By: Zachary Zimmermann
Teen Engagement Manager
What can’t you say about Ki Teitzei? Over one-tenth of all 613 mitzvot (74, to be exact) are listed within this singular Parsha. To name a few – the forbidding of yoking a donkey with an ox, shooing away the mother bird before taking her eggs, guarding the sanctity of the military camp… Hot off the press from BuzzFeed: Ki Teitzei’s Top 74 Mitzvot RANKED from Least to Most Relevant. There’s quite frankly too much to talk about and you deserve better than a listicle.
So, you may ask yourself – how do we come to understand the aggregate of these 74 seemingly disparate commandments? How do we calculate a sum of the parts into a greater whole? In the words of Topol’s Tevye, “I’ll tell you! I don’t know…”. But it is in our Torah. And because of our Torah, every one of us knows who they are, and what G-d expects of them! *CUE OPENING MUSICAL NUMBER*
Turns out that simple “I don’t know” has enough meat behind it for a 3 hour production on the tension between preserving the old against the new. But hold onto your fiddles dear readers, we’re not in Anatevka anymore.
In truth, Rashi does provide commentary on this exact question. He frames a causal connection between the negative commandments we are introduced to in Ki Teitzei’s outset that eventually cascade into positive mitzvot. Rashi pulls on a lesson from Pirkei Avot: מצוה גוררת מצוה – one mitzvah drags another. In contrast to the opening sins of the Parsha, we are shown a series of positive mitzvot at its closing. This alludes to Rav Tevye’s notion of momentum; to continue in the direction we have already been heading. +1 for Tradition.
In turning our attentions towards the word ‘drag’ (גוררת) however, we notice that a sense of effort, struggle, or resistance is essential to the pursuit of mitzvot. Perhaps continuing down the righteous path is not as simple as the humble Milkman might have us believe.
The proof is clear. Jewish life is marked by struggle. To walk forward in the name of truth and goodness is an act of resistance in a world where the opposite feels so close at hand. Our hearts and minds are turned towards Israel. The Parsha opens – Ki Teitzei Lemilchama (כי תצא למלחמה) / “When you go out to war…”. In this week’s reading, we are reminded throughout of the right way to conduct ourselves. The battlefield is the proving ground of Torah values. When given our greatest challenges, we are meant to drag the next mitzvah forward, against all odds and despite ourselves. We are meant to turn towards one another in our grief and pain and be there in love. This is our Tradition. This is our Resistance. +1 for Tevye’s Rebellious Daughters.
Which, in conclusion, puts the final tally at 1-1 between Tradition and Resistance, leaving us somewhere in the middle. Trying to scratch out a simple, pleasant Torah thought like a Parsha Columnist… on the roof! *CUE CLOSING CREDITS NUMBER*
Please email Zachary Zimmermann at zzimmermann@jewishcolorado.org with questions or comments.