“The parrot is green wherever it is, even if it doesn’t want to be.”
This week’s parashah, Ki Tetze, which means “when you go out,” contains the most mitzvot (commandments) in the Torah, specifically 74, all dealing with everyday life. They are a moral and ethical compass for how the Creator expects us to act in the face of pressure, which we will all experience at some point. It begins with the soldier’s need for self-control over his sexual impulse toward a beautiful woman taken captive as spoils of war, common at the time the Torah was written. Although modern times may have changed our perception of this issue, the Torah should now be more relevant to all of humanity than ever. We saw in the October 7th massacre how Hamas raped captive women and humiliated them. It is more than sad to see the “standards” of this progressive world, led by Greta Thunberg and her henchmen, who left Barcelona this week for Gaza; how they defend these terrorists who not only raped them, but inflicted suffering on their victims, stripped them naked, murdered and mutilated them, used them as human shields, starved them, and separated entire families forever. I would love to see a caravan in support of the 90 captives who are still in the hands of Hamas!
The Torah tells us, Israel, when you go to war, and one of your men sees and desires an attractive woman, he cannot behave like a beast; he must subdue his “inner enemy” and respect her, not only physically, but also psychologically due to the trauma and the loss she may have suffered, so he has to wait 30 days, reducing her attractiveness in order to control his animal nature.
Then, it addresses the rights of the firstborn when there is more than one wife involved and how to deal with a rebellious son. Later, it addresses laws regarding respect for the dead and their burial. It continues with the return of lost objects, the welfare of a mother bird before coming to take her young, teaching compassion for animals, as the Eternal’s Creation.
It continues with the obligation of erecting security fences around the roof of the house, and deals with various forms of Kilayim or Shatnez (mixing certain plants and animals). It recounts judicial proceedings regarding divorce, marriage, widowhood, adultery, rape, seduction, and false testimony about adultery. It states that an Israelite may not marry a mamzer (a bastard), a Moabite, an Ammonite, an Edomite, or an Egyptian.
It then details the Divine standard for commercial or economic dealings, such as the timely payment of workers’ wages, purity in military camps, not handing over runaway slaves, and the laws regarding interest on loans. The commandments conclude by reminding us of what Amalek did to us as we left Egypt.
But today, I want to focus on a verse from the Haftarah portion in Isaiah 54:1, “Sing, O barren one, you who did not bear a child.” רׇנִּ֥י עֲקָרָ֖ה לֹ֣א יָלָ֑דָה. Although we know that it refers to Jerusalem, it also extends to many people inside and outside of our community, who feel that they are “spiritually barren”, that is, they have not yet seen the fruit of their relationship with the Eternal.
The barren could be compared to those who continually try to produce life but cannot, or those who seem to fulfill certain mitzvot but feel that they bear no fruit or generate no light by their actions. Or even those who do Teshuvah and see no positive results in their lives, feeling disappointed in their relationship with themselves, their families, or God. The prophet calls upon those of us who feel stuck: “Sing, O barren one, you who did not bear.” If we read it very carefully, the prophet is speaking to those who HAVE NOT YET GIVEN BIRTH and therefore are called barren. He does not say, “You who are,” that is, your nature is to be barren, but rather, because you think that you did not bear, that you are barren. So, the verse should read, “Sing, O barren one, you who did not yet bear.”
For example, when my wife was 10 years old, was she “sterile” because she hadn’t given birth yet, or did she have a physical defect? She was a sterile child with the potential to become an excellent mother at the right time. Her fertility was within her. The same thing happens to those of us who, over time, don’t produce “good fruit” and think that our nature is to be sterile. I connect this verse with Isaiah 42:6: “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness and will strengthen your hand.” Ani Adonai keraticha v’tzedek, v’achazek b’yadecha “אֲנִי יְהוָה קְרָאתִיךָ בְצֶדֶק וְאַחֲזֵק בְּיָדֶךָ” –– What does this mean? Do you remember where these powerful words ANI ADONAI (I, the LORD) appear? Yes! It’s the First Commandment in which we are to recognize that THERE IS ONLY ONE Who we can call GOD. This is the First Commandment. It’s easy to say these words, but putting them into practice is quite another thing.
