Video: Rabbi J. B. Soloveitchik discusses sin in the biblical story of Amnon and Tamar
In the disturbing narrative, King David’s son rapes his half-sister and then sends her away in disgrace
“Amnon and Tamar,” oil painting by Guercino (1627-28) Photo by Wikimedia Commons
By Forverts Staff September 25, 2025
A Yiddish sermon about sin given by the great Talmudist and leading theologian Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik z”l was recently posted on YouTube, accompanied by English subtitles.
In the talk, which took place at the 92nd Street Y in New York in 1971, several days before Yom Kippur, “The Rov” (The Rabbi), as his students and followers called him, discusses sin and repentance in the disturbing biblical narrative of Amnon and Tamar.
The story, found in the Book of 2 Samuel, chapter 13, is a violent and tragic one. Amnon, the eldest son of King David, is consumed with lust for his beautiful half-sister Tamar and rapes her. Immediately afterwards, his violent lust turns to hatred, and he sends her away in disgrace. The incident leads to a chain of events that results in murder, family turmoil and rebellion.
Although Soloveitchik spoke English, he preferred giving his sermons in Yiddish, as Eastern European rabbis had done for centuries.
Rabbi Soloveitchik is considered one of the most influential leaders of Modern Orthodoxy in 20th century America. Born into an illustrious rabbinical family in 1903 in Pruzhan, Poland, he immigrated to the United States in 1932, later to become Chief Rabbi of the Orthodox community of Boston, where he established the Maimonides School, the first Jewish day school in New England and one of the first institutions in which girls studied Talmud.
An earlier version of this story misstated the name of the rabbi. His name was Joseph Ber Soloveitchik, not Dov Ber Soloveitchik.
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