Readings for Saturday, September 14, 2024
Ki Taytzay (When you will go out)
21:10-25:19 Devarim
(Deuteronomy)
Ki Taytzay is the sixth sedrah in the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy). It takes its name from the first two Hebrew
words in the first sentence of the sedrah.
“When you will go out (Ki Taytzay) to war against your enemies.…” (21:10) The sedrah begins and ends on a note of
warfare. The first lines of the sedrah
are rules for dealing with a beautiful woman who is taken prisoner during
war. The last lines of the sedrah deal
with the Amalekites, the ancient enemy who made war against the Israelites as
they moved towards the Promised Land. In
a book thick with laws, Ki Taytzay is the sedrah thickest with laws. According to Maimonides, Ki Taytzay contains
72 of the 613 commandments. Furthermore,
other of its pronouncements, which are not included among the 613 commandments,
follows the same command-like formula.
As is our custom, the commandments found in Ki Taytzay are listed
sequentially below (see Themes).
Different commentators have attempted to group the commandments in this
sedrah by topic. The following grouping
is just one of many possibilities. The
categories are broader than those you might find elsewhere, but the purpose was
to find as much commonality as possible.
The numbering on the left refers to the commandment as identified in the
master list below. This sedrah is
challenging because it contains no narrative and because it contains such a
long list of laws, some of which seem disconnected. Once again, think of Moshe speaking to the
Israelites for the last time. It is as
if he is trying to remind them of all the rules that they must follow since he
will not be there to fill in the gaps in just a few short weeks when he dies
and they cross the Jordan
without him. One of the real challenges
for the modern reader is to take these laws and see how we can make them a
meaningful part of daily existence.
Categories
War:
532-535
A
captive woman;
556-567 Latrines;
581-582
Military
exemptions for grooms;
603-605 Remember Amalek.
Family:
552 Marriage before
cohabitation;
553-554
False
accusation of adultery;
557-558 Rapist and marriage;
559
Prohibited
marriage;
560
Mamzer;
561-564
Prohibition
against Moabites, et al;
565
Emission;
579
Divorce;
580
Remarriage;
589
Punish
children for parents;
597-599
Childless
widows;
600-601
Female
interference in disputes.
Justice
System:
535-536 Capital
punishment and corpses;
Dispose of a corpse;
555 Death for a false
witness;
556 Absolution for
violations under duress;
584
Kidnapping;
594-595
Lashing
a criminal.
Commerce:
538-539
Returning
lost objects;
546-547
Building
a guardrail;
572-573
Ban on
interest;
602 Honest weights and
measures.
Social
Justice:
540-541
Raising
fallen animals;
544-545
The
bird’s nest;
568-569 Runaway slaves;
574-575
Promptly
carrying out vows;
576-578
Workers
eating in the vineyards where they labor;
583 Ban on necessary
utensils as collateral;
585-587
Rules
about taking a pledge;
588
Prompt
payment of workers;
590-593
Protecting
the weak;
595-596 Prohibitions against
muzzling animals.
Sex/Idolatry:
542-543
Prohibition
on wearing clothing of the opposite sex;
570
Prohibition
against Jews as prostitutes;
571
Banned
donations.
Mixing:
548-549
Sowing
seeds;
550 Yoking animals;
551
Wool
and linen.
Different sages and
writers have chosen to emphasize different aspects of the commandments in the
sedrah. Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson
focuses on the commandments concerning divorce.
He “analyses the concept of divorce” and then cleverly shifts it to
discuss the concept of unity with God, which is the essence of the
universe. Rabbi Weisblum centers his
comments around the commandment regarding chasing the mother bird away from her
nest. He sees the law as teaching the
concepts of acceptance, compassion and “measure for measure.” Rabbi Telushkin puts special emphasis on the
commandments dealing with First Born Sons (21:15, 17), Humane Treatment of Animals (22:6-7, 10;
25:5), Building a Safe Roof (22:8), Shatnez (22:11), Mamzer (23:3), Rape (22:25), Charging Interest (23:20-21) and Divorce (24:1). There is too much material to cover in one
guide such as this. Not only is there a
torrent of law, but each law begets interpretation, which leads to many ways of
fulfilling the intent of the law.
Themes
Commandments
532. Procedures regarding a beautiful woman taken
captive during a war including the delineation of her rights during the first
month of captivity (21:10-14).
