Since last weekend, we have been riveted with the
ongoing catastrophic flooding that has occurred in Houston and vicinity because
of Hurricane Harvey. We have seen shocking and heart wrenching pictures of
rescues, of lost loved ones, of people who have lost their homes, lost everything
except what was on their back and what they carried. We have watched neighbors
form a human chain to rescue a pregnant woman rush her to the hospital in order
to give birth. Amid the property loss,
damage and death, we have watched people reaching out to care for those in
need. Keeping in mind what happened in the preceding weeks in Charlottesville,
my faith in humanity and the United States was re-affirmed by a simple picture
of an African American policeman rescuing two white children in his arms and
carrying them to safety.
This Shabbat, we read Parsha Ki Teitzeh. Moshe
teaches us the laws concerning war, creating an environment for soldiers to
behave as honorably as possible. We learn that everyone, whether “loved” or
“hated” has rights under the law as well as entitlements. We learn that every
one of us is responsible for the other. If we see something that has been lost
by our neighbor then we pick it up and return it. Moshe re-iterates that human
relationships can either be holy, between a husband and wife, and between
parents and children or unholy by crossing the boundaries of those
relationships. Moshe reminds the people that children will not be punished for
the sins of their parents, nor will parents be punished as a result of their
children. In such a situation there would be no need to add punishment since
the parents of the child or the children of the parent would be punished enough
just having been touch by the situation. Essentially this morning’s Parsha is
all about human relationships designed to maintain individual holiness as well
as communal holiness.
So it is troubling that we are confronted with one
of the most controversial commandments of the Torah. Ki Yiheyeh L’Ish Bein Sorer U’Moreh Einenu Shomeiah B’kol Aviv U’vkol
Imo, If a man will have a wayward and
rebellious son, who does not hearken to the voice of his father and the voice
of his mother V’Yisru Oto v’Lo Yishmah Aleihem and they discipline him, but he does not
hearken to them, then his father and mother shall grasp him and take him out to
the elders of his city and the gate of his place. They shall say to the elders
of the city, B’Neinu zeh Sorer U
Moreh “This son of ours is wayward
and rebellious, he does not hearken to our voice; he is a glutton and a
drunkard.” All the men of his city shall pelt him with stones and he shall die; U’viarta
HaRah Mikirbecha and you shall remove the evil from your
midst (Deut. 21:18-21). The literal meaning of the verses suggests that in
the extreme case of an evil child who is beyond help, and clings to evil the
way the rest of the community clings to holiness, such a child must be
eliminated.
We should all recognize the fact that Moshe’s
presentation of the “Rebellious Child” is theoretical. The Talmud makes
the point that “there never was nor will there ever be” a child to be
put to death based upon this law. Rashi, the 11th century Northern French
commentator, explains that the harshness of the punishment is not for crimes
already perpetrated rather it is to prevent this amoral, evil person to grow up
and wreak greater havoc upon society. Rather than allowing him to die as an
older person with his victims’ blood on his hands, Moshe teaches us to
eliminate this person before there are more victims. Theoretically Rashi
is merely stating what so many of us already take for granted in terms of our
place within society. The greater good
is the highest virtue. How else can we understand Houston city officials
choosing to empty some of the reservoirs that are at capacity and its
structural integrity threatened. Emptying the reservoirs will contribute to the
flooding; however it will be less damaging than if the dams and reservoirs
break.
The Jewish calendar indicates that it is
approximately ten days in the final month of the Jewish Year, the month of
Elul. When Elul concludes, a new year will commence. As we approach Rosh
Hashanah and a new year; we begin evaluating ourselves, we can take a lesson
from this theoretical case. The death of such rebellious person is a result of
not mending one’s ways, of not engaging in Teshuva. Such a person’s soul is
already dead, or at least that is what the Torah is symbolically telling us. So
let us have the strength and courage to make sure that we never allow ourselves
to slip that far and in doing so, the rebellious child that resides within in
us can grow and evolve into a mentsche.
Peace,
Rav Yitz
