Parashat Ki Thetzey (Deuteronomy 21:10 - 25:19)

A weekly Torah exploration for families by Michael S. Raileanu, M.A.Ed.

A weekly Torah exploration for families by Michael S. Raileanu, M.A.Ed.

Welcome to the second Carpool Curriculum of the new school year. We are in Parashat Ki Thetzey (Deut. 21:10 - 25:19). In this parasha Moshe reminds the people about some of the rules of going to war, what to do with a defiant child and a whole bunch of other laws about civil society.

When the Israelites go to war and a man sees among the captives a woman he is interested in he must bring her into his house, change her clothes, cut her nails and hair, and wait thirty days before he can marry her. Why is this? What might the Torah be trying to teach us? What type of holiness is being created here? What do you think of this law?
If a mom and a dad cannot control their child, they bring the child to the elders of the city, tell them that the child is "disloyal and defiant (21:20)" and then they stone the child to death. WOW! What do you think of that one? How bad does a kid have to be, in your opinion to deserve this? How much effort do the kids have to put into it before they bring the child to the elders? Why might this system have been important for the Israelites while they were wandering in the desert? Why don't we have this law enforced today?<
We are told not to return a lost slave to his master (23:16-17). Does that makes sense? Doesn't the master have the right to get his slaves back? Why or why not? How does the Torah generally feel about slavery? How is this reflected in this law?
When we go through our olive groves, we cannot go through them a second time (24:20). Why not? We are to save what is leftover for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. What about today's agricultural technology? Should Jewish farmers use implements that clean everything off of the plants? Why or why not? How else does this law apply in the modern world?
Finally, we are told to remember what Amalek did to us on our journey (25:17 - 19). What did they do? What are we to do if we find them? Do you think that we could realistically find Amalek today? How would you go about it? Do you think you should seek them out or just wait until you find them? This mitzvah tells us that we have to kill them when we see them. What do you think about that?