533. The prohibition against selling such a woman
as a slave (21:10-14).
534. The prohibition against turning such a woman
into a slave after having been sexually intimate with her (21:10-14).
535. The commandment to execute one guilty of a
capital offense (21:22-23).
536. The commandment against letting the corpse
of a hanged criminal remain on the gallows overnight since you must bury him
the same day (21:22-23).
537. The obligation to promptly bury a criminal
after his execution (21:23).
538. The obligation to return a lost object to
its owner (22:1).
539. The obligation not to pretend that one has
not seen the lost object (22:1).
540. The prohibition against ignoring a fallen
animal’s suffering (22:4).
541. The obligation to help the owner raise a
fallen animal (22:4).
542. The prohibition against women wearing male
apparel (22:5).
543. The prohibition again men donning women’s
clothing (22:5).
544. The prohibition against taking a mother bird
with its young in a nest (22:6).
545. The obligation to send the mother bird away
when one wishes to seize her young (22:6).
546. The obligation to build a guardrail on one’s
own roof (22:8).
547. The obligation to avoid leaving anything
about that could cause serious injury (22:8).
548. The prohibition against sowing together
mixed seeds (22:9).
549. The prohibition against eating produce
resulting from the planting of mixed seeds (22:9).
550. The prohibition against yoking together two
different kinds of animals (22:10).
551. The prohibition against wearing clothes that
contains both wool and linen (22:11).
552. The obligation to marry a woman before
living with her (22:13).
553. The commandment establishing that a woman
whose husband falsely accuses her of adultery can insist that he never divorce
her (22:13-19).
554. The commandment that a husband who lodges
such a false accusation is never permitted to divorce his wife (22:13-19).
555. The commandment that those who commit a
capital crime are to be executed (22:14).
556. The prohibition against punishing a person
who is forced to commit a sin against his or her will (22:25-26).
557. The commandment that a rapist is obligated
marry his victim if she so desires (22:28-29).
558. The prohibition against the rapist ever divorcing
the victim of the rape (22:28-29).
559. The commandment excluding from the Jewish
community for the purpose of marriage a man who is sexually mutilated (23:2).
560. The
commandment classifying a Jewish child resulting from an adulterous or
incestuous union as mamzer and as forbidden to marry any other Jew except
another mamzer (23:3).
561. The prohibition against Ammonites and
Moabites ever becoming Hebrews (23:4-10).
562. The prohibition against concerning oneself
with the well being of Ammonites and Moabites (23:4-10).
563. The prohibition against hating Edomites and
Egyptians (23:4-10).
564. The positive stipulation that Edomites and
Egyptians can be admitted into the Israelite community in the third generation
(23:4-10).
565. The prohibition against a man who is
ritually unclean remaining in the Israelite camp (23:11).
566. The commandment to maintain sanitary
conditions within the Israelite army by using a latrine outside the camp (23:13-14).
567. The commandment requiring soldiers to carry
an implement with which to dig and cover a latrine (23:14).
568. The prohibition against returning a runaway
slave to his master when he comes to live among the Israelites (23:16-17).
569. The prohibition against oppressing an
ex-slave when he comes to live among the Israelites (23:16-17).
570. The prohibition against an Israelite man or
woman becoming a prostitute (23:18).
571. The specification forbidding offerings to
the sanctuary donations that are unacceptable (23:19).
572. The prohibition against taking interest on a
loan to an Israelite (23:20-21).
573. The permission to take interest from a loan
to a non-Israelite (23:20-21).
574. The obligation to promptly carry out a vow (23:22).
575. The commandment to fulfill what one has said
one will do (23:24).
576. The permission to a worker to eat what he
can take with his hands while working in a vineyard or field (23:25-26).
577. The prohibition against loading food in a
vessel and taking it away while working in a vineyard or a field (23:25-26).
578. The prohibition against stopping work in
order to eat from the crops of one’s employer (23:25-26).
579. The obligation of a man divorcing his wife
to issue her a legally binding bill of divorce (24:1).
580. The prohibition against remarrying one’s
former wife, if she has married another since the divorce (24:2-4).
581. The right of a groom not to be drafted into
the army for a year after his marriage (24:5).
