Parsha Ki Teitzei: When You Go Out [To Battle]

By Richard Sison | 2017

Introduction

Ki Teitzei ( כִּי־תֵצֵא†) is a Hebrew phrase for "when you go out.” It covers Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19. The parsha sets out a series of varieties of laws, mostly governing civil and domestic life, including ordinances regarding a female captives of war, inheritance among the sons of two wives, a rebellious son, the corpse of an executed person by hanging, found property, coming upon another in distress, rooftop safety, forbidding mixtures, sexual offences, affiliation in the congregation, camp hygiene, runaway slaves, prostitution, usury, vows, gleaning, kidnapping, repossession, prompt payment of wages, vicarious liability, flogging, treatment of domestic animals, levirate marriage, weights and measures, and remembrance of the Amalekites among other things.

Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and Pharisees! You pay your tithes of mint, dill and cumin; but you have neglected the weightier matters of the Torah — justice, mercy, trust. These are the things you should have attended to — without neglecting the others!

Matthew 23:23

The message