by Rabbi David Friedman

All of the parasha portions in the book of Deuteronomy have a specific background. The entire book is aimed at educating the new generation of Israel as they embark upon entering their homeland. As this is not the first time that Moshe teaches the Torah to them, Deuteronomy is referred to as “Mishneh Torah” (the repetition of Torah). We see that this repetition is for a given purpose. 

Deuteronomy 4.5-8 relays the Holy One’s goals in bringing our ancestors into the Land: “Look, I taught you logical instructions and holy judgments, ones that Adonai my God commanded me, to be carried out in the Land that you are entering, in order to inherit it. Then you will guard them and do them because it is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the peoples that will hear all these instructions. And they will say: ‘These people are really a wise and enlightened nation.’ What other great nation has God so close to them, as Adonai our God is, every time that we call to Him? And what great nation has logical instructions and righteous judgments as all of this Torah that I am giving you today?” (Deut. 4.5-8, my translation). 

Thus, all the verses that we study in this week’s parasha are geared to bring “kedusha”, the separated and holy life that shines God’s presence, into the Land of Israel for the nations around her to see (and for Israel to experience). 

“Ki Tetse” (Deut. 21.10-25.19) is this week’s portion, and shining the light of the Almighty is exactly what it does. If we put the many mitzvot (our generic term for commandments) in their historical context, we see how God’s light would shine through the tribes of Israel. Immediately we learn of the laws governing warfare: 

When you go out to war against your enemies, and Adonai your God hands them over to you, and you take prisoners, and you see among the prisoners a woman who looks good to you, and you feel attracted to her and want her as your wife; you are to bring her home to your house, where she will shave her head, cut her fingernails and remove her prison clothing. She will stay there in your house, mourning her father and mother for a full month; after which you may go in to have sexual relations with her and be her husband, and she will be your wife. In the event that you lose interest in her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes; but you may not sell her for money or treat her like a slave, because you humiliated her (21.10-14, CJB). 

Needless to say, the Geneva Convention on treating prisoners of war did not exist in ancient times. Even with that set of international laws today, warfare does not look out for the human rights of the beaten side whatsoever. In ancient times, cruelty was the order of the day; a conquering people did what they pleased to the conquered—looting, murdering, torturing, raping and pillaging were all common actions committed by an army. But it was to be different with Israel. The instructions given above were humane and affirmed the value of human life—even of a vanquished society’s women (who were often on the lowest stratum of the ancient world’s power structure). It is easy to see how God’s light would shine through Israel in the instructions concerning conducting warfare, especially if combined with the other commandments of Torah on this same subject. 

Another set of instructions strike me equally as affirming of the value of life:  

You are not to watch your brother’s ox or sheep straying and behave as if you hadn’t seen it; you must bring them back to your brother. If your brother is not close by, or you don’t know who the owner is, you are to bring it home to your house; and it will remain with you until your brother asks for it; then you are to give it back to him. You are to do the same with his donkey, his coat or anything else of your brother’s that he loses. If you find something he lost, you must not ignore it. If you see your brother’s donkey or ox collapsed on the road, you may not behave as if you hadn’t seen it; you must help him get them up on their feet again. (22.1-4, CJB) 

The Torah enjoins us to pay attention to the welfare of the other. Individual Israelis were not to be indifferent to the well being of another. It could be that ‘the brother’ referred to above would never see another person return his farm animal, or help to preserve the life of his livestock. Nevertheless, every one was to have his eyes open to preserving another’s property. Everyone was to be the proverbial “eyes watching out for his brother”  (cf. Genesis 4.9). Again, within the societies of the ancient world, this represents as caring of a legal structure as existed then. This piece of Torah reflected the nature of Israel’s God, the One Who gave this Torah. God emerges from His commandments as a caring, compassionate Power. This is the background for understanding the actions of King Ahab, who would not seize Navot’s vines, because he knew whose property it was. Even a king couldn’t behave as he wanted! Contrast Jezebel’s native Phoenician culture, where royalty behaved as they alone desired, no matter who was made to suffer (1 Kings 21.1-15). 

Another group of people within the Land is mentioned as being valuable enough for their lives to be protected by Torah: 

 When harvesting the grain in your field, if you forgot a sheaf of grain there, you are not to go back and get it; it will remain there for the foreigner, the orphan and the widow, so that Adonai your God will bless you in all the work you do. When you beat your olive tree, you are not to go back over the branches again; the olives that are left will be for the foreigner, the orphan and the widow. When you gather the grapes from your vineyard, you are not to return and pick grapes a second time; what is left will be for the foreigner, the orphan and the widow. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. That is why I am ordering you to do this. (Deut. 24.19-22, CJB) 

Foreigners, widows, and orphans usually had no recourse to the economic resources in the Land. Without a family, without a land holding, and without membership in a tribe, one could be in trouble. But these people were not to starve nor be treated with contempt. This should be a lesson that the Torah teaches us by our own national experience from Egyptian slavery. 

In fact, Ki Tetse records that the Torah watches out for the welfare of the following groups in the Land of Israel: Levites, widows, orphans, foreigners who give up idolatry, the poor, children, women, the debt ridden and married people. There is a lot of legal protection afforded by God in such a short section of Torah! 

Think of a land where cruelty is forbidden; where one’s property is protected by law, where the power brokers of society cannot not take away the human and property rights of the less powerful and the poor; where those who are economically destitute nevertheless are considered as valued, and so they are provided for by law. This was the Land that Adonai was educating Israel to build, as we read in today’s parasha. Only as Israel lived this way, according to Torah, could the light of God shine both within Israel, and outwardly to the nations. Experiencing a nation’s love for Torah and for God would indeed evoke the remark: “These people really are a wise and enlightened nation!” (Deut. 4.5-8). May Messiah return soon and finish the task of setting up such a Land!  

Moshe’s personal experience with the God of Israel is well reflected in today’s parasha:  

Adonai passed before him and proclaimed: “YUD-HEH-VAV-HEH!... Adonai is God, merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in grace and truth” (Exodus 34.6, CJB). His compassion and care are found in Torah, and in our parasha.  

Shabbat Shalom!

David Friedman