582. The responsibility of a groom to make his
bride happy in this first year (24:5).
583. The prohibition against taking as collateral
for a loan a utensil needed by the borrower to prepare food (24:6).
584. The community’s obligation to execute a
kidnapper who enslaved or sold into slavery a fellow Israelite (24:7).
585. The prohibition against entering the
borrower’s house to take the pledge (24:10-13).
586. The prohibition against sleeping in a
pledged garment (24:10-13).
587. The obligation to return the pledge, if it
is a garment, to the borrower when he needs it (24:10-13).
588. The obligation to pay a hired day worker
promptly (24:14-15).
589. A prohibition against punishing children for
their parents’ sins or parents for those of their children (24:16).
590-591. The
obligation to treat justly society’s weakest members (24:17).
592-593. The specifications of responsibility toward
society’s weakest members (24:19).
594. The
commandment to lash those convicted of doing evil (25:2-3).
595. The
prohibition against degrading a criminal by administering too many lashes
(25:2-3).
596. The
prohibition against muzzling an animal working in a field (25:4).
597. The
commandment to a deceased husband’s brother to marry a “yevamah” in what is
known as a levirate marriage (25:5-10).
598. The commandment to treat the firstborn son
of a levirate marriage as the son of the dead man (25:5-10).
599. The specification of the procedure to be
enacted if the brother-in-law refuses to marry the widow (25:5-10).
600. The commandment to punish a woman who uses
impermissible and obscene means to help her husband (25:11).
601. The commandment to show no mercy to a woman
who uses impermissible and obscene means to help her husband (25:11).
602. The prohibition against ever possessing, let
alone using, dishonest weights and measures (25:13-16).
603. The commandment to remember the evil Amalek
did to Israel in the desert (25:17-19).
604. The commandment to wipe out Amalek
(25:17-19).
605. The commandment not to forget the evil
Amalek did to Israel (25:17-19).
Biblical
Literacy by Rabbi Joseph
Telushkin (as edited by this author)
The Oral Law
The sedrah provides
several instances of the Oral Law softening or making the Written Law more
accessible and/or more reasonable. For
example, the injunction concerning the man with crushed testes was interpreted
to mean only those who had intentionally mutilated themselves. Such behavior was often associated with pagan
rituals. The death penalty connected
with the rebellious son was probably never carried out, in part, because the
Rabbis made imposition of the sentence so difficult. The commandment certainly gives support to the
concept of the traditional family unit i.e., a mother and a father. Both parents had to come together and both
parents had to condemn the child. This
is in keeping with the verses in Shoftim about needing two witnesses in a
capital case. It is also in keeping with
the concept that both parents, together, are responsible for raising a child. This may fly in the face of modern American
values, but this may be one of those examples of “being a separate or holy
people.” The commandment about building
a guardrail around the roof has been interpreted as an injunction to maintain
your property and possessions in a way that is calculated to protect others
from injury.
Now let’s see what
it would be like to create a little modern Halakah of our own. Of course only sages can create real
Halakah. The attempt here is to see how
these ancient laws might be applied to modern situations. After all, that is how much of the Oral Law
seems to have developed. The two
situations are my own invention and are in no way related to any actual
situation of which I am aware here in Cedar
Rapids. Let’s
take a situation and see what guidance the laws in the sedrah might
provide. A synagogue is having a
fundraiser. A known drug dealer wants to
make a contribution. Should you
accept? Probably not since Devarim
23:19 has been interpreted
to mean that money derived from illegal activities should not be accepted as
charitable contributions. Now let’s make
it a little tougher. A stockbroker
convinces his clients to buy stocks that he appears to know were of dubious
value. He makes big profits on the
commissions. The stocks prove to be a
worthless investment and his customers are wiped out. Based on what we have read in the Torah why
should or shouldn’t the synagogue accept a contribution from the stockbroker? (Ed. Note: This last example came after
Michael Milken, but before Bernie Madoff.)
A Jewish man
marries, has a son and then gets a divorce.
The man marries for a second time and has a son by the second wife. Should he be able to reduce his child support
payments to help support the child from the second marriage? When the child from the first marriage
graduates high school, child support stops.
