Ki tetzei lamilchama al oivecha, when one goes into battle against one’s enemies (21:10).
On a literal level this verse refers to a person going into a physical war against an external enemy. The Chofetz Chayim teaches that the most difficult war of all is the war within ourselves as we battle our misguided urges and sinful temptations.
A story is told about Rabbi Yisrael Yaakov Kanievsky, also known as the “Steipler.” When he was in his youth, he was sent off to a labor camp in Siberia. The conditions in the camp were brutal. Temperatures were frigid. The cruel guards especially enjoyed torturing the Jewish prisoners. Despite the difficult conditions, the Steipler, was able to meticulously observe the Shabbat.
One Friday afternoon, right at the outset of Shabbat, it was especially cold, when a wicked guard decided to torture the Steipler. The guard menacingly shouted out: “Hey, Jew, remove your coat!” When the Steipler took off his coat, the guard taunted him and threw his coat as far away as he could throw it. The coat landed on a high tree branch. The guard laughed at the Steipler and told him to have fun getting his coat down from the tree. Aside from the difficulty of having to climb the tree in freezing conditions, the Steipler had another problem. Shabbat had just begun and it is forbidden to climb a tree on Shabbat. The Steipler said to himself let me just wait five minutes before climbing the tree. In five minutes, my life will be in danger from the cold and I will be permitted by halakha to climb the tree. Once five minutes had passed, the Steipler said to himself let me try waiting another five minutes, and then another, and another. In this manner the Steipler was able to use his incredible willpower to withstand the cold temperature for the entire Shabbat (Vekarata Leshabbat Oneg, volume 1, 298).
“When there will be a rebellious child” (21:18).
I read the following story in On the Road with Rabbi Steinsaltz, by Arthur Kurzweil (pages 190-191).
Arthur Kurzweil had the honor of driving Rabbi Steinsaltz, zatzal, around on his visits to New York for 25 years. On one trip Arthur received a phone call from a principal of a major Jewish Day School. The principal requested that Rabbi Steinzaltz visit his school on a Friday afternoon. He promised to have the entire school waiting in the auditorium to catch a few minutes with the great rabbi.
Rabbi Steinsaltz had a very tight schedule so when he arrived at the school he was immediately ushered in and asked to address the students.
He spoke in a whisper to the students.
He said, “There are so many subjects that I know so little or nothing about. But I do know a little bit about Torah study. So I would like to offer you some words of advice regarding your Torah studies. My advice to you is this: make the lives of your teachers as miserable as you possibly can.”
The students sat in shock, as did their instructors. Nobody laughed, nobody coughed, nobody moved.
Rabbi Steinsaltz repeated, “Make the lives of your teachers as miserable as you possibly can. Make their lives miserable. Ask them some questions that you don’t think they can answer. Try to find contradictions in things they say and ask them to justify these contradictions. Try to find books that ask particularly difficult questions about the subjects you are studying and ask your teachers these questions. Make the lives of your teachers as miserable as they possibly can.”
Then the rabbi concluded, “Thank you very much.” Since he was on a tight schedule the rabbi then hurried off the stage.
The principal rushed to the podium to thank Rabbi Steinsaltz for his visit. “Boys and girls, I want to thank Rabbi Steinsaltz for visiting…but I want to say, please don’t take Rabbi Steinsaltz too literally.”
By this time Rabbi Steinsaltz had nearly been out of the auditorium. When he heard what the principal said, he rushed back to the stage and spoke again.
This time he no longer whispered. Now he raised his voice and thundered:
“Boys and girls, I have so often been misquoted by journalists over the years, but I don’t want to be misquoted here. My advice to you is this, make the lives of your teachers as miserable as you possibly can.”
Rabbi Steinsaltz then walked off the stage and waved to the children.
Lo tizrah karmekhah kelaim, do not plant a second seed in your vineyard (22:9).
This is the prohibition of planting a non-grape seed in your vineyard. The actual prohibition is not only to plant it, but also to allow the seed and the grapevine to exist together and to maintain it on your property. The Torah views nature as having a life of its own that we need to protect and keep holy. See for example, Devarim 20:19.
Here is a story that Rabbi Avi Weiss told me.
When Rabbi Weiss’ granddaughter, Ariella, was five years old he was standing with her in shul and asked her what was her favorite part of the shul. Ariella looked out at the trees and pointed to them. Her favorite part of the shul were the trees that overlooked the shul.
Rabbi Weiss explained to Ariella that there is a tradition from Rebbe Nachman that every single blade of grass has its own neshama. So too, we must imagine as if every tree has its own soul. He told Ariella that if we listen closely we can hear the trees singing to each other.
Soon after that Rabbi Weiss and Ariella left the shul to walk home. As they were walking on the street, Rabbi Weiss was offering hugs to all who came up to him and wished them a Good Shabbas. Upon seeing this Ariella ran over to a beautiful tree and hugged it. She said to the tree, “Good Shabbas tree!”
Shatnez
Background:
Parashat Ki Teitze contains many commandments. One of them is the prohibition against wearing a mix of wool and linen clothing, which is called shatnez. Devarim 22:11 says:
לֹ֤א תִלְבַּשׁ֙ שַֽׁעַטְנֵ֔ז צֶ֥מֶר וּפִשְׁתִּ֖ים יַחְדָּֽו׃
You shall not wear cloth combining wool and linen.
This commandment is understood to be a classic example of a חוק, or a law that does not have any obvious explanation (as opposed to a משפט, a law that does appear to have a reasonable explanation.) However, our rabbis still provided possible interpretations of shatnez to explain why we have this prohibition.
The Chizkuni offers 2 explanations:
A. Wool and linen are prohibited to be mixed together because they represent the tragedy of Kayin and Hevel. Hevel’s sacrifice was sheep (wool), and Kayin’s sacrifice was flax (plants from which linen is made).
B. The Kohen’s clothing is made of shatnez. Therefore, shatnez represents holiness that should not also be worn for other purposes, and should be reserved only for the service of Hashem.
Questions:
- According to the first explanation, what does shatnez represent? What is the symbolism of not wearing it?
- According to the second explanation, what does shatnez represent? What is the symbolism of not wearing it?
- In your opinion, is there value to attempting to explain the meaning behind a חוק?
Download a printable version here.
Will return next week.
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