Ethics, the "other," and creation

 Ki Tetze

Deut. 21:10 - 25:19

 

Précis:  The week’s reading begins with the phrase “when you go forth” (ki tetze) to battle. This parasha, according to Maimonides, contains 72 mitzvot (commandments). 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.

 

Rabbi Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi has carefully brought into focus the variety of laws appearing in this parasha (ReformJudaism.org, 8/20/18). She suggests that there are three areas to consider: upholding an ethical society, understanding the “other,” and preserving God’s cosmos.  

            We create an ethical society when we regulate competition between brethren, wives, and disobedient children. We create an ethical society when we are commanded not to ignore the losses suffered by others, to guard the property of others as though it was our own, and to respect the fact that gender is important (whether we agree or disagree with the specific commandment here).

            We are taught to understand what she calls the “face of the other.” We are commanded to recognize the fundamental humanity of even our enemies during and after war. Victory does not permit us to engage inhumanely with those we have defeated.

             Finally, this parasha demands us to be guardians of God’s creation, and remember His creation through our conduct and clothing. We must not interfere with natural processes by mixing seeds improperly.  We must treat animals with kindness, not separating the mother bird from its offspring. We cannot yoke animals of uneven strength, as one will surely suffer. It is our responsibility to maintain the sensitivity which helps preserve our humanity, and to remember that God created a natural order which our lack of humanity can threaten.

            In other words, these details of human behavior provide a matrix for an individual not only to prosper as part of a community, but to be concerned with the fate of others, and of God’s creation itself.