The child goes to his father and tells him he wants to go to college and
needs financial help. Should the father
be able to reject the request because he needs the money to support the son from
the second marriage? We no longer have
polygamy. Could a liberal interpretation
of the laws concerning the first-born son of the unloved wife provide us with
guidance? Or should we say that since
the since the sedrah talks about laws pertaining to divorce (21:15-17) and does
not mention this issue, the laws concerning the first born son are not
applicable?
Chukim
When we read in
earlier sedrah about the laws pertaining to the Red Heifer, we were introduced
to the concept of Chukim - those ordinances that we obey even though we really
do not understand the reason for their existence. The prohibition against mixing wool and linen
is another example of this.
Remembrance of Amalek
“Remember what
Amalek did to you on the way as you were leaving from Egypt. How he happened upon you on the way and he
killed all the weaklings among you at your rear, while you were faint and
exhausted, and he did not fear God. It
shall be that when the Lord your God let you rest from all your enemies all
around in the land that the Lord your God gives to you as an inheritance to
take possession of it; you are to erase the memory of Amalek from beneath the
heavens. Do not forget.” (25:17-19). This is the Third of the Six
Remembrances. It refers to the attack by
the Amalekites described in the Chapter 17 of Shemot (Exodus). This is the longest of the Six Remembrances
and the text gives very specific reasons for remembering the event. The commandments about remembering the
Amalekites have given rise to at least two rituals. One is this daily recitation describing the
event. The second is Shabbat Zachor, the
Shabbat before Purim. The reading from
the second torah scroll on that day is Devarim 25:17-19. According to tradition, Haman was descended
from the Amalekites. Part of what made
the attack so evil was that the Amalekites took advantage of the Israelites’
weakened condition and attacked those who were most vulnerable - the stragglers
at the rear of the line of march. The
hidden “remembrance” is that the Jewish people should never be weak in their
faith because that weakness makes us vulnerable to external evildoers and
internal inclinations to do evil.
Furthermore the Jewish people can show the strength of their faith by
aiding the weak and helpless which means following the laws of social justice
described in this sedrah. There is an
apparent contradiction in the language of this Remembrance. The Israelites are told to “remember” but
part of the remembering includes “blotting out the memory of Amalek.” The “blotting out” is to occur once the
Israelites have entered the Promised Land.
This act of “blotting out” may refer to the physical destruction of the
Amalekites and all of their material wealth.
This interpretation provides an even stronger explanation for Samuel’s
anger with Saul when he not only did not kill the King of the Amalekites but
also claimed that he spared their flocks to use them as an offering to the
Lord.
Remembrance of Miriam
“Remember that
which the Lord your God did to Miriam on the way when you were leaving from Egypt.”(24:9)
is the fifth of the Six Remembrances. It
refers to an event described at the beginning of Chapter 12 in Bamidbar
(Numbers) when Miriam and Aaron spoke out against their brother Moshe. Miriam was guilty of “lashon hora” or evil
speech and she was punished with a skin affliction. Obviously we are supposed to remember that if
as a great a person as Miriam can speak “lashon hora” than we all must be careful
about what we say. So why doesn’t the
text command us to remember what Miriam did so that we will not do it? Why does it command us to remember God’s
response to what Miriam did? The
punishment for her deed was leprosy. This
meant that Miriam had to be put out of the camp for seven days. In other words, the real punishment was
public humiliation. Also, the people had
to stop for seven days until Miriam was cleansed. In other words, she slowed the move to the
Promised Land; something she had not intended when she spoke out against
Moshe. We are to remember what “God did”
- the Punishment - so we will remember that evil speech which is often meant to
humiliate others actually leads to our own humiliation. Furthermore, evil speech - of which gossip
and slander are only two examples - can have consequences far beyond the
speakers’ wildest imagination. As they
used to say out on the prairie, keep your words sweet. You may have to eat them some day.
Devarim, Ruth and Henry VIII
This week’s sedrah
contains the rules about the Levirate Marriage.
This is the marriage between the widow and the brother of her deceased
husband who is called the “levir” which is the root of the word Levirate. This type of marriage was designed to ensure
that the deceased name would not be “blotted out” which meant, among other
things, that his property would not go somebody not directly related to him. As demonstrated in the story of Judah and
Tamar, the custom of the Levirate Marriage must have been an ancient one. Once again, there is a difference between the
world before the giving of the Torah and after the giving of the Torah. For it is only after Sinai that a method of
release came into existence. This
sedrah provides for this ceremony of release, which is called halitsah. With so many other laws, why waste time on
this one, which is not even operative among Reform and Conservative Jews? The simple answer is that this law figured in
at least two events of far-reaching consequence. First, in the Book of Ruth, Ploni Almoni, had
to renounce his claim to Elimelech’s property before Boaz and Ruth could
marry. Their marriage ultimately
resulted in the birth of King David.
