Synagogue Sermon
Law and Love (1967)
Last week’s Sidra, Shoftim, dealt primarily with society and government; therefore at the very beginning we are told that we are to install judges and police administration be’khol she’arekha, “in all thy gates,” i.e., in your cities. Today’s Sidra, Ki Tetzei, deals primarily with family and home; and therefore at the very beginning we are told ve’havetah el tokh betekha, “you shall bring her into thy home.” The first deals with city, the second with home.One would expect, therefore, that the treatment be radically different in each case: that Shoftim be expressed in the form of laws, while Ki Tetzei be presented in the idiom of moral advice. Shoftim, which deals with government, should be a portion abounding in rigorous and exacting standards of justice, while Ki Tetzei should contain mostly preachments on love and tenderness and gentleness. After all, government and society are based on the principle of mora, of fear of authority and respect for the rights of others. Otherwise, anarchy prevails. Thus did the Rabbis teach: ilmalei moraah ish et havero hayyim be’la’o, if not for this principle of respect for authority, people would swallow each other up alive. That is why society and government require the institution of law and the principle of justice: tzeddek tzeddek tirdof, “justice, justice shalt thou pursue.” But family and home are built on love and affection and friendship, and hence one would expect that law as such be at a minimum.Yet, surprisingly, that is not so. In both portions we find a very large number of mitzvot and dinim. Ki Tetzei, indeed, is full of prosaic laws. How can we explain that this Sidra – and this is characteristic of all of Torah – presents its doctrine of marriage and family life in legal form, full of commandments and prohibitions, of laws and duties? How can the modern mentality understand that these laws referring to family life should constitute as much as one fourth of the entire “Shulhan Arukh,” the code of Jewish law?First, …
