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Home -> 5785 -> Ki Seitzei

וירקה בפניו

Sruly Schnair
In Ki Seitzei, 5785

And she shall spit before him (25:9)

Every mitzvah in the Torah makes demands on a person, enjoining him to leave his comfort zone to serve Hashem. Some mitzvos ask more than others—but that is part and parcel of the religious experience. At times, a mitzvah makes such demands that a person must go against his nature, character and even emotions. Nonetheless, this is the meaning of obedience. It does not always have to be geshmak, pleasant. The fact that we are fortunate to serve Hashem and carry out His dictates is what makes the endeavor geshmak. If we were to pick and choose only those mitzvos…

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Home -> 5785 -> Ki Seitzei

הקם תקים עמו

Sruly Schnair
In Ki Seitzei, 5785

You shall surely stand them up with him (22:4)

From the words Hakeim takim imo, we derive that the assistance we lend to someone in need should be carried out imo—with him. If the owner of the animal (providing that he is able) sits back and wants to watch as you do the lifting and carrying, you have no obligation to help. Our responsibility to help extends to one who is trying to help himself. If the owner sits idly by refusing to make an effort, the mitzvah no longer applies. We wonder why this is so. While it may be true that the owner, due to his lack…

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Home -> 5785 -> Ki Seitzei

כי יהיה לאיש בן סורר ומורה

Sruly Schnair
In Ki Seitzei, 5785

If a man will have a wayward and rebellious son (21:18)

In his commentary to Bamidbar 13:3, Rashi writes that ish/anashim is a singular title describing a distinguished, accomplished man. The meraglim, spies, that left to do a reconnaissance tour of the Holy Land were men of repute and stature—when they left. Sadly, their positions did not save them from plummeting to the nadir of slandering Eretz Yisroel. Where do we see that the father of the ben sorer u’moreh is a distinguished member of the community? The Torah refers to him as ish; wherein is his ishius manifest? Maharal Tzintz (Melei Ha’Omer) explains that it takes a strong, resolute man…

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Home -> 5785 -> Ki Seitzei

כי יהיה לאיש בן סורר ומורה

Sruly Schnair
In Ki Seitzei, 5785

If a man will have a wayward and rebellious son. (21:18)

Seeing the whole picture is the only way one can say that he has actually seen something. Looks are deceiving, and what on the surface appears to be harsh may actually be the opposite. The case of the ben sorer u’moreh, wayward and rebellious son, is a perfect example. A boy who has just become a bar-mitzvah is persistently acting wayward and rebellious. He refuses to obey his parents, and he indulges in gluttony and stealing from his parents to support his drives. The parents bring him before bais din who rule that, in his case, since he will do…

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Home -> 5784 -> Ki Seitzei

כי תבנה בית חדש ועשית מעקה לגגך

Sruly Schnair
In Ki Seitzei, 5784

If you build a new house, you shall make a fence for your roof. (22:8)

Noting the juxtaposition of the law of maakeh, fence for a roof, upon the previous law of shiluach ha’kein, Rashi comments, “If you fulfilled the mitzvah of sending away the mother bird from the nest, your end will be to (merit to) build a new house and will fulfill the mitzvah of maakeh, for mitzvah goreres mitzvah, a mitzvah engenders another mitzvah after it.” One wonders: Is it possible to live without a house? Obviously not. If so, why does Rashi emphasize that the house is the result of mitzvas shiluach ha’kein, which will now engender the mitzvah of maakeh?…

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Home -> 5784 -> Ki Seitzei

כי יקרא קן צפור לפניך ... שלח תשלח את האם והבנים תקח לך

Sruly Schnair
In Ki Seitzei, 5784

When a bird’s nest happens to be before you on the road… you shall surely send away the mother and take the young for yourself. (22:6,7)

This mitzvah (shiluach ha’kein) is an extension of the mitzvah not to slaughter oso v’es b’no b’yom echad, not to slaughter an ox or a sheep and its offspring on the same day. On the surface, the Torah seeks to teach us to be compassionate even to the feelings of an animal. Chazal (Berachos 33a) teach that one silences the individual who says, Al kan tzipor yagiu rachamecha, “Your mercy extends even to a bird’s nest,’ because he insinuates that the attributes of Hashem are exclusively mercy, when, in fact, they are exclusively decrees. Hashem did not enact decrees, such…

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Home -> 5784 -> Ki Seitzei

ותפשו בו אביו ואמו והוציאו אותו אל זקני עירו

Sruly Schnair
In Ki Seitzei, 5784

Then his father and mother shall grasp him and take him out to the elders of his city. (21:19)

What is the source for the responsibility of parents to bring their wayward son to bais din? Simply, the Torah explains that they are the ones bringing the complaint against their son. He does not listen to them, and he has stolen from them. Since they are the ones who are primarily affected, they are able to absolve him of punishment. Horav Eliyahu Baruch Finkel, zl, offers a powerful insight into the parents’ responsibility and why it is specifically they who are to bring him to bais din. The ben sorer u’moreh is executed because of how he will one…

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Home -> 5784 -> Ki Seitzei

כי יהיה לאיש בן סורר ומורה איננו שמע בקול אביו ואימו

Sruly Schnair
In Ki Seitzei, 5784

If a man has a wayward and rebellious son, who does not obey his father or his mother. (21:18)

In the list of potential familial tragedies, the ben sorer u’moreh, wayward and rebellious son, is certainly in the upper stratum. This is clearly a tragedy, given that parents do so much and give all of themselves to raise their children along the proper and straight course. It happens, however, for various reasons or just because Hashem wills it. In other words, parents can do everything right, follow all the guidebooks and sefarim on chinuch, even daven and recite Tehillim, and Hashem can still decree upon them to have a ben sorer u’moreh. I would like to address the circumvention…

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Home -> 5784 -> Ki Seitzei

כי תצא למלחמה על אויביך

Sruly Schnair
In Ki Seitzei, 5784

When you will go out to war against your enemies. (21:10)

Rashi comments that the Torah is speaking about a milchemes reshus, discretionary war. With regard to milchemes mitzvah, a war which we are commanded to wage, such as against the sheva umos, seven pagan nations that inhabited Eretz Yisrael, we are enjoined not to take prisoners. Thus, the subsequent law regarding the yefas to’ar, beautiful captive, would not apply. The Baal Shem Tov also applies this pasuk as a metaphor for the never-ending battle we must wage against our internal enemy: the yetzer hora, evil inclination. We have no shortcuts in this battle. It is constant, so that it demands…

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Home -> 5783 -> Ki Seitzei

אשר קרך בדרך

Sruly Schnair
In Ki Seitzei, 5783

Who chanced upon you on the way. (25:18)

Rashi comments, “Amalek cooled you off from your burning heat.” The nations feared the Jewish People, thus, they distanced themselves from any altercation with them. Amalek assuaged their fears. This may be compared to a scalding hot bath which everyone fears entering. Suddenly, one man comes along and jumps in. He is scalded, but now others no longer fear the bath. He “cooled” it off for others. The analogy seems incorrect. On the contrary, once the people observe the burn status of the man who jumped in, they will surely stay away. Likewise, once the nations saw what happened to…

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