Parshat Ki Teitzei
PARSHA OVERVIEW
The Torah describes the only permissible way a woman captured in battle may be married. If a man marries two wives, and the less-favored wife bears a firstborn son, this son's right to inherit a double portion is protected against the father's desire to favor the child of the favored wife. The penalty for a rebellious son, who will inevitably degenerate into a monstrous criminal, is stoning. A body must not be left on the gallows overnight, because it had housed a holy soul. Lost property must be returned. Men are forbidden from wearing women's clothing and vice versa. A mother bird may not be taken together with her eggs. A fence must be built around the roof of a house. It is forbidden to plant a mixture of seeds, to plow with an ox and a donkey together, or to combine wool and linen in a garment. A four-cornered garment must have twisted threads tzitzit on its corners. Laws regarding illicit relationships are detailed. When Israel goes to war, the camp must be governed by rules of spiritual purity. An escaped slave must not be returned to his master. Taking interest for lending to a Jew is forbidden. Bnei Yisrael are not to make vows. A worker may eat of the fruit he is harvesting. Divorce and marriage are legislated. For the first year of marriage, a husband is exempt from the army and stays home to rejoice with his wife. Tools of labor may not be impounded, as this prevents the debtor from earning a living. The penalty for kidnapping for profit is death. Removal of the signs of the disease tzara'at is forbidden. Even for an overdue loan, the creditor must return the collateral daily if the debtor needs it. Workers' pay must not be delayed. The guilty may not be subjugated by punishing an innocent relative. Because of their vulnerability, converts and orphans have special rights of protection. The poor are to have a portion of the harvest. A court may impose lashes. An ox must not be muzzled while threshing. It is a mitzvah for a man to marry his brother's widow if the deceased left no offspring. Weights and measures must be accurate and used honestly. This Torah portion concludes with the mitzvah to erase the name of Amalek, for, in spite of knowing about the Exodus, they ambushed the Jewish People.
PARSHA INSIGHTS
A World of Potato Peels
“It shall be, that when Hashem gives you rest from all your enemies all around, in the Land that Hashem, your
In the death camp, for two whole years they hid the little boy in the roof of the hut. All they could give him to eat were potato peels.
One day, the secret trap-door to his hiding place opened up and a smiling face said, “You can come out now! It’s over. The war is over!” The little boy refused to come out. He said, “I’m not coming out until you promise me that if I come out, I will still get my potato peels.”
In a sense, we are that little boy.
We have lived so long in darkness and in captivity that our horizons have shrunk, our aspirations have dwindled. We have no idea what it will be like when the Mashiach comes, but when he arrives, all the things that made us happy and that we clung to will seem no more than potato peels.
