KI TETSE_DEUTERONOMY XXI,10 – XXV

The primary theme of our weekly reading is that of wars that invariably occur periodically. In particular, our generation, which has witnessed the extermination of a third of the Jewish people, the horrors of Bosnia, and of Central Africa, knows the suffering and despair, cruelty and inhumanity that are the result of war. Because ein bayit asher ein bo met, there is no Jewish home that has not suffered firsthand the Holocaust that the Nazis committed.

Therefore, one of the essential characteristics of the messianic era, which is synonymous with harmony and coexistence, understanding and love among human beings, is the absence of war and conflicts. These are the words of the prophet Yeshayahu: Vehayah beacharit hayamim…, vechitetu charvotam le’itim vachaninotehem lemazmerot, lo yisa goi el goi cherev velo yilmedu od milchamah; which means, “and it will happen at the end of days…, and they will turn their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into sickles, no nation will raise a sword against another nation, nor will they learn war anymore”. In our day, which predates this messianic age, we must study the biblical text containing a series of ordinances whose purpose is to mitigate the drama of war.

The initial conquest of the land of Canaan was accomplished by fighting and shedding blood. In the Jewish tradition these wars are placed under the heading of Milchemet mitsvah, a concept that can be translated as that of a war ordered by the Divinity in the first period of our collective history. Of course, the notion of a God-sanctioned or ordained war, collides with one of our basic ideas about deity. 

The text of the Kohanim Blessing, for example, concludes by imploring that God grant us peace. The word Shalom, peace, is used for the daily greeting, thus highlighting our constant longing for harmony and tranquility. Authentic faith in God must result in a kind of inner peace. In short, we cannot conceive of the Creator without implying the notion of peace. In the Kaddish, which has been transformed into a prayer for the deceased, we affirm, Oseh shalom bimeromav, Hu ya’aseh shalom alenu, which means, “He Who makes peace in the heights, He will grant us peace (on earth)”.

In search of an answer to the difficulty posed, we can emphasize that the historical moment to which we refer, was characterized by human sacrifices and the greatest aberrations in social behavior. Therefore, the effects of the conquest can be considered as a punishment for the conquered peoples. However, it can be noted that there were different options. Possibly, the way forward could have been the didactic one. Instead of exterminating the residents of the promised land of Canaan, there was an option for our ancestors to teach them the truth discovered by the patriarch Avraham.

It is clear, for example, that the Aseret hadibrot, the Ten Commandments, could have been used to spread a new moral law in those lands. Another possibility could have been the insistence on compliance with the Sheva mitsvot debenei Noach, which are the seven basic laws of the Noach era. The residents of Canaan could thus have been incorporated into the great monotheistic family that was being created within humanity. But there was an enormous danger that the Jewish people might succumb to idolatry.

Scientific investigations of history and archaeology lead us to the conclusion that in the past there were extraordinary personalities who conceived the notion of a single God. The celebrated Pharaoh Ikhnaton, for example, was essentially monotheistic. However, none of these religious discoveries survived in society. They were fleeting attempts, flashes of light that were instantly consumed. Their short duration was due perhaps because they appeared in the midst of the reigning polytheism and could not resist either their constant onslaught or the challenge of easiness and pleasure characteristic of idolatry. 

It is curious to note that polytheism is distinguished by its tolerance. The Greeks who concentrated their multiple gods on Mount Olympus could conceive of the existence of additional deities. Therefore, when they conquered new lands, they used to pay homage to the local deity, because they believed that they had helped them in their victory. Monotheism, on the other hand, is very jealous. It does not allow the one God to grant any living space to any other god. There is only one God, and no one else.

It is very likely that Judaism would also have succumbed to the idolatry that reigned everywhere. History teaches us that during the period of the first Beit HaMikdash, the Temple of Jerusalem, idolatry and its concomitant priestly caste were sometimes present there as well, and that constituted a fundamental problem for the spiritual development of our people. It was therefore necessary to eradicate, as far as possible, every vestige of the attractive and contagious idolatry that fosters sexual license and blind religious drunkenness.

In addition to the aforementioned war of conquest of the Promised Land, our tradition considers two additional types of war. In the case of external aggression, one must respond with Milchemet Chovah, which means a forced war. The Melech, the king of Israel, does not require the consent of any deliberative body to face a warlike aggression of this nature. On the other hand, in the case of Milchemet Reshut, an optional war whose purpose is to enlarge the boundaries of the country, he needed the prior approval of the Sanhedrin, the body of setentiún religious notables.

