Parashat Ki Teitzei / פרשת כי־תצא
- Fri, 24 August 2018 = 13th of Elul, 5778
- י״ג בֶּאֱלוּל תשע״ח
Deuteronomy 24:5-13 (9 p'sukim)
Deuteronomy 24:5-13 Tree of Life Version (TLV)
5 “When a man takes a new wife, he is not to go out with the army or have any duty passed over to him. He is to be free at home for one year and make his wife happy.
Preserving Life and Property
6 “No one is to take a pair of millstones or the upper one as collateral, for this would be taking a livelihood as collateral.
7 “If a man is caught kidnapping any of his brothers from Bnei-Yisrael, whether he treats him like property or sells him, then that kidnapper must die. So you are to purge the evil from your midst.
8 “Take care in the plague of tzara’at—be very careful to do all that the Levitical kohanim instruct you, just as I commanded them, so you are to take care to do. 9 Remember what Adonai your God did to Miriam, along the way when you were coming out from Egypt.
10 “When you make any kind of loan to your neighbor, you are not to go into his house to get his pledge. 11 You are to stand outside, and the man to whom you are making the loan is to bring the pledge outside to you. 12 If he is a poor man, you are not to sleep with his pledge. 13 You must certainly restore the pledge to him when the sun sets, so that he may sleep in his coat and bless you—and it is to be righteousness for you before Adonai your God.
5 כִּֽי־יִקַּ֥ח אִישׁ֙ אִשָּׁ֣ה חֲדָשָׁ֔ה לֹ֤א יֵצֵא֙ בַּצָּבָ֔א וְלֹא־יַעֲבֹ֥ר עָלָ֖יו לְכָל־דָּבָ֑ר נָקִ֞י יִהְיֶ֤ה לְבֵיתוֹ֙ שָׁנָ֣ה אֶחָ֔ת וְשִׂמַּ֖ח אֶת־אִשְׁתּ֥וֹ אֲשֶׁר־לָקָֽח׃ ס
6 לֹא־יַחֲבֹ֥ל רֵחַ֖יִם וָרָ֑כֶב כִּי־נֶ֖פֶשׁ ה֥וּא חֹבֵֽל׃ ס
7 כִּי־יִמָּצֵ֣א אִ֗ישׁ גֹּנֵ֨ב נֶ֤פֶשׁ מֵאֶחָיו֙ מִבְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְהִתְעַמֶּר־בּ֖וֹ וּמְכָר֑וֹ וּמֵת֙ הַגַּנָּ֣ב הַה֔וּא וּבִֽעַרְתָּ֥ הָרָ֖ע מִקִּרְבֶּֽךָ׃
8 הִשָּׁ֧מֶר בְּנֶֽגַע־הַצָּרַ֛עַת לִשְׁמֹ֥ר מְאֹ֖ד וְלַעֲשׂ֑וֹת כְּכֹל֩ אֲשֶׁר־יוֹר֨וּ אֶתְכֶ֜ם הַכֹּהֲנִ֧ים הַלְוִיִּ֛ם כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוִּיתִ֖ם תִּשְׁמְר֥וּ לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃ ס
9 זָכ֕וֹר אֵ֧ת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֛ה יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ לְמִרְיָ֑ם בַּדֶּ֖רֶךְ בְּצֵאתְכֶ֥ם מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃ ס
10 כִּֽי־תַשֶּׁ֥ה בְרֵֽעֲךָ מַשַּׁ֣את מְא֑וּמָה לֹא־תָבֹ֥א אֶל־בֵּית֖וֹ לַעֲבֹ֥ט עֲבֹטֽוֹ׃
11 בַּח֖וּץ תַּעֲמֹ֑ד וְהָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתָּה֙ נֹשֶׁ֣ה ב֔וֹ יוֹצִ֥יא אֵלֶ֛יךָ אֶֽת־הַעֲב֖וֹט הַחֽוּצָה׃
12 וְאִם־אִ֥ישׁ עָנִ֖י ה֑וּא לֹ֥א תִשְׁכַּ֖ב בַּעֲבֹטֽוֹ׃
13 הָשֵׁב֩ תָּשִׁ֨יב ל֤וֹ אֶֽת־הַעֲבוֹט֙ כְּבֹ֣א הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ וְשָׁכַ֥ב בְּשַׂלְמָת֖וֹ וּבֵֽרֲכֶ֑ךָּ וּלְךָ֙ תִּהְיֶ֣ה צְדָקָ֔ה לִפְנֵ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃ ס
The topic of collateral is mentioned several times, twice in pesuk 6, and in pesukim 10-12 it is alluded to in the form of a "pledge". Once again the Torah speaks of "debt" and repayment, and this time how the creditor is supposed to act towards a brother (fellow believer/member of the Covenant), who is indebted to him. One of these regulations is the return of the pledge/collateral daily by the creditor to the debtor (specifically if he is "poor"). pesuk 12...
Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, (aka. "Maimonides"), in his "Mishneh Torah" speaks of 24 sins, and within them is the withholding of a pledge, the rabbi says:
Mishneh Torah, Repentance 4:4
Among those (twenty-four sins), there are five, concerning which it may be assumed that he who commits them will not repent of them; the reason being that they are regarded by most people as trivial, with the result that one sins and imagines that it is no sin. Offenders coming under this category are the following:
2) he who uses a poor man's pledge. A poor man's pledge consists only of such articles as an axe or a plow, and the user says to himself: "the articles have not been diminished; I have not robbed him".
In addition to returning the pledge daily to the poor debtor, the Torah goes further commanding the creditor to respect the debtor's dignity of his own home by restricting the creditor from entering his premises and taking whatever he wants for collateral. Pesuk 10 & 11.
According to Sifre Rabbah, (a midrash on Deuteronomy):
"When your neighbor is indebted to you, any kind of debt, do not enter his house to claim his pledge." "When your neighbor is indebted to you": This tells me only of a loan. Whence do I derive (the same for) a laborer's wages and store-credit? From "any kind of debt." "do not enter his house": I might think that he could not take a pledge from inside (his house), but that he may do so from (the debtor's possessions) outside; it is, therefore, written (Ibid. 11) "and the man who is indebted to you shall bring out to you the pledge outside. I might think that he could enter inside (and wait for the debtor to give him the pledge); it is, therefore, written "Outside shall you stand." "Outside shall you stand and the man" includes the messenger of beth-din.
"Return shall you return to him the pledge when the sun sets": And elsewhere (Shemoth 22:25) "until the sun sets (in the daytime) shall you return it to him." We are hereby taught that he returns to him what is used during the day in the daytime, and what is used at night, in the evening — a mattress in the evening and a plow in the daytime, and not the reverse. "and he shall bless you": We are hereby taught that he is commanded to bless you. I might think that if he blessed you, you will be blessed; and if not, not. It is, therefore, written "and for you it will be righteousness before the L-rd your G-d." We are hereby taught that righteousness ascends before the throne of glory, as it is written (Psalms 85:14) "His righteousness shall go before Him and shall set his steps on the path."
The Torah seems to spell out for us what God expects of us and how our Righteousness can extend up to Him. This scenario was also found in a "midrash" from Yeshua of Nazareth. It was a "humbling" lesson for all those who witnessed this incident, follow carefully...
Luke 7:36 Now one of the Pharisees was asking Yeshua if He would eat with him. Upon entering the Pharisee’s home, He reclined at the table. 37 And behold, a woman in the town who was a sinner, when she discovered that Yeshua was reclining at the Pharisee’s home, brought an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to drench His feet with tears and kept wiping them with her head of hair. Then she was kissing His feet and anointing them with perfume.
39 Now when the Pharisee who invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this were a prophet, He would know what sort of woman is touching Him—that she’s a sinner.”
40 And answering, Yeshua said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
And he said, “Say it, Teacher!”
41 “A moneylender had two debtors. One owed him five hundred denarii, but the other fifty. 42 When neither could repay him, he canceled both debts. So which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”
“You have judged correctly,” Yeshua said. 44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, and you didn’t give Me water for My feet. But she has drenched My feet with tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet Me with a kiss; but from the time she entered, she has not stopped kissing My feet. 46 You didn’t anoint My head with oil, but she has anointed My feet with perfume. 47 For this reason I tell you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven—for she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little. 48 He then said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.”
The parable of the 2 debtors speaks to us that we, (just like this prostitute) are all together "UNCLEAN" - we are all guilty of sinning against Adonai. None of us can stand before Him in our own "righteousness".
We all have a major "Sin-Debt", however, like this prostitute, when we come and kiss the feet of the Son of God, Yeshua, he has pity on us and forgives our Debts. All of our sin-debt is forgiven, IN HIM.
This Shabbat, don't forget to get down on your hands and knees and cry out to Him for mercy. He is gentle and good, and there is abundant forgiveness waiting for us!
Amen & Shabbat Shalom.
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