"Destroy the memory of Amalek from under the heavens, do not forget" (Devarim 25:19). To wipe out Amalek under the heavens we need to first destroy the prince of Amalek, above which is the spirit of selfishness. Then we can begin to do battle with the foot soldiers of Amalek, the things we hold onto in this world that were really meant for others (Baal Shem Tov on the parashah).
"When you go out to war against your enemies and the Lrd your Gd will give them into your hands, you may see among them a beautiful woman that you desire and want to take her for a wife. You must bring her into your house and she will shave off all of her hair and dispose of the garments in which she was taken captive." (Devarim 21:10-13). This comes to teach us that if a person desires something then there must be some good that is found there. But it's easy to confuse the outer play of attraction with the spiritual beauty that first caught our attention. Therefore the command is to remove all of the seductive trappings so that we can come to the inner source of desire, which is its true beauty (Mei Shiloach on the parashah).
"Keep perfect and just weights and measures�For all that act unrighteously in these things are an abomination before the Lrd your Gd. Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you came out of Mitzrayim" (Devarim 25:15-17). Rashi sees a connection between the two subjects of business fraud and the violence of Amalek: "If you use false weights and measures then the next thing you know your enemies will provoke you." As it says in the Midrash Tanchumah, "Where there is intentional sin, shame and destruction will follow." This is connected to the beginning of the parashah as well, which brought the extreme case of desiring a beautiful captive amidst the tumult of war. For even in such a case, where our passions are aroused, the Torah gives us advice on how to begin the process of restraining our middot or character traits (literally, the "measures" of our personality) so we can avoid being seduced by external forces and bring ourselves around to serve holiness.
Ki Teitzei
Reb Shlomo Minyan HarNof
(R. Raphael, email: [email protected])
My Brother's Keeper
"Don't see your brother's cattle or sheep wandering lost and then hide from them; return them to your brother" (Devarim 22:1). The key to helping each other is having compassion. Because when we stop caring we can't see the good in others or in ourselves. And the pasuk is telling us that we do indeed see the good and yet we still turn the other way. That's why it says, "return the lost article of your brother." Because only if you feel that the other person is your brother will you be able to put your own interests aside and really care for him in his depth.
On the most mundane level this may mean returning his stray animals. But there are more precious things that a person loses - the expressions of his soul. Through binding himself in sin he forgets who he is, he loses his daat, his awareness. When this happens, sometimes it's only another person who has the eyes to see, the daat to realize, what the other person has lost. The pasuk tells us "don't avert your eyes." If you have the merit to see what a person has lost, help him. Because at that point you are his daat.
The parashah continues, "If you do not know who the owner is, bring it home and keep it until your brother identifies it and then return it" (Devarim 22:2). Rebbe Nachman says (Lekutei Moharan, lesson 188) that a real rebbe is someone whose eyes are constantly open, looking out for lost articles and bringing them in to protect them. When a person goes in search of advice the rebbe needs to test the sincerity of the person. If the person is ready, then the rebbe reveals the lost thing. If not, he continues to guard it till the person can truly identify it.
Rav Noson on Lost items Returning lost things (l'heishiv) is connected to teshuvah, returning one's soul to Hashem. The Torah says you should return the item to your chaver, your fellow. But it also means to return a thing to its chibur, its connection. Rav Noson explains that when a person sins, the light from above that suffused his belongings flees to a higher realm. To repair this a person has to remake the connection. This is like the Hebrew letter alef that has a yud below and a yud above which are joined to a vav, which passes like a roof or sky between what is below and what is above.
What the person needs to do is to fix his relationship to the thing from below so the Heavenly light can enter again from above. He does this through facing in silence he judgments from his sin and also the embarrassment that comes from admitting what he did wrong. Through this he empties the vessel of self from its impurity so the light from above can dwell again in the thing that had brought him to sin. This is what it means, "return the lost article to your chaver (friend)" or, as we said, through making chibur, reconnecting the light to the part of his soul that was lost.