Secondly, Henry VIII, the marrying king of England, married his brother’s
widow. When he later decided to get rid
of her so he could marry Ann Boleyn, Henry contended that the law of the
Levirate Marriage under which he had married his first wife was a violation of
Canon Law. The Catholic Church did not
agree with Henry’s views on the Levirate Marriage, creating the break between Canterbury and Rome that shaped so much
of history down to modern times.
The Beautiful Woman
Why does the text
talk about the “beautiful woman?” Why
not just talk about “a woman?” Was a
woman who was not beautiful to be treated differently? According to Rashi, the enemies of the
Israelites would take special pain to make their women as physically appealing
as possible so that they might tempt the Israelite warriors and lead them away
from God. (Remember what happened at
Baal-Peor.) Hence, any woman who would
be seized would be viewed as a “beautiful woman.” It seems to be more a term of art than an
actual physical description of the woman.
J-Date and Ki Taytzay
There are numerous
laws in this sedrah concerning the treatment of women. In the culture of the Bible, dating was an
unknown concept. Certainly on-line and
speed dating would be totally foreign concepts to our ancient forefathers and
mothers. However, the Torah does offer
guidelines for those who look beyond the plain meaning. Women, even foreign women taken as spoils of
war, were to be treated with respect.
This means that women regardless of how you make their acquaintance are
to be treated with respect and sensitivity.
They are not disposable items or toys.
Regardless of how a woman may see herself or view her relationships, the
Torah sets a standard of behavior for men that would make them all gentlemen.
Civil Disobedience
The Torah has
survived because it is a living document, not just the dead hand from the
past. Look at the injunctions concerning
runaway slaves and then decide how a Jew should have reacted just before the
Civil War when the Federal Fugitive Slave Act was the law of the land. The
Federal Fugitive Slave Act required people to return “runaway slaves” to their
owners.
Mourning Customs
The female captive
is to spend the first thirty days mourning her father and mother. The first thirty days after the death of a
loved one are special period called the Shloshim. The corpse of a criminal is to be buried on
the day of his death. Jewish custom is
to bury as soon after death as is practicable; on the same day if
possible. The period of mourning cannot
begin until after the burial has taken place.
Social Justice
When you read the
Prophets, you will find them drawing on many of the concepts presented in this
sedrah as they pertain to treating the needy.
The prophets specifically seem to quote these verses as they take future
generations of Israelites to task for seizing the pledge and for “sleeping in
the pledge.” The similarities in message
and language would seem to provide further support for the antiquity of the
Torah.
Getting Involved
We are reminded
over and over again that part of being Jewish to be responsible for what goes
on the world. We first see that in
Bereshit with the classic question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” We see it again in this sedrah at the end of
22:3 where the last phrase is translated as “you may not hide yourself” or more
colloquially as “you may not remain indifferent.”
Business Ethics
Based on the
readings in Devarim, the ideal economic society was one of subsistence
farmers, herdsmen, artisans and the attendant commercial activities necessary
to support them. The accumulation of
great wealth was not a virtue and poverty was to be a temporary thing. Workers were to be paid promptly (24:
14-15). Since you were not supposed to
even own dishonest weights, let alone use them, business dealings were not only
to be proper, they were to be beyond reproach.
Obviously, the modern business community would do well to follow the
examples set out in the Torah since it really covers everything from paying
your workers what they have earned (including not cheating them out of their
pensions and benefits) to not “cooking the books” when providing information to
investors and regulators. The issue of
loans and interests has led to some confusion.
Loans to a fellow Israelite were not seen as a commercial matter. Loans were made to those in need. Therefore you never took basic utensils or
garments from the needy. (This might be
seen as the forerunner of the modern Homestead
or Credit Rights’ Laws.) You never
entered a person’s home to claim the pledged item. (This might be seen as the forerunner of those
laws prohibiting harassing phone calls and visits from bill collectors.) Loans, whether of money or things, were to be
repaid, but no interest was to be charged.
