morning with your goat, and to get my collateral back."

My question is: Why did she remain silent? Why didn't she say something like, "Keep your collateral. I am Tamar. I tricked you becuase I was tire of waiting for Shelah." But she didn't. Instead, she put her almanah's clothing back on, and pretended to continue waiting for Shelah. Why?

Here's my guess:

Yibum today is different than back then. One difference is that today yibum is done only by the deceased's brother, and back then it could be any member of the deceased's family. Could it be that another difference is that today only one act of biah is needed, after which they can divorce, while back then the goal was pregnancy. If I am correct, Tamar had to keep the illusion going, because if her first attempt failed, she might have to resort to such trickery again.

Can anyone find a source to validate my guess, or can anyone offer a different answer?

Akiva Miller

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