Sota 10: Samson, Tamar, Judah, Absalom

We are treated to the rabbis fantastic, imaginative interpretations.  They begin with Samson.  The rabbis understand his prowess as supernatural.  He was blessed with a man's penis even as a baby; his shoulders must have been as broad as the gates.  Of course the rabbis provide proof texts for each of their statements.  

A bizarre comment about 'grinding' against someone else's wife or husband describes one type of adultery.  The rabbis posit that in many cases, a woman is adulterous in response to her husband's adulterous behaviour.  He is in the pumpkin patch while she is with the zucchini, they quote.  Our notes do not comment on what seems to be a sexual reference.

We learn about a baraita: there are five Sages who were created with a G-d-like characteristic; that same characteristic was also their downfall.  
Samson - strength - Delilah had him sleep on her legs and then had his hair and his strength removed
Saul - neck - after another soldier refused to kill him for Saul was afraid of being mocked by those uncircumsized, he fell upon his sword with his neck
Absalom - hair - was the most perfectly beautiful person who was proud of his hair: he weighed and then cut his hair annually, got caught by his hair but refused to cut it believing that Gehenna was below him , or so the rabbis say.  He was killed by enemies.
Zedikiah - eyes - after being forced to watch his son die, his own eyes were put out
Asa - feet - likely had gout, and the rabbis discussed the pain of this condition in detail

The rabbis explore the story of Tamar in great detail.  She is described as righteous and numerous proofs are shared.  Of course, as she is a woman, many of those proofs include Judah and his judgement of Tamar as righteous. 

One exceptional point: it is noted that Judah did not recognize Tamar.  Usually this is taken to mean that she covered her face when she acted as a prostitute.  However, we learn that in Timna* women may have left their faces uncovered.  If this was the case, and Tamar's face was visible to Judah, then he didn't recognize her because he had never seen her face: Tamar covered her face in her father-in-law's home.  Notes on this passage suggest that woman of extreme modesty cover their faces even in their own homes.

With the viscious defamation of Muslim women who cover their faces in Canada and France (among other places) in recent years, this point is important.  Jews cannot distance ourselves from our Muslim sisters regarding 'modest' dress when our ancestor Tamar was lauded for the same behaviour that some observant Muslim women choose today.

* The rabbis even question whether more than one Timna might have existed at the same time.