KI TETSE

DEUTERONOMY XXI:10-XXV:19

Responding to the “natural” tendency of the man to seize the enemy’s wives as part of the spoils of war, the Torah regulates this appetite by insisting that the man must see the woman captive when she is stripped of the jewels and attractions that were formerly used to seduce enemies. All this according to Rashi, who argues that the fate of that marriage will be separation and, even more, a Ben sorer umoré, a “gluttonous and rebellious son” will be the product of this union.

Even in this case that represents only the satisfaction of a carnal desire, an exclusive physical attraction in which the emotional ingredient is not perceived, the Torah insists on normalizing the union between man and woman for the formation of a home. Because marriage, the pivotal institution of society, is a Mitsvah and as in the fulfillment of other Mitsvot, a Beracha is recited, a blessing that recognizes the presence of God in the actions of the person. Because even during the practice of the Mitsvot that man could validate through the intellect, without Divine intervention, even in these cases Judaism demands to invoke the Will of God, because the totality of our behavior must have the Divine seal, the acceptance of God.

Indeed, in this weekly text we also find the notion of marriage between a man and a woman in the verse Ki yikach ish isha, “when a man takes a woman” which according to the Talmud refers to the institution of marriage. Unlike other Mitsvot, in the case of marriage the accepted formulation of the Beracha is not used: Asher kideshanu beMitsvotav vetsivanu…, “sanctified us with his Mitsvot and instructed us…”

In the case of Lulav on Sukkot, the words Al netilat Lulav; or Likbóa Mezuzah, are added by placinga Mezuzah over a door. In the Berachot order of marriage we should pronounce Asher kideshanu beMitsvotav vetsivanu lakachat isha, for example. Or perhaps Lekadesh isha, “to sanctify a woman,” according to the word Kiddushin, used to refer to marriage. Moreover, the Beracha that is used includes the prohibition of living with the woman with whom only the act of commitment has been performed (it is actually a reference to the first stage of the marriage act, which in Talmudic timesconsisted of 2 stages).

Jacob Gartner of Bar Ilan University quotes the Talmudic commentator Rosh and other exegetes who point out that in the case of Kosher food, for example, there is no mention that God forbade us certain animals while allowing others. Why are forbidden relationships mentioned in the Beracha that sanctifies marriage? Rosh‘s answer is that in this case the Beracha is not directly related to the Mitsvah which clearly refers to the increase of the human species. In the case of the marriage ceremony, the Beracha serves to express Shevach vehodaya, “thanks and praise” to the Lord. It is a recognition of the God who taught us to conduct life differently from the other nations of the time who simply seized a woman, usually considered by the man as a part of his belongings.

Since the identity and spiritual purity of the Hebrew people depends on the sanctity of marriage, the Beracha warns that behavior, such as living with the “fiancée,” compromises the integrity of the nuclear family that must retain purity to acquire holiness.

At different times in history, society has tried other types of bonds between man and woman, including the notion of non-bonding which implies a union between the sexes, without commitment of any duration. The fact that traditional marriage has overcome several attempts at change is a further demonstration that it continues to be the basis and foundation for the survival of the human species.

It is, therefore, very worrisome to witness the attempts being made at present to question the validity of marriage, of the nuclear family and offer a menu of sexual orientations that could lead only to disaster for mankind.