After all, it would be wrong to benefit from the misfortune of
others. At the same time, it was
acceptable to charge interest to non-Israelites because the assumption was that
they had entered the land for business purposes and if they needed a loan it
was for a commercial venture designed to make money. This is not a double standard. The innumerable laws commanding the
Israelites to treat strangers with kindness and decency provide ample evidence
of the decent way in which Jews were to treat non-Jews. In fact, it is considered worse to cheat a
non-Jew than it is to cheat a fellow Jew.
If a Jew cheats a non-Jew, the non-Jew assumes that all Jews are
unethical and that their God is a God who supports evil. As the Jewish commercial class grew during the
days of the Second
Temple, it became
necessary for Jews to lend money to one another for strictly business
purposes. The Rabbis could not abrogate
the Torah laws about interest. So they
created a legal fiction that in essence made the lender a “silent partner” in
the business that was guaranteed a return on his investment. The image of the Jewish moneylender is a
canard perpetrated by the ignorant and the anti-Semitic. Last but not least, according to some
commentators, the first question asked of a person at the time of Ultimate
Judgment is, “How did you conduct your business?” Being pious in the synagogue is one thing;
the challenge is to carry that piety into the world in which we work. This Torah portion provides us with a guide
how to accomplish that difficult goal.
Free Will
Chapter 22:25-26 in
Devarim talks about rape. But the
underlying meaning of the verses is that you cannot punish anybody for
committing sins against his or her will.
On the other hand, this would also infer that when duress is absent
people are capable of, and responsible for, making their own choices. The sedrah also contains laws concerning the
right of inheritance of the first-born (21:15-17). While this may be the law, we know that in
the cases of Isaac, Jacob, Moshe, King David and King Solomon, to name but a
few examples, somebody other than the first born got the prize. Furthermore, the make-up of the Rabbinic Academies
and the line of scholars and sages are proof that merit, not birth order, is
what counts the most. The message would
seem to be that the law may guarantee certain benefits to the first-born, but
what people do with their lives is something over which they must exercise
control.
The Ox and the Donkey
The prohibition
against yoking an ox and donkey together when plowing has given rise to several
interesting amplifications and/or explanations of the rule. Some see it as part of a whole series of laws
prohibiting “unnatural combinations.” Rashi
interprets it to mean that animals of different species should never be joined
together “for any kind of work.” Rabbi
Telushkin sees it as part of a whole series of Biblical injunctions relating to
kindness toward animals. People are
allowed to use animals, but they are not allowed to abuse them. While animals are not at the same level as
people, abusing them makes it easier for some to abuse their fellow human
beings. Rabbi Artson sees it as a lesson
about personal development. The ox and
the donkey are not to be yoked together because they move at different speeds
and have different levels of endurance.
By the same token, each individual develops at a different speed and has
different strengths and weaknesses. Just
as we would not expect an ox and donkey to move in the same manner, so should
we expect children to not develop in exactly the same manner? The trick to parenting (or adult group
dynamics for that matter) is acknowledging the uniqueness of the individual,
allowing him or her to develop at his or her own pace, while still conforming
to group norms. One simple sentence and
so many lessons - and people wonder why the Torah is read over and over and
over again.
Mamzer
Contrary to popular
misconception, the term “mamzer” (23:3) does not refer to a child “born out of
wedlock.” Rather it refers to a child
born out of a forbidden union i.e., incest or adultery. This stringent pronunciation would seem to
run counter to the statement we find later in the sedrah that children are not
to be punished for the sins of their parents (24:16). There are those who contend that the
intention of the law is not to punish the child, but to provide an extremely
strong incentive for people not to engage in illicit sexual relationships. Regardless whom you believe authored the
Torah, He or they knew that the “flesh is weak especially where matters of the
flesh are concerned.” The family unit
was of such great importance that it apparently was felt that this strong
admonition would keep people from engaging in a momentarily pleasurable act
that could have far-reaching destructive consequences. Various sages have been struck by the
stringency of the command and the seemingly unfair burden it places on the
“innocent” child. Over the centuries,
Rabbis have developed a variety of “legal fictions” designed to mitigate the
impact on the child. The Conservative
Movement has gone so far as to adopt “evidentiary procedures to render this
rule inoperative, because it penalizes children for the sins of their parents”
which is contrary to 24:16.