The next step was to inform the armed forces about the purpose of the war. (In the period of the Vietnam War, we found the fact that the American nation was unaware of the purpose and scope of the conflict. This was one of the probable reasons why the government did not get the support of the majority of the people). Our initial text that reads, Ki tetse lamilchamah al oivecha, which means that when you go out to war against your enemies. Our Chachamim demand that it be proven that it really is the case of Oivecha, your enemies.

According to the instructions in our text, the officers had to speak to the people pointing out, Mi ha’ish asher banah bayit jadash velo chanacho yelech veyashov leveito…, “what man there is, who has built a house and has not inaugurated it, let him return to his house, unless he dies in war, and another opens his house”. Having planted a vineyard and having married a woman and not consummated this marriage, were also sufficient reasons not to have to participate in the war. These could also refrain from going to war: Hayare veharach levav, “the fearful and the weak-hearted”.

The adversary must first be offered the possibility of peace, according to the Talmud. The acceptance by the enemy of the basic laws of Noach is reason enough not to kill any human being. In such a case, servitude may be imposed, and payment of certain taxes may be demanded. When a siege is established around a city, the surveillance of one side of the perimeter must be neglected, to allow those who wish to save themselves and escape. Trees bearing edible fruit should not be cut down and the necessary water should be allowed in.

In the Talmud we find the following observation: Kol zeman sheIsrael mistaklín klapei maalah hem mitgabrim, ve’im lav noflim, which means that while (the people of) Israel have their gaze fixed heavenward they are victorious; otherwise, the fall is inevitable. This teaching alludes to the relative merit of the purpose of wars which should have important social goals and benefits. Of course, there are those who argue that any war is diabolical, even if it takes into account the possibility that some of its objectives have noble intentions. The Latin American countries, for example, prefer their own dictatorships to the alternative, for example, of American armed intervention. The present situation in Venezuela a Nicaragua are perfect examples of this attitude.

Notwithstanding, the instructions contained in our text, which were widely interpreted by our Chachamim to mitigate the disasters of war, our aspirations and desires are aimed at understanding and harmony among peoples. Charvotam le’itim, the conversion of swords into plows is the symbol and motto for a greater humanization of our troubled globe.

