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Parshat Ki
Teitzei
Rabbi
Avrohom Gordimer
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.
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