And this has to do as well with the section of the parashah dealing with Amalek. Because when Amalek came they attacked the tribe of Dan who traveled at the edge of Klal Yisrael, the outmost point of protection from the Clouds of Hashem's Glory. Dan were the ones who reached out to rescue Jews who were falling away and this is the notion of returning lost articles. Dan was gathering all the sparks of holiness back into the camp of Yisrael, returning them to their root.
Amalek targets this aspect of the tribe of Dan because they want to destroy this ability to gather in that which goes missing. This is why the mitzvah of wiping out Amalek is so important. It attacks us at the very root - our ability to have the awareness to bring back lost sparks of holiness.
Once we have wiped out Amalek we are then commanded to build the Temple. The Temple represents how Hashem sees us from above and this is the aspect of Moshe, daat, our experience of the connection to the Holy. Through this aspect of the Temple all of our sins can be corrected since the upper light with which we can see clearly is no longer obscured. And then we can appoint a king, which represents the wealth of establishing a kingdom in this world. Because by suffusing our belongings with the light of spirituality through our teshuvah we amass our true fortune and true kingship which is for the sake of Heaven.
Crying Out To Hashem From Exile
In a time when our connection to Hashem is close, each of us has the power to overcome temptation by calling out even if we are confronted with the greatest temptation. As the pasuk says, "If a betrothed woman has relations with another man in the city and she doesn't cry out then the act is considered with her consent" (Devarim 22:23). The unity and social cohesion of the ideal city are comparable to the times of the Temple when salvation was accessible to anyone at any time. But in a time of exile, can there be blame if one doesn't call out? Thus the pasuk says "A woman who is raped in the field has no sin worthy of death even though she did not cry out." This is like what it says about the times after the destruction of the Temple, "Even when I cry and call for help, he stops up my prayer" (Eichah 3:8).
Even with all of this, regardless of our circumstances a person should always be prepared to cry out to Hashem. Because he still has the power to push away the outer forces of darkness. This takes the courage of preparing oneself to give up life rather than transgress the three cardinal sins. But if a person has the power to cry out, then if a pursuer tries to forcefully impose the action, a bystander can use any means at their disposal to stop him.
This is why the Shema comes before tefillah, where we call out the oneness of Hashem and devote ourselves to showing this in the world even to the point of being willing to surrender our lives. Because by calling out with faith, our prayers take on a special power that can bring down the forces of evil even in these times. (See the Sefat Emet p. 88)
The Sefat Emet takes this a step further. He says that sometimes a person tries with all of his power to call out and finds that he is paralyzed. He cannot make a sound. And, nevertheless, his effort still has the most powerful effect. This is like what it says in the Gamora, that when the soul separates from the body an unheard call goes out from the person that is heard from one end of creation to the other. Because the desire to call out which cannot be realized is the most powerful thing of all. And this silent scream is hinted at by the pasuk when it says refers to "the scream of the young betrothed girl" even though she was not able to call out.
It is the responsibility of all of us to respond to the cries that we hear, to prepare ourselves to call out in a time of danger, and to pray that Hashem will save those who have the will to cry out even if they can't express it. As it says, Hashem answers us even before the prayer leaves our lips.
Mitzvot
According to Sefer HaChinuch there are seventy-six commandments in parashat Ki Teitzei. One of them is to return a lost article, "You shall certainly return something lost to your brother Yisrael." And this is repeated elsewhere in the Torah when it says, "If you encounter the cattle of your brother, return it to him." Looking after the welfare of your neighbor is the basis of society. Our animals stray here and there and our belongings get scattered. But when we watch out for each other's things then no matter where they are in the Holy Land it's like they were constantly under the control of their owner. As it says in Tehillim, "The commands of Hashem are straight, they gladden the heart." (19:9)
A person who finds something identifiable either by its physical characteristics or its location, is obligated to publicize this. But if the lost item is indistinguishable then the owner is deemed to have given up hope of recovering it and the finder may acquire it for himself. (These subjects are discussed in great detail in the Talmud Tractate Baba Matzhiah.)
At A Glance