Ki Taytzay and Assimilation
Ki Taytzay is
filled with laws designed to protect workers, those without fathers and the
strangers in your midst as well as injunctions to keep honest business records.
These laws in Ki Taytzay deal with issues that were once summarized under the
title of Social Justice. In fact, there
was a time that many American Jews thought that Social Justice was a substitute
for Judaism or all that there was to Judaism. Moshe Ktsav, the President of Israel, writes
in I Am Jewish, “Social Justice and concern for the weak are cornerstones
of Judaism and of Torah of Israel…for the Jewish People to live successfully in
its historical homeland, it must take care of the weak, the orphan.” He continues that “charity is equal to all the
commandments of the Torah, which is why the State of Israel as a Jewish
democratic country, is also an advanced welfare state, confronting social
needs.” Of course, it is “convenient” to
espouse the doctrines of Social Justice when you are weak, powerless or
marginalized and need this protection yourself.
This sedrah raises the question as to how American Jews are doing now
that they are the judges, the business moguls and media magnates. Leo Botstein writes in I Am Jewish that
“American Jews have become complacent, lazy, and unengaged with learning and
public service…. Jews have become too
allied with a narrow conservative view of social justice and have broken with a
traditional historical alliance with the poor and the oppressed against the
entrenched vested interests in government and the marketplace.” If Ktsav is right, the laws of Ki Taytzay are critical to the survival
of the State of Israel and the Jewish People.
But if Botstein is even only partially right, then American Jewry has turned
its back on Ki Taytzay and faces the
worst kind of assimilation; not the assimilation of intermarriage or those
other bogeyman Jewish leaders like to talk about but the assimilation of being
like everybody else in the dimensions of social morality and ethics.
Best offer
“You shall not
have…alternate weights, larger and smaller.
You must have completely honest weights and completely honest
measures.” These words from chapter 25
of Devarim have been interpreted in many ways including the need to deal
fairly, to give value for value, and measure for measure. In a town beyond the Carpathian
Mountains, a man went to buy a horse. His son came along so he could learn the ways
of business and bargaining. When the two
of them got to the stable, the father asked to see the owner. The father asked
to see his finest horse. The stable
owner brought a fine looking stallion.
The father inspected the beast, slowly checking it legs, its teeth, etc. Satisfied that this was indeed a fine
specimen, the father turned to the stable owner and said, “I am interested in
buying the horse. I know how much money
I have in my purse and am prepared to pay any amount you name as long as it
does not exceed that amount. So, tell
me, what is your best price for this steed?”
The stable owner thought for a moment and then quoted a certain number
of rubles. The father stood there
silent, fingering the coins and bills in his purse. Silence filled the air. Sensing that he was about to lose the sale,
the stableman called another number; a number smaller than the first
number. As soon as he heard the figure,
the father grabbed his son’s hand, turned and walked away. The son was stunned. How, he asked his father, could he turn down
such a bargain? In fact, if he had
remained silent the son was sure he could have gotten an even better
price. The father nodded in agreement. But he reminded his son that he had asked for
the best price in the first place. His
silence was not a bargaining ploy. He
was just trying to think of how he would explain to his wife how he had bought
such an expensive horse. If the man
offers “an alternative” (i.e., alternate weights and measures) who knew what
the real condition of the horse might be?
Of course, the advice was not free.
Instead of riding home in style, the son paid the price of having to
walk all the way home. Possibly on the
walk home the son might have asked his father to explain the meaning of the
aphorism, “sometimes free is too expensive.”
Honest Weights, Honest Measures and Israel’s
Final Redemption
How important is it
that we use only honest and weights measures?
The Author or authors of the Bible must have considered it extremely
important. When the prophet Ezekiel
describes the conditions for Israel’s final redemption and the vision of the
re-built Temple, he said explicitly “You shall have just balances, and a just
ephah and a just bath.” (45:10) He then
goes on to describe exactly what those measures shall be. In other words, honesty in business and
commercial dealings are a critical part of final redemption and the arrival of
the messianic era.