MITSVAH: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARASHAH

CONTAINS 27 POSITIVE MITSVOT AND 47 BANS

1. Deuteronomy 21:11 Law concerning the beautiful woman captured in war
2. Deuteronomy 21:14 Do not sell the beautiful woman captured in war
3. Deuteronomy 21:14 Not to force the beautiful woman captured in war to work as a slave after having had sex with her
4. Deuteronomy 21:22 Hang the executed person when so directed
5. Deuteronomy 21:23 Do not leave the hung person after dark on the gallows and do not allow a corpse after night in his home, unless it is in his honor
6. Deuteronomy 21:23 Bury the one who was sentenced by the court to die, or anyone else on the same day of his death
7. Deuteronomy 22:1 Returning lost property to its owner
8. Deuteronomy 22:3 Failure to avoid sight of a lost object
9. Deuteronomy 22:4 Do not ignore the fallen animal of your neighbor by the weight of its burden
10. Deuteronomy 22:4 Helping to lift a heavy burden from a Jew
11. Deuteronomy 22:5 A woman should not wear men’s clothing
12. Deuteronomy 22:5 Men should not wear women’s clothing
13. Deuteronomy 22:6 Do not seize the mother bird while the eggs or chicks are in the nest
14. Deuteronomy 22:7 Scare the mother bird away from the nest before taking the eggs or chicks
15. Deuteronomy 22:8 Build a parapet around a dangerous roof or pit
16. Deuteronomy 22:8 Do not leave a dangerous roof or hole without a parapet
17. Deuteronomy 22:9 Do not sow a mixture of seeds in a vineyard in the Land of Israel
18. Deuteronomy 22:9 Do not eat the product of a seed mixture in a vineyard in the Land of Israel
19. Deuteronomy 22:10 Do not work together with animals of different species 
20. Deuteronomy 22:10 Do not wear a linen and wool fabric
21. Deuteronomy 22:13 The mitsvah of Kidushin (to marry a woman)
22. Deuteronomy 22:19 The man who spreads an evil report about his wife’s immorality shall remain with her forever
23. Deuteronomy 22:19 The man who spreads an evil report about his wife’s immorality cannot divorce her
24. Deuteronomy 22:24 The Court must stone the person so sentenced
25. Deuteronomy 22:26 Do not punish the person who has been forced to transgress
26. Deuteronomy 22:29 The rapist must marry his victim
27. Deuteronomy 22:29 The rapist cannot divorce his victim
28. Deuteronomy 23:3 A sterilized man should not marry a young Jewish woman
29. Deuteronomy 23:4 A bastard, the product of an adulterous or incestuous union, should not marry a young Jewish woman
30. Deuteronomy 23:6 A person belonging to the peoples of Amon or Mo’av should not marry a young Jewish woman
31. Deuteronomy 23:7 Not making peace with the Amon or Mo’av nations before a war
32. Deuteronomy 23:9 A descendant of Esav cannot marry a Jewish person even after he has converted to Judaism, nor can his son or daughter
33. Deuteronomy 23:8 An Egyptian cannot marry a Jewish person even after he has converted to Judaism, nor can his son or daughter
34. Deuteronomy 23:11 The ritually impure person should not enter the field (Temple Mount) of the Levites
35. Deuteronomy 23:13 Preparing an off-field lavatory during the war
36. Deuteronomy 23:14 Prepare a shovel for each person in the army so that he can cover his excrement
37. Deuteronomy 23:16 Do not return to the Land of Israel a slave who fled into the diaspora
38. Deuteronomy 23:18 Do not oppress a slave who fled from his master in the diaspora to the Land of Israel
39. Deuteronomy 23:11 Not having sex with a woman outside of marriage
40. Deuteronomy 23:19 Do not bring as an offering to the Temple the pay of a prostitute or the price-value of a dog
41. Deuteronomy 23:20 Do not lend or borrow money with interest from a Jew 
42. Deuteronomy 23:21 Charging interest to the non-Jew
43. Deuteronomy 23:22 Do not postpone the vow to make an offering, nor postpone the offering of a consecrated animal for the Three Feasts
44. Deuteronomy 23:24 Fulfilling promises and oaths
45. Deuteronomy 23:25 Allow the worker to eat certain products while working
46. Deuteronomy 23:25 The worker should not increase the quantity of the products permitted to him.
47. Deuteronomy 23:26 A worker should not eat from his employer’s harvest during his work
48. Deuteronomy 24:1 Whoever wishes to divorce his wife must do so through a Get (divorce document)
49. Deuteronomy 24:4 The divorced cannot marry the woman who divorced after the woman has remarried and divorced another or widowed
50. Deuteronomy 24:5 The newlywed should not be separated from his wife during the first year of marriage
51. Deuteronomy 24:5 The newlywed must remain with his wife during the first year of marriage
52. Deuteronomy 24:6 Do not pawn objects with which food is prepared for sustenance
53. Deuteronomy 24:8 Do not tear marks from tsara’at
54. Deuteronomy 24:10 Do not forcibly grab a pledge of the debtor
55. Deuteronomy 24:12 Do not retain a pawn from its owner when he needs it
56. Deuteronomy 24:13 Return the pawn garment when its owner needs it
57. Deuteronomy 24:15 Pay the worker on the day he worked
58. Deuteronomy 24:16 A person cannot testify in a trial about a close relative
59. Deuteronomy 24:17 Do not pervert justice in the case of a convert or orphan
60. Deuteronomy 24:17 Do not take a pawn from a widow
61. Deuteronomy 24:19 Leaving the forgotten sheaves for the poor
62. Deuteronomy 24:19 Do not grab the sheaves of forgotten grains or fruit
63. Deuteronomy 25:2 Whipping a person who transgresses certain prohibitions
64. Deuteronomy 25:3 Do not give additional whippings or beat a Jew
65. Deuteronomy 25:4 Do not muzzle a pet while working
66. Deuteronomy 25:5 The childless widow should not marry another person but her late husband’s brother
67. Deuteronomy 25:5 The childless widow must marry the brother of the deceased husband
68. Deuteronomy 25:9 The mitsvah of Chalitsah (frees the woman from marrying her late husband’s brother)
69. Deuteronomy 25:12 Saving the person pursued by a murderer by attacking the killer
70. Deuteronomy 25:12 Having No Mercy on a pursuing murderer
71. Deuteronomy 25:13 Do not keep inaccurate scales or weights, even when not in use
72. Deuteronomy 25:17 Remember what Amalek did to the Jewish people when they left Egypt
73. Deuteronomy 25:19 Eradicate the descendants of Amalek
74. Deuteronomy 25:19 Do not forget what Amalek did to the Jewish people when he left Egypt