Q: we were watching a video about the date fruit (Tamar תמר). Interestingly, in the Torah, Tamar takes a long time before she conceives sons, just as the date tree takes time (8 to 12 years) to bear fruit. Also, as the tree that keeps bearing fruit for a long time (up to 70 years), Tamar gives birth to a long-lived generation, the branch of the Messiah. What is the relation between Tamar and the coming of the Messiah?

A: The palm tree (Tamar) is unique among trees. Unlike an oak or an olive tree, it does not have growth rings that mark the passage of time. Instead, the palm consists of fibers, which means it does not exhibit the typical process of time that results in the formation of fruit in other trees. In this sense, the Tamar is not a tree in the conventional way we understand it.

In Deuteronomy 8:8, when the seven species of the Promised Land are listed, the “honey” from the palm comes in seventh place. This shows that the Tamar, though often called a tree, is not an etz (tree) in the traditional sense. It has no branches from which the fruit grows, but rather, its fruit comes directly from the stem.

This parallels the seventh day of creation, a day set apart for rest (Genesis 2:2), which is also symbolic of the soul. Just as the seventh day is dedicated to spiritual renewal, so too the seventh fruit, the “honey” from the date palm, embodies this idea. The word tam-mar (the date) literally means “the end of bitterness,” signifying the end of hardship and the arrival of sweetness and peace in the soul.

The Tamar, as a palm tree, represents the seventh day, the day of rest, the soul’s rest, and the kingdom of heaven. In the story of Tamar in Genesis 38:11, after the death of her second husband, she is instructed to “sit as a widow in your father’s house” (שבי אלמנה בית אביך), symbolizing the soul’s rest in its source, the Divine. The soul, like Tamar, finds rest in the figure of Judah, whose name contains the letters of being (י-ה-ו-(ד)-ה). This reflects the soul’s connection to the essence of existence itself.

Thus, when the soul, as Tamar, finds rest in being, in the name of Judah, a spiritual conversation can arise, leading to the messiah משיח conversation. In this way, the Tamar becomes a symbol of the soul’s journey toward rest, renewal, and the ultimate fulfillment of divine purpose.

–