Vayeishev 38:1 · unit 3

Parashas Vayeishev · Passuk 38:1

The Complete Passuk

וַֽיְהִי֙ בָּעֵ֣ת הַהִ֔וא וַיֵּ֥רֶד יְהוּדָ֖ה מֵאֵ֣ת אֶחָ֑יו וַיֵּ֛ט עַד־אִ֥ישׁ עֲדֻלָּמִ֖י וּשְׁמ֥וֹ חִירָֽה׃

About that time Judah left his brothers and camped near a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Sotah 13b (continuation).

Sefaria — Sotah 13b (continuation)

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
כׇּל הָעוֹשֶׂה דָּבָר מִצְוָה וְלֹא גְּמָרוֹ וּבָא אַחֵר וּגְמָרוֹ — קוֹבֵר אִשְׁתּוֹ וּבָנָיו.

English: Whoever begins a mitzvah and does not complete it, and another comes and completes it — he buries his wife and his children.

On the daf / in context: Torah Temimah continues the incomplete-mitzvah theme of “Yehudah went down from his brothers” into the domestic cost of leaving a mitzvah unfinished.

Type of Learning

Derash on the verse (Bavli sugya) — not a formal named middah of the 13. Narrative descent is paired with a general rule about unfinished mitzvos.

What Is Learned

Leaving a mitzvah incomplete so that another must finish it is associated with the loss of wife and children.