The first section of this week's parshah addresses the case of an Eishes Y'fas To'ar - a captive heathen woman with whom a Jewish soldier may be intimate under certain conditions while at war. It seems unusual that the Torah presents this mitzvah in Parshas Ki Seiztei, for numerous detailed halachos (rules) of warfare were featured in last week's parshah, Shoftim, and one would think that Eishes Y'fas To'ar should have been included there as well. Why was it broken off and introduced in Ki Seitzei instead of being included in Parshas Shoftim?

The mitzvos immediately after Eishes Y'fas To'ar are those of the rights of the B'chor - the Firstborn - followed by the halacha of Ben Sorer U'Moreh (Wayward and Rebellious Son). Rashi (21:11) quotes the words of Tanchuma (ch. 1) to explain the connection: "The Torah permitted an Eishes Y'fas To'ar to address a person's Yezter Hara (Evil Inclination), for had God not permitted her, the soldier would marry her in a prohibited fashion. However, if he marries her, he will dislike her...and she will eventually bear a Ben Sorer U'Moreh..."

This explanation is not merely depicting the doom which may or will befall one who takes an Eishes Y'fas To'ar; rather, it is describing how making a life decision by acting on one's base, earthy passions instead of directing one's path on ways of kedushah (holiness) will bring one down and result in a future of utter decadence. One has the choice to lead a life of upward spiritual momentum; should one focus his lifestyle in a downward direction, he will end up in a state of affixation on materialism and spiritual disaster.

Parshas Ki Seitzei features many divergent mitzvos, yet an unusual bulk of them seems to share one theme - perversion of norms and commiting acts of basic devaince (e.g. prohibitions of cross-dressing, taking away the mother bird from her young ones, placing down a stumbling block, mixing seeds and livestock, defamation, entry to Har Ha-Bayis by one who is tamei [impure], illegitimate births, prohibited unions, false weights and measures, unfairness in judgment, etc.) Is there any connection between this theme and the case of Eishes Y'fas To'ar?

It would seem that the connection is clear, for Eishes Y'fas To'ar represents making life-decisions based on materialism and indulgence rather than on avodas Hashem (serving God). Although technically permissible, taking an Eishes Y'fas To'ar and having the fate of one's household rest on his union with her is making an implicit decision to take a spiritual downward spiral. A future which could have been infused with kedushah and begun on the right path will now be headed for a dead end, as it is inaugurated by lust, contaminated by gross physicality and focused on the pursuit of physical pleasures. This is the most pronounced type of deviant lifestyle one can have - halachically permissible, yet abandoning all proper attitudinal and spiritual norms. It is thus fitting that Eishes Y'fas To'ar appear in Parshas Ki Seitzei, as the life of a man who takes as Eishes Y'fas To'ar and his offspring are cast away from spiritual norms and categorically fit exactly into the theme of deviance as symbolized by the cases presented in the balance of the parshah.

There is another small set of wartime mitzvos in Parshas Ki Seitzei: proper hygeine during battle so as to keep the camp holy. This stands in direct contrast to the case of an Eishes Y'fas To'ar, as - although under the presseures of military conflict - the troops must be properly attentive to cleanliness in a manner that keeps their conditions associated with kedushah. This is probably the reason why this set of mitzvos was likewise separated from Parshas Shoftim and presented here, so as to demonstrate how spiritual conscientiousness is critical even under the most unusual conditions.

The issur (prohibition) of false weights and measures and the mitzvah of obliterating Amalek appear at the end of Parshas Ki Seitzei. Chazal (the Sages) explain (Tanchuma ch. 1; Rashi 25:17) that these two concepts are related, for one who cheats in weights and measures lacks faith, which is the theme of Amalek. (See last year's d'var Torah on this by clicking "Archive" below). The underlying idea is that one whose basic inner values are totally focused on greed and "What's in it for me?" - rather than service and giving - has inherently abandoned his faith, as his ideology is the antithesis of Torah thinking and does not allow him to lovingly serve God and give to others. This theme is a most fitting conclusion to Ki Seitzei, as it depicts full-circle how a life of non-Torah values will not only result in spiritual frustration, but in the termination of true Torah observance from one's self and his stock.

May we remain properly focused and grow in an upward direction to serve Hashem and be holy.