Ki Tetze
Deuteronomy 21:10 - 25:19
Précis: The parasha might be subtitled “entering society” because it describes the creation of a just and moral society. It begins with the phrase “when you go forth” (ki tetze) to battle. This parasha, according to Maimonides, contains 72 mitzvot (commandments). Although they seem unrelated, they all deal with the morals and values that God wanted to be deeply implanted in the Israelites' society. They cover a wide variety of topics, from family life, human kindness, respect for property and animals, the safety of others, sexual relationships, escaped slaves, financial loans and charging interest, keeping promises, and remembering to blot out the name of one of Israel's greatest enemies. This assortment of commands included requirements that there be sex-distinct clothing; that mother birds not be separated from their eggs; that roof-tops have parapets; that seeds not be mixed in a field, and that “tzitzit” (fringes) be worn on garments.
Deuteronomy 24:14 “You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer, whether a fellow countryman or a stranger in one of the communities of your land.”
This year, we read this verse on the Shabbat immediately prior to Labor Day. This is a proof text governing the Jewish tradition of treating employees in a respectful and honest way. At a time in American history when the role of organized labor is once again under attack, it may be worth thinking for a moment about the contributions of the Labor Movement to our society.
Perhaps ironically (given the current political stance of the two major parties), more than 100 years ago, a Republican President publicly supported the legalization of unions (which the courts had found to be an unconstitutional limitation on one’s right to contract), as well as a plethora of legislative proposals to limit the number of hours of work in a week, prohibit child labor, enact a minimum wage, and break the power of powerful corporate interests in the political process. This was, of course, Theodore Roosevelt, whose reputation as a “trust buster” and as a big game hunter sometimes obscures his progressive pro-employee agenda.
His progressive nature was confirmed when he left the Republican Party and ran for President on the “Bull Moose” ticket, coming in second to Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt left the GOP because his protégé and successor, William Howard Taft, had failed to follow through on TR’s agenda. It would be another 25 years before the Wagner Act was adopted, creating the National Labor Relations Board to protect the rights of employees to engage in concerted action (with or without a union).
However, during the interim years, most of the elements of the Roosevelt program had been adopted by individual states, lead by New York (following the terrible Triangle Fire in 1911). The remainder of organized labor’s social agenda was eventually adopted over the coming decades: the Fair Labor Standards Act (minimum wages), bans on child labor, unemployment compensation statutes, retirement (Social Security and ERISA), workplace safety (OSHA), and health coverage for many Americans (Medicare and Medicaid).
Today, it seems that many of these programs are under attack by at least those who would like to return to a constitutional interpretation which renders these programs an unwarranted and unconstitutional governmental intrusion against the rights of corporations to contract with individual employees. And yet, many of those who so strongly protest against “big government” also say, “keep your hands off my Medicare.”
As I write this commentary in 2012, union membership has fallen to about 7% of the private sector work force. Public sector unions are under attack, based upon a theory that their so-called powerful negotiators and lobbyists provide them with higher pay and better pensions than those in the private sector have. Many workers in the private sector, who have experienced a steady erosion of pay and benefits in recent decades often support this rationale: why should “they” get more than “me?” Perhaps they should be asking why their take home pay and benefits have eroded, and that they should be demanding a restoration of pay levels and pension security which they previously enjoyed!
The coming election offers a stark contrast between, on one hand, those who believe that the decline in middle class income and the decline in union membership rates over the past decades is not a coincidence, and on the other hand, those who believe that organized labor is a threat to the entrepreneurial future of America. Regardless of which side of the argument you find yourself, on Labor Day it is appropriate to tip one’s hat to a movement which has been the source for so much good in our nation’s history, with a social agenda reflecting essential Jewish concern for the widow, the orphan, and the stranger among us. As VP nominee Ryan so aptly reminded us, a country is measured by how it treats the neediest among us.