MITZVAH: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARSHA

CONTAINS 27 POSITIVE MITSVOT AND 47 PROHIBITIONS

• Deuteronomy 21:11 Law concerning the beautiful woman captured in war.
• Deuteronomy 21:14 Do not sell the beautiful woman captured in war.
• Deuteronomy 21:14 Do not force the beautiful woman captured in war after having had relations with her to work as a slave.
• Deuteronomy 21:22 Hang the executed person when so directed.
• Deuteronomy 21:23 Do not leave the hanged man on the gallows and do not allow a dead body to stay overnight in his home, unless it is in his honor.
• Deuteronomy 21:23 Bury the one who was sentenced by the court to die, or any other person on the day of his death.
• Deuteronomy 22:1 Return lost property to its owner.
• Deuteronomy 22:3 Do not avoid the sight of a lost object.
• Deuteronomy 22:4 Do not ignore the fallen animal your neighbor by the weight of his burden.
• Deuteronomy 22:4 Helping to lift a heavy burden from a Jew.
• Deuteronomy 22:5 A woman should not wear men’s clothes.
• Deuteronomy 22:5 A man should not wear women’s clothes.
• Deuteronomy 22:6 Do not seize the mother bird while the eggs or chicks are in the nest.
• Deuteronomy 22:7 Scare the mother bird away from the nest before taking the eggs or chicks.
• Deuteronomy 22:8 Building a parapet around a dangerous roof or hole.
• Deuteronomy 22:8 Do not leave a dangerous roof or hole without a parapet.
• Deuteronomy 22:9 Do not sow a mixture of seeds in a vineyard in the Land of Israel.
• Deuteronomy 22:9 Do not eat the product of a mixture of seeds in a vineyard in the Land of Israel.
• Deuteronomy 22:10 Do not work with animals of different species together.
• Deuteronomy 22:10 Do not wear linen cloth and wool.
• Deuteronomy 22:13 The mitsvah of Kiddushin (handcuffing a woman).
• Deuteronomy 22:19 The man who spreads an evil report about his wife’s immorality will remain with her forever.
• Deuteronomy 22:19 The man who spreads an evil report about his wife’s immorality cannot divorce that woman.
• Deuteronomy 22:24 The Court must stone the person so sentenced.
• Deuteronomy 22:26 Do not punish the person who has been forced to transgress.
• Deuteronomy 22:29 The rapist must marry his victim.
• Deuteronomy 22:29 The rapist cannot divorce his victim.
• Deuteronomy 23:3 The sterilized man should not marry a young Jewish woman.
• Deuteronomy 23:4 The bastard who is the product of an adulterous or incestuous union should not marry a young Jewish girl.
• Deuteronomy 23:6 A person belonging to the villages of Amon or Mo’av should not marry a young Jewish girl.
• Deuteronomy 23:7 Do not make peace with the nations Amon or Mo’av before a war.
• Deuteronomy 23:9 A descendant of Esau cannot marry a Jewish person even after he or she has converted to Judaism, nor can his son or daughter.
• Deuteronomy 23:8 An Egyptian cannot marry a Jew even after he has converted to Judaism, nor can his son or daughter do so.
• Deuteronomy 23:11 The ritually impure person must not enter the field (Temple Mount) of the Levites.
• Deuteronomy 23:13 Preparing a washing outside the field during war.
• Deuteronomy 23:14 Prepare a shovel for each person in the army so that he can cover his excrement.
• Deuteronomy 23:16 Do not return to the Land of Israel a slave who fled to the Diaspora.
• Deuteronomy 23:18 Do not oppress a slave who fled from his master in the Diaspora to the Land of Israel.
• Deuteronomy 23:11 Not having relations with a woman outside of marriage.
• Deuteronomy 23:19 Do not bring as an offering to the Temple the pay of a prostitute or the price-value of a dog..
• Deuteronomy 23:20 Do not lend money from a Jew with interest.
• Deuteronomy 23:21 Charging interest to non-Jews.
• Deuteronomy 23:22 Do not postpone the vow to make an offering, nor postpone the offering of a consecrated animal for the Three Feasts.
• Deuteronomy 23:24 Keeping promises and oaths.
• Deuteronomy 23:25 Allow the laborer to eat certain products while working.
• Deuteronomy 23:25 The laborer does not owe more than the products that are allowed to him.
• Deuteronomy 23:26 A laborer should not eat of his employer’s harvest during his work.
• Deuteronomy 24:1 Whoever wishes to divorce his wife must do so through a Get (divorce document).
• Deuteronomy 24:4 The divorced cannot marry the woman who divorced after she has married and divorced another or is widowed again.
• Deuteronomy 24:5 The newlywed should not separate from his wife during the first year of marriage.
• Deuteronomy 24:5 The newlywed must remain with his wife during the first year of marriage.
• Deuteronomy 24:6 Do not paw.n objects with which food is prepared for sustenance.
• Deuteronomy 24:8 Do not pluck marks from tsara’at.
• Deuteronomy 24:10 Do not forcibly grasp a pawn pledge from the debtor.
• Deuteronomy 24:12 Do not withhold a pawn from its owner when you need it.
• Deuteronomy 24:13 Return the pawn when its owner needs it.
• Deuteronomy 24:15 Pay the laborer on the day he worked.
• Deuteronomy 24:16 A person cannot testify in a trial about a close relative.
• Deuteronomy 24:17 Do not pervert justice in the case of a convert or an orphan.
• Deuteronomy 24:17 Do not take a pawn pledge from a widow.
• Deuteronomy 24:19 Leave forgotten sheaves for the poor.
• Deuteronomy 24:19 Do not grasp forgotten sheaves of grain or fruit.
• Deuteronomy 25:2 Scourge the person who transgresses certain prohibitions.
• Deuteronomy 25:3 Do not give additional whipping or beat a Jew.
• Deuteronomy 25:4 Do not muzzle a pet while working.
• Deuteronomy 25:5 A childless widow should not marry anyone else but her late husband’s brother.
• Deuteronomy 25:5 Childless widow must marry deceased husband’s brother.
• Deuteronomy 25:9 The Mitsvah of Chalitsa (frees a woman from marrying her late husband’s brother).
• Deuteronomy 25:12 Saving the person pursued by a murderer by attacking the murderer.
• Deuteronomy 25:12 Have no mercy on a persecuting murderer.
• Deuteronomy 25:13 Do not keep inaccurate scales or weights, even when not in use.
• Deuteronomy 25:17 Remember what Amalek didto the Jewish people when he left Egypt.
• Deuteronomy 25:19 Eradicate the descendants of Amalek.
• Deuteronomy 25:19 Do not forget what Amalek didto the Jewish people when he left Egypt.