Ki Teitzei/Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19
Putting Elul to Work
Yael Splansky
Four hundred years of slavery in Egypt, forty years
of wandering in the desert: imagine how the legends of the Land of Israel that
must have been told. In the heat of the day, while baking bricks for Pharaoh's
cities, perhaps a grandfather told his grandson of the cool breezes and the
shady places in the Promised Land. While walking in the wilderness, perhaps one
girl was so thirsty she could hardly catch her breath, so her mother comforted
her with tales of the sweet fruits and vegetables that grow in the Promised
Land. And, when the Amalekites attacked Israel at Rephidim, perhaps Joshua
dreamed of the great peace he might one day discover in the Promised Land. Parashat Ki Teitzei describes the moment when the
Children of Israel are positioned just outside of Eretz Yisrael, the mythical place of their dreams.
They could hardly contain themselves: a new life of cool breezes, luscious
fruits, and deep peace was just on the horizon, less than three weeks’
distance.
Reality
And what does God instruct Moses to say to those
gathered, buzzing with excitement? “When you take the field against your
enemies, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman and you desire her and
would take her to wife... ,” this is how you should treat her (Deuteronomy
21:10–14). “If a parent has a wayward and defiant son... ,” this is how he
should be punished (Deuteronomy 21:18–21). “When you build a new house, you
shall make a parapet for your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your
house if anyone should fall from it” (Deuteronomy 22:8). If a young engaged
woman is raped in town, this is how the case should be treated (Deuteronomy
22:23–24). If a young engaged woman is raped in the countryside, this is how the
case should be treated (Deuteronomy 22:25–27). And on and on goes the list of
seventy-two mitzvot.1 Laws concerning how to
treat the widow, the orphan, the rejected wife, the hungry, the slave who is
fleeing from his master, and the one who suffers a skin disease hardly paint a
picture of the land of their dreams! Where are the good times? Where is their
paradise? Where is their fulfillment, if not perfection? Moses lays down the
ultimate reality check when he says: When you establish yourselves in the land,
be sure to set up the washrooms outside of the
camp! (Deuteronomy 23:13–14). All these mitzvot come to prepare the Children of
Israel for what is just around the corner—not a perfect life, but a life of
potential; not the “Promised Land,” but a land filled with promise.
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