Ki Teitzei

As we approach the High Holidays, we take stock of who we are and what we are capable of being and becoming. We have a Torah portion, Ki Teitzei (Deuteronomy 21:10 -25:19), that has more mitzvot (commandments) in it than any other. There are over 70; some fall into the ethical realm, while others are ritual in nature and others might be considered environmental. Remember, this Torah portion comes as Moses is trying to get the people ready to continue without his leadership and form an ethical and ritual standard with which to create a functioning community.

There is clearly much to think about, write about, and discuss as I share with you some of the topics that are raised. Before I go on, I must point out that this portion is clearly directed at men; if you take the time to read the entire Torah portion, you will find sections that will disturb you. However, that being said, I want to look at the big picture, which includes how captive women are to be treated and what to do if you have two wives and you like one more than the other. Even a murderer who gets the death penalty must be buried on the same day. If your neighbor’s animal goes astray, you are responsible for returning that animal to its rightful owner. When you build a house be sure to put a guardrail on your roof so that no one falls off. Do not plow with an ox or donkey together. You may eat of your neighbor’s grapes but not carry them with you. And the list goes on, including if a slave runs to you for refuge, you are not to return the slave, and do not mix wool and linen together in your clothing.

This list is just a taste. There is no clear organizing principle for all of the commandments listed. There is a little bit of everything. There are some rules that are easy for us to understand from our modern perspective, while others appear simply unfathomable. What shines through is the desire for a society where the various pieces are bound together and where there is a sense of mutual responsibility. This is the Torah portion where we are reminded of Amalek.

”Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt — how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the march, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear. Therefore, when the LORD your God grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as a hereditary portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!”

This injunction to remember comes in a week where we took stock and remembered where we were eighteen years ago on September 11th. Our memories are personal. The impact of that day has had lasting reverberations as we continue to remember and honor those who gave their all on that day and all the days that followed. There was that moment in the days that followed where we were bound together, not by ideology, but by grief and a deeper understanding of how precious life truly is. For a while there, people were letting their loved ones know exactly how much they were loved in the face of danger, grief and loss we connected with one another. Is it the evil we remember, like Amalek’s cruelty, or is it our responsibility to one another, to take care of those weakest among us? We live in a time where there are those who want to articulate and highlight our differences from one another and ignore that which brings us together as human beings inhabiting the same planet Earth. We are each different - unique - and yet there is more that binds us to one another than separates us. The laws that are articulated in this Torah portion allow us to have just that conversation.