Elul - The Days of Awe - 72
Pity the poor
Jew. He is but a few days into
Elul. He hears the sound of the Shofar
each morning reminding him of the coming of the “Days of Awe.” He yearns for Teshuvah. He seeks to assure his Master that this time
he will turn and return for real - no halfway measures this time. And then boom - the second sedrah of Elul
confronts him with seventy-two laws.
Maimonides himself counted them up.
Seventy-two laws! You’ve got to
be kidding. There is no way. The Jew is lost; the return is
impossible. But wait the seventy-two
commands are not a barrier; they are a beacon of hope. For what is seventy-two except Chai times
four? Who knows four? Four are the number of the matriarchs, the
first women of the Jewish people. What
do we seek at this time of the year? We
seek God’s mercy. And is not God’s mercy
connected with the Shechinah; what the mystics consider the “feminine side of
God.” Instead of despair the Jew is
filled with hope. If he breaks down seventy-two
they are not a barrier to keep him from returning, they are sign of hope that
with God’s mercy he shall be able to return.
The secret came in being able to break the number seventy-two down into
its components. That is also the path to
Teshuvah. Do not despair and say that
since I cannot do all seventy-two I will do none. Take it step at a time; one commandment at a
time and like stones they will become a pathway to that which you seek.
The Talmud and Labor
Rabban Gamliel the
son of Rabbi Judah HaNassi would say: An excellent thing is the study of Torah
combined with some worldly occupation, for the labor demanded by them both
makes sin to be forgotten. All study of the Torah without work must in the end
be futile and become the cause of sin Chapter 2, Verse 2)
Many of us know the
quote from Pirke Avot – Sayings of the Fathers about the need for labor. But as
the attached article by Hershey Friedman demonstrates, Jewish tradition has a whole lot more to say about dignity of
labor and choosing the correct occupation.
http://www.jlaw.com/Articles/idealoccupa.html
Haftarah
54:1-10 Isaiah
The Man/The Book: The
prophetic portion is attributed to the Isaiah of the Exile, a personage who
lived in the sixth century B.C.E. His
was a vision of hope and redemption.
Unfortunately, we know nothing of the personal life of this person other
than that he was alive at the time of Cyrus the Great.
The Message: This
is reputed to be the shortest haftarah of the year. Not only is it a mere ten sentences, but the
sentences are short ones as well. During
the year, these first ten verses are the introductory part of the Haftarah for
the sedrah of Noah. The prophet uses a
marriage motif to describe the relationship between God and the
Israelites. In images reminiscent of
Hosea and Gomer, Israel
is the wayward wife and God is the long-suffering, forgiving spouse. God was angry because Israel had forsaken Him for
others. But now He would bring her
“home” in love, filling her tent with children.
This is a haftarah of reassurance.
God reassures the Israelites by promising everlasting kindness. He promises to never rebuke the Israelites
again just as He promised Noah that He would never flood the earth again. While mountains may move and hills may be
shaken, God will never take his loyalty from the Children of Israel. If this is a statement of unconditional
divine love, then the challenge is to explain these statements in light of the
destruction of the Second
Temple and the exile that
followed.
Theme-Link: According
to traditionalists, the link is not between the sedrah and haftarah. The link is with the calendar. This is the fifth of the Seven Haftarot of
Consolation which we began reading on the Shabbat after Tisha B’Av and will
finish on the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah. However, one cannot help but notice that the
haftarah uses the Husband and Wife Motif while the sedrah includes marriage and
divorce. Is this a coincidence or a
secondary message from the sages who compiled the readings? The connection between Isaiah and Lechah Dodi
that we saw in last week’s haftarah continues in this week’s reading. The seventh verse of the hymn welcoming the
Sabbath Queen begins with words from Isaiah 54:4 “Do not be ashamed, do not
feel humiliated.” The ninth verse begins
with words from Isaiah 54:3, “Rightward and leftward, you shall spread out
mightily.” While this hymn is commonly
viewed as a welcoming ode to the Sabbath Queen, it contains a strong message
concerning the redemption of the Jewish people.
According to Etz Yosef as cited in the Artscroll Siddur, these
words from Isaiah in verse nine are meant to convey that at the end of the
exile, the rightful heirs to Jerusalem, the Jewish people, will overcome their
enemies regardless of where they come from (rightward or leftward).
Copyright;
September, 2024; Mitchell A. Levin