Ki Seitzei – Peninim on the Torah

“Do not plow with an ox and a donkey together.” (22:10)

Being sensitive to the feelings of another human being is a requisite for defining mentchlichkeit, humanness. While many of us go out of our way to be kind and thoughtful when it affects the feelings of a prominent individual, we often ignore the sensitivities of a common person. The Torah provides us with a penetrating insight regarding this inappropriate practice. We are adjured not to plow with an ox and a donkey together. Although the Torah does not suggest a reason, the Daas Zekeinim explains that these two animals have two diverse habits for digesting their food. Because an ox…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Seitzei, 5767

“He is unable to give the right of the firstborn to the son of the beloved one ahead of the son of the hated one, who is the firstborn.” (21:16)

The firstborn has an inviolable right to his share of his father’s inheritance. The Torah is teaching us that rivalries or animosities do not determine the laws of inheritance. There is a clearly defined halachah that the firstborn receive a double portion of his father’s inheritance. The fact that his father harbors a hatred for his mother does not give him license to deprive his firstborn son of his rightful share. In forbidding the father to give over a firstborn’s rights, the Torah uses a puzzling term. It says, lo yuchal, “He is unable to do so.” Why is the…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Seitzei, 5767

“And you will see among its captivity a woman who is beautiful of form, and you will desire her, you may take her to yourself for a wife.” (21:11)

The Torah recognizes that war wreaks havoc on a person’s emotions. The anxiety and breakdown of normal life leaves a person in an unusually depressed state, emotionally fragile and susceptible to the blandishments of the yetzer hara, evil-inclination. Under such conditions, the Jewish soldier might defer to his base desires. Upon seeing a woman among the enemy, he might feel an uncontrollable desire for her. Rather than risk sin that may lead to further spiritual pollution, the Torah provides an outlet for the lustful soldier. There is a process that the female captive must undergo, after which he may marry…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Seitzei, 5767

“And you will see among its captivity a woman who is beautiful of form… If a man will have two wives, one beloved and one hated… If a man will have a wayward and rebellious son.” (21:11,15,18)

Chazal derive a valuable lesson from the juxtaposition of the laws of the ben sorer u’moreh, the rebellious son, to the case of the man who has two wives, one of whom he hates, and to the incident of the beautiful captive, in which the Torah gives a dispensation, a concession to human weakness, allowing the Jewish soldier to marry this woman. Chazal perceive this marriage, which serves to prevent worse manifestations of the unbridled passions of man, as the precursor of the disobedient and rebellious son. A wife taken in a such a manner will probably ultimately become an…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Ki Seitzei, 5767

“When you will go out to war against your enemies, and Hashem, your G-d, will deliver him into your hand, and you will capture its captives.” (21:10)

The pasuk’s text is enigmatic. It begins by referring to our enemies in the plural, “your enemies,” – but then it changes to the singular, saying, “And Hashem, your G-d, will deliver him into your hand.” Horav Mordechai Gifter, z.l., addresses this question and derives a profound lesson from the pasuk. Whether we realize it or not, we enter battle daily against all sorts of enemies or, rather, one enemy in the guise of many different enemies. The yetzer hara, evil-inclination, man’s archenemy is extremely cunning and seeks ways to destroy our spiritual development. He attacks us from all sides,…

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“Do not plow with an ox and a donkey together.” (22:10)

“He is unable to give the right of the firstborn to the son of the beloved one ahead of the son of the hated one, who is the firstborn.” (21:16)

“And you will see among its captivity a woman who is beautiful of form, and you will desire her, you may take her to yourself for a wife.” (21:11)

“And you will see among its captivity a woman who is beautiful of form… If a man will have two wives, one beloved and one hated… If a man will have a wayward and rebellious son.” (21:11,15,18)

“When you will go out to war against your enemies, and Hashem, your G-d, will deliver him into your hand, and you will capture its captives.” (21:10)

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