Fifth haftarah of consolation
Aug 24, 2018 By Jan Uhrbach | Commentary | Ki Tetzei
This fifth haftarah of comfort describes a process of reconciliation. Now on the other side of the abyss, God’s anger and “hiding of the face” can be seen in retrospect as temporary, even momentary, and confidence on the reliability of love and kindness can be restored.
Read MoreFacing Reality
Sep 1, 2017 By Alex Sinclair | Commentary | Ki Tetzei
And so another school year begins. After a summer of camp, travel, or relaxation, reality bites. Schedule. Classes. Papers. Reality.
Ki Tetzei contains many moments which deal with cold, hard reality. You like that woman you took captive in war? Sorry, mate, you have to face reality, with rules and regulations (Deut. 21:10–14). Think that the son of your preferred wife can inherit, even though he’s not the first-born? No sirree: you have to deal with legal reality (21:15-17).
Read MoreClothes That Make Us Human
Sep 1, 2017 By William Plevan | Commentary | Ki Tetzei
Among the many joys of summertime in Manhattan is the chance to see a performance of Shakespeare in the Park. This year’s feast for eyes and ears was the magical romantic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream. One of the key turns of the plot involves the sprite Puck casting a spell on the wrong young lover, because his only instructions were to enchant one with “Athenian garb.” Judging on fashion alone, poor Puck thought he had discharged his duties. Puck’s comedic error is of course another instance of one of Shakespeare’s favorite themes, the way our clothing becomes synonymous with our identity. Most famously, in Hamlet Shakespeare has the Danish noble Polonius tell his son Laertes that “the apparel oft proclaims the man.”
Read MorePromises, Promises
Sep 16, 2016 By Cheryl Magen | Commentary | Ki Tetzei
Oh, promises, their kind of promises, can just destroy a life
Oh, promises, those kind of promises, take all the joy from life
Oh, promises, promises, my kind of promises
Can lead to joy and hope and love
Yes, love!
Read More—“Promises, Promises” (from the 1968 musical of the same name), lyrics by Hal David
Why Do We Need a Reminder to Remember?
Sep 16, 2016 By Yedida Eisenstat | Commentary | Ki Tetzei
When was the last time you memorized a phone number? In the age of Gmail, iPhones, and Facebook, remembering has become a passive activity. But at the end of this week’s parashah, the Torah commands us to actively “remember what Amalek did to you… do not forget.” But what did Moses command Israel to remember and why?
Read MoreGod Heals Our Wounds
Sep 10, 2011 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Ki Tetzei
The suffering of those we love stays with us and affects us deeply, years after the fact; in Deuteronomy, Moses finds himself thinking about his deceased sister’s illness and the pain he felt at her suffering many years prior, and now we find ourselves thinking about the events of 9/11 and recalling the pain we felt a decade ago.
Read MoreRedeemed for This Reason
Sep 17, 2005 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Ki Tetzei
Hurricane Katrina united our country in common empathy and purpose. The outpouring of support, monetary and otherwise, has been greater than most of us could have hoped for or imagined. But was it really so surprising? The Torah suggests that our national response was correct but would not have expected any less.
Read MoreBefore the Geneva Conventions
Sep 6, 2003 By Lewis Warshauer | Commentary | Ki Tetzei
Yitzhak Rabin, in his acceptance speech on the occasion of receiving the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1994, said:
Read MoreAt an age when most youngsters are struggling to unravel the secrets of mathematics and the mysteries of the Bible; at an age when first love blooms; at the tender age of sixteen, I was handed a rifle so that I could defend myself. That was not my dream. I wanted to be a water engineer. I studied in an agricultural school and I thought being a water engineer was an important profession in the parched Middle East. I still think so today. However, I was compelled to resort to the gun.