Ki Tetze
Deut.
21:10 - 25:19
Précis: The parasha might be subtitled “entering
society” because it describes the creation of a just and moral social network.
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.
Deut. 22:1-3 “If you
see your fellow’s ox or sheep gone astray do not ignore it; you must take it
back to your fellow. If you fellow’s does not live near you or you do not know
who he is, you shall bring it home and it shall remain with you until your
fellow claims it; then you shall give it back to him You shall do the same with
his ass; you shall do the same with his garment; and so too shall you do with anything that your fellow loses and you
find; you must not remain indifferent.”
While these verses stress one’s
obligation to safeguard or return the property of another, I wanted to focus on
the final phrase: “you must not remain indifferent.” As we approach the High Holy
Days, we must not remain indifferent to the harms we have caused others, and we
must not remain indifferent to sincere requests from others to atone for harms
they have done to us.
On
another level, as I write these words on Labor Day 2022, I want to add two
additional thoughts. First, we cannot remain indifferent to those who have yet
to find economic stability after the massive dislocations in the work force
caused by Covid. While employment seems to have been restored to pre-pandemic
levels, the fact is that income inequality remains staggering, and recent news
articles have indicated that more than one-half of American households cannot
afford an unexpected expense of $500. They need our help.
Second,
Labor Day is the traditional start to the election season, as campaigning ramps
up towards November. In the face of the repeated lawlessness of the past
president and his insurrectionist supporters, in the face of the continued lies
and outright hatred expressed by many of his cultists, and in the face of a Supreme
Court which has been hypocritically manipulated by Senate Republicans into a
body which has rejected the constitutional rights of women and those of faith
traditions other than their majority’s own, we may not, we cannot, remain indifferent.
