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art by Laya Crust

Ki Teitze: Devarim (Deuteronomy) 21: 10 – 25: 19

Haftarah- Isaiah 54: 1-10

This week’s Torah reading is dense with laws- an amazingly long list of 74 directives. The laws regard daily behaviour of individuals within a community rather than being laws pertaining to a person’s relationship with God. We don’t read about sacrifices or Temple service. The laws look at relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, neighbours, the underprivileged, trees and crops, and even between humans and animals. This is the parsha that includes the unexpected  decree that before taking eggs out of a nest one must shoo away the mother bird- supposedly to save the mother bird the anguish of seeing its  (future) young being abducted.

art by Laya Crust

The range of laws and guidelines is impressive. They look at family and seemingly personal issues – the unloved wife, the rebellious child, a lost object… and treat those issues with the same gravity as crimes such as murder. The poor and weak members of society are also noticed in this parsha. The treatment of one’s servants is addressed.  All those must be cared for and treated with dignity.

Laws concerning women are quite prominent here. Yibbum or levirate marriage, unloved wives, questioned virginity, and the treatment of women who have been captured in war are all considered in this parsha.  To our modern eyes the reading is often disturbing, but we have to remember what was going on in biblical times.

art by Laya Crust

Women had no status and no rights. They left their  home and family to lead a probably cloistered life with their husband’s family. Abuse and murder of women was ignored because it was seen as being under the jurisdiction and purview of the husband or father.Rabbi Sacks quotes Nahum Sarna, “Exploring Exodus”, p. 176, who writes:

For example, in the Middle Assyrian Laws, the rape of unbetrothed virgin who lives in her father’s house is punished by the ravishing of the rapist’s wife, who also remains thereafter with the father of the victim. Hammurabi decrees that if a man struck a pregnant woman, thereby causing her to miscarry and die, it is the assailant’s daughter who is put to death.

The quotation continues indicating that the children of a criminal were often expected to suffer the penalty of their father’s crimes.  If a builder erected a house which collapsed, killing the owner’s son, then the builder’s son, not the builder, is put to death.   Judaism recognized these injustices and established laws to erase the inequality and unfairness. Children were not required to pay for their father’s crimes.

In fact, Cities of Refuge were established so that a person who killed another by mistake would be safe from the revenge.

Many of the laws listed in Ki Teitzei  were ground breaking. An individual was judged for his own crimes. The community was given guidelines for fairness and community responsibility. For the first time a woman’s status and treatment were deemed important enough to discuss. Women were recognized as deserving respect and protection. Children were treated as people, not commodities. And even the land was to be respected.

Judaism is a model for a just and generous society.   “And thou shalt remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt: therefore I command you to do this thing.” Deuteronomy 24: 22).  That one phrase communicates humility and the pursuit of integrity and justice.

Have a meaningful Shabbat,

Laya

Gratitude and Giving

art by Laya Crust

Ki Teitze: Devarim (Deuteronomy) 21: 10 – 25: 19

Haftarah- Isaiah 54: 1-10

Today, September 14, is my sister’s birthday. She decided that this year she would do at least one nice thing each day for two months. So, we made a “flutter book” with 60 pages and each day she wrote down that day’s good deed.

Her activities ranged from throwing away trash on the street to delivering food to the elderly through “Meals on Wheels”. Giving and gratitude are two sides of the same coin. My sister gave time and energy to others, and it made her feel good. One gives when one feels s/he has enough and can share. It doesn’t need to be something that costs money.  It can be a smile, a homemade item or hands-on help. If we are grateful for what we have we can share our gratitude with others.

We can read about respect and generosity in this week’s parsha, Ki Teitze.

The parsha addresses an extensive list of behaviours. The range of laws and guidelines is impressive. They deal with family and seemingly personal issues – the unloved wife, the rebellious child, a lost object… and treat those issues with the same gravity as crimes such as murder. The poor and weak members of society are also noticed in this parsha. I will point out a few of the situations that are discussed.

The treatment of one’s servants: one must pay one’s servant at the end of the day, “neither shall the sun go down upon it for he is poor, and sets his heart upon it.” (Deut. 24:15)  The lesson- pay your employees on time because they are depending on the money that is owed to him/her.  Safety standards: Houses in biblical times were built with flat roofs so people could sleep on the roofs. The Torah states that one must build a parapet (wall) around the roof so that no one will be in danger of falling of the roof while s/he is asleep. (Deut. 22:8)  Alternative to Food Banks: During the harvest the farmer must leave some of the produce for the “stranger, the fatherless and the widow”- i.e. for those in need. It directs the farmer to leave any forgotten sheaves in the fields, not to go back and get them. It describes beating the olive trees only once so that there will be olives left in the boughs. It says not to glean grapes  a second time after the first grapes have  been gathered. (Deut. 24: 19- 21)

This is an interesting parsha, one that should be read carefully in order to understand the details of how to treat those around you whether they are relatives, employees or strangers. The beautiful element of the message is that we always have something we can give or share with others. If we own a field we can share some of the produce. If we own something small we can lend it- or give it. At the least we can show and share respect for others.

Gratitude leads to generosity, and generosity leads to joy. Go ahead- have a good time and share your goodness with others.

Yours, with an accordion fold book, Laya

P.S. Happy Birthday, Libby Crust and Hani Keene-Lightstone!