Ki Tetze- Be a Jew and a Mentsch in the Street

Ki tetze… When you go out…

Jews pay attention to what other Jews do in public.  This is a fact known in the community, and one I have written about.  We are conscious of who is a Jew, at least in name, and how s/he acts in the world.  Parashat Ki Tetze gives us at least part of the rulebook for our interactions in the world.  It is a rulebook ahead of its time, beginning with laws governing basic human kindness during a time when might made right.

The scope of interaction is vast.  We begin with the capture of women in war, certainly a giant step from the reality of the day.  Following are the rights of the firstborn, although this too reacts to the displacement of a first wife for a more beloved one, the disobedient son, basic laws of kindness- to the other people, to the dead, and to animals.  The issues of adultery and divorce are addressed, as well as rape.  Sexual acts, the most intimate of interaction, are given a holy structure.  In its proper place it is elevated and holy, but outside that place it is debased.  This is far from the ritual sexual excess of some groups at the time, or the sinful view of sex from later ones.  Even in a time of arranged marriage, the importance of the developing relationship between newlyweds is stressed.  The slave trade is legislated away.  Needs are addressed.  Money lending and vows are recognized as part of society, but limits are set.  Fair treatment of workers is stressed.  Injustice and dishonesty condemned.

The parasha opens with the words ki tetze, when you go out.  What follows are rules of war, but the opening words set the tone for the rest of our reading.  When we go out how do we act?  Are we a Jew at home and a merely a mentsch in the street?  Should we not be both at all times?  To see our laws as pertaining only to our private lives, but not when we go out is not acceptable.  Neither is it permissible to ignore the view of the world when we do go out.

The parasha ends with a reminder timche et zeicher Amalek mitachat hashamayim lo tishkach; blot out the memory of Amalek from under the Heavens; do not forget.  Amalek is condemned for his cowardly attack of the weakest of society at the rear of the Israelite procession.  His memory illustrates the opposite of what we are commanded to do.  When you go out care about others.  Protect the weak.  At all times be both a Jew and a mentsch.