Ki Seitzei – Peninim on the Torah

כי יקח איש אשה חדשה לא יצא בצבא

When a man marries a new wife, he shall not go out to the army. (24:5)

The Torah understands that the battlefield is not a place for everyone. A newly-wed should remain home with his new wife. This applies during their first year of marriage. In the previous parsha (20:6,7), the Torah addresses he who has betrothed a woman and has not yet had nessuin, which is the second phase of the marriage ceremony. The Torah underscores the reason for his return from the battlefield: he will be overly concerned that upon his death, his wife will marry someone else. In any event, the Jewish soldier appears to be preoccupied more with himself than with his…

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ויהפוך ד' אלקיך לך את הקללה לברכה

Sruly Schnair In Ki Seitzei, 5786

And Hashem, your G-d, reversed the curse to a blessing for you. (23:6)

Hashem transformed what had been intended to be a curse into a blessing. Veritably, differentiating between curse and blessing is a matter of perception. When we refer to something as a curse or adversity, this means that — according to our mortal, limited vision — we are able to see what appears to be a curse. L’Hisadein B’Ahavasecha notes that the words tzarah, troubles, and tzohar, window/bright light, contain the same three letters: tzadi, hay, reish, only each with a different configuration. This intimates that what we perceive as tzarah, through the medium of tzohar, may have a much brighter…

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כי יהיה לאיש בן סורר ומורה

Sruly Schnair In Ki Seitzei, 5786

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

The Torah does not hide circumstances in Klal Yisrael’s history (especially in the Midbar) that portray human vulnerability and moral and spiritual weakness. Some may shock the reader; others may provoke anger, but I think no narrative is as tragic as the story of the ben sorer u‘moreh, the boy who rebels against his parents. What makes the tragedy even more painful is the realization that it was preventable. Chazal teach that the origin of the boy’s spiritual collapse had its roots long before his rebellion surfaced. The sequence of the parshios— yefas to’ar, attractive gentile captive, followed by the…

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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כי יקח איש אשה חדשה לא יצא בצבא

When a man marries a new wife, he shall not go out to the army. (24:5)

ויהפוך ד' אלקיך לך את הקללה לברכה

And Hashem, your G-d, reversed the curse to a blessing for you. (23:6)

כי יהיה לאיש בן סורר ומורה

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

וירקה בפניו

And she shall spit before him (25:9)

הקם תקים עמו

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

כי יהיה לאיש בן סורר ומורה

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

כי יהיה לאיש בן סורר ומורה

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

כי תבנה בית חדש ועשית מעקה לגגך

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

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

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)

ותפשו בו אביו ואמו והוציאו אותו אל זקני עירו

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

YEARS

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