Let’s say I’ve been fired, and I have no way to pay my bills. What happens within me when I hear ANI ADONAI? Or if my partner left me, what happens within me when I hear ANI ADONAI? Although I study hard, I’m not getting good grades, and despite my effort, I don’t understand anything. What happens inside me when I hear ANI ADONAI? When I hear these words ANI ADONAI, it should resonate within the depths of my being that the Creator of All, GOD, is the One who allows these adverse situations to happen, and that He cares for me no matter the outcome perceived in my limited way, and that, by trusting and believing in Him, I know that He will work everything for my good. How many successful businesses have emerged from the failure of previous ones? How many entrepreneurs have emerged from a layoff? How many healthy families have emerged from a divorce or a breakup? By trusting in this promise, “ANI ADONAI,” I am placing my hopes and my life in the Creator of life, knowing that He will work all things for my good.
It continues with, “I called you in righteousness” (קראתיך בצדק karaticha be-tzedek). When God speaks to us in righteousness, it is not just a term of “legal uprightness,” it provides us with the way to approach God and respond to His call by walking uprightly, living with order and faithfulness to His covenant, i.e., His Ten Commandments given to us at Mt. Sinai. In practical terms, we walk in righteousness when we act according to the commandments that He has given us to live a full life. If we do not live or practice righteousness, then we will not fulfill our calling.
As a result of being called and living the Commandments, the prophet continues to affirm that He will work a miracle in us: “I will strengthen your hand” (ואחזק בידך) ve’achazek b’yadecha. What does this mean? The idea conveyed by the hand is the power to act and the ability to work. It is God who will produce in us what Rav Shaul spoke of, “the ability to will and the ability to do” (Philippians 2:13). A practical example: I have decided to live the Commandment to not turn a blind eye to my neighbour’s belongings (even if he is my enemy), as we read in this week‘s portion. To live it would be to obey it, that is, I do not ignore what belongs to another, and abandon him. Strengthening my hand would be to take his belongings and hold onto them until I can hand them over in full.
“I formed you” וְאֶצָּרְךָ – ve’etzarcha, meaning, God moulds us for a specific purpose. For example, when a carpenter decides to make a chair, from the moment he shapes it, he thinks about the purpose of that chair. Will it be for outdoors? Then he must form it with materials suitable for outdoor use. Will it be for the beach? Then he must use materials that can withstand the sun, heat, salt, and humidity. Is it for a child? It must be an appropriate size and comfortable. I also note that the word “I formed you” is a design that God made even before we were born; it happens the moment He decided to conceive us. From the moment we are born, we are already formed; the only thing that happens to us is that we uncover the Divine Mind’s plan for us. “I have appointed you as a covenant for the people” (וְאֶתְּנָךְ לִבְרִית עָם), that is, we are witnesses to the Divine covenant and therefore we can testify to the world that GOD is real.
“As a light to the nations” (לְאוֹר גּוֹיִם) le’or goyim, means that from the moment we are born, we are light, regardless of how much we shine. How are we a light to others? By being an example of morality and ethics, applying the Divine values expounded in our parashah: Justice, compassion, kindness, love of neighbour, keeping the Covenant, and living by His established commandments.
I close with the following statement that we read in 21:14, “You may not sell her for money or keep her as a slave” 21:16; “He may not give the son of the beloved the birthright over the son of the unloved” 22:3; “You may not ignore it.” 23:1; “A man may not marry his father’s wife. He may not uncover the corner of his father’s robe” 23:16; “You may not return a slave to his master if he seeks refuge with you from his master.” 23:25; “You may not put any of them in your basket.”; 24:4 “He may not take her back as a wife.”
In all these “may nots”, I see a common denominator – our inability. We are incapable of certain voluntary acts, and God affirms it. If He had restricted these behaviours, He would have said: “You shall not… you should not… it would not be right… etc.” But our inability arises from “something” embedded within us, from our upbringing that prevents us from consciously or unconsciously carrying out a negative action. There is something within us that prevents us from continuing to do the opposite of what the Torah instructs us to do. For example, if someone puts a gun in my hand and says, “Kill your son to save yourself,” could I do it? From a physical standpoint, yes, I’m not impeded from pulling the trigger, but internally, there would be such strong resistance that I would prefer to be killed rather than shoot my own son. Do you see?
Isaiah 42:6-7 says, “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness and will strengthen your hand. I have formed you and appointed you as a people of My Covenant, a light to the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness from the prison.” This is what the parashah is about: our souls were already formed to be light, and thus cease to be barren, that is, to bear much fruit, which would mean opening the eyes of the blind, freeing prisoners and those who dwell in the darkness of prison. From this, I connect the idea that I must remember what Amalek did, because I DO NOT AND CANNOT behave like them, since they are the opposite of what I am, of what I represent. I repeat, “the parrot is green wherever it is,” and a son of God will be a son wherever he is.”
Shabbat Shalom
Mauricio Quintero