The Shechinah Asks for a Seal, a Cord and a Staff

The Noam Elimelech reads the story of Yehudah and Tamar as the story of the exile. Tamar, the date palm, is the Shechinah, who lifts Israel's good deeds on high and brings blessing down to them. In exile she pleads for her children. When she asks what he will give her, she is asking Hashem what more He will grant when He finally comes to redeem. He promises to send away the forces of impurity, the kid of the goats, from His holy flock. Meanwhile she asks for a pledge, eravon, a word the Rebbe connects to sweetness: some sweetness now, in the bitter exile. Her seal: that Israel be sealed upon Hashem's heart. Her cord: the threads of tzitzis, so that Israel always remember the mitzvos and return in teshuvah. Her staff: like Elisha's staff, power for the tzaddikim to heal and revive through their tefillah. And Hashem gave them all to her.