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Parashat Ki Taytzay, Deuteronomy 21: 10-25:19
Ki Taytzay, Deuteronomy 21: 10-25:19, contains more mitzvot than any other portion (67 in total!). However, they do not appear to be in any order that fits our understanding. The portion begins with the laws about the pilegesh, the captive woman taken as concubine. This is followed rapidly by laws about inheritance (for the first born son of an unloved wife), the defiant son, and the executed criminal.
Chapter 22 begins by commanding us to take care of lost animals and neighbors' animals that are in trouble. Women must not wear men's clothes, or men women's clothing. When collecting eggs or baby birds, we are commanded to shoo the mother away. We must build a railing on our roofs (which were used as walkways in towns). We may not sow different crops in a vineyard. We must have tassels on the corners of our clothes. The rules about a woman accused of not being a virgin at the time of her wedding are prescribed. Adulterous couples are to be executed. Rules about sleeping with a betrothed virgin are given. The chapter ends with the case of a man sleeping with an unbetrothed virgin.
No man may marry his father's former wife. No man with mutilated genitalia may be a member of the community. A mamzer (not defined in Torah), a Moabite, and an Ammonite may not be members of the community. We are forbidden to abhor an Edomite (mishpacha) or an Egyptian because, "you were a stranger in his land." Soldiers are commanded to create personal latrines. We are forbidden to return a runaway slave. Male and female cultic prostitution is forbidden. More laws about loans and vows are given. The chapter ends with permission to eat grapes or ears of grain while walking through a vineyard or field; systematic picking is forbidden.
Chapter 24 describes in passing the document of divorce. A soldier with a new bride is exempt from military service for a year. Kidnapping of an Israelite is a capital offense. Skin afflictions were to be taken to the priest; there is reference to Miriam's skin affliction. Rules protecting the poor and needy are given. The chapter ends with the injunction to remember that we were slaves in the land of Egypt.
Chapter 25 describes the laws about flogging. The complex rule that the widow of a man who died without children must marry the deceased's brother. The ritual for releasing the dead man's brother is described. It is a capital crime for a woman to grab a man by his genitals. We are commanded to have honest measures. The Torah portion ends with the commandment that we must remember what Amalek did to us. This brief passage is read the Shabbat before Purim. |