Thursday, August 30, 2012

September 1, 2012


Parashat Ki Tetzei/Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19
  

This week's commentary was written by Professor Arnold M. Eisen, Chancellor, JTS.
This week's Torah portion is directed at Israelites about to "go out" of the wilderness; next week's portion offers guidance to those about to "come in" to the Promised Land. Deuteronomy is anxious for the Israelites to build a society distinct from the one that had enslaved them and no less distinct from the other societies and cultures that will surround them in the Land of Canaan. It wants a people united in their new nation-state—and, to that end, propounds a series of wide-ranging laws designed to bring and keep them together. The "going out" from all existing precedents must be substantial. The "coming in" must make them worthy of having God's presence in their midst.

This, I think, is the logic behind many of the regulations in Ki Tetzei, a set of dos and don'ts that in some cases are immediately comprehensible, but in others seem at first glance (or even second) to be of dubious importance. Let's start with the mitzvot that clearly promote the collective unity. Sheep or oxen that belong to "your fellow" and have wandered off must be returned to their owner or, if that is not possible, must be held and sustained until claimed. Israelites must do the same with lost garments or "anything that your fellow loses and you find" (22:1–3). The word translated as fellow by JPS literally means brother: a member of the national-religious family of Israel. "You must not remain indifferent" or look away. If your brother's ass or oxen have fallen in the road, help him to raise them up (22:4). Interest cannot be collected on loans of money or food to Israelites, but is permitted on loans to foreigners (23:20–21). Do not enter your neighbor's house to seize a pledge that is the basis of a loan, or hold the pledge overnight if he needs it for warmth (24:10–13). You may eat grapes from your neighbor's vineyard and pluck ears from the standing grain in your neighbor's field (23:25–26). Olives left on the tree or grapes left on the vine after initial harvesting are to remain there for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. "Always remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this thing" (24:20–22). 

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