32
Friday, September 7, 1984
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I
Justice and compassion viewed
BY ELLEN UMANSKY
Special to The Jewish News
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As Jews, we are commanded to
be holy. Yet we often forget that
holiness cannot be attained either
through ritual observance or
prayer. Both may help us attain
holiness, especially if they aid in
our establishing a "right relation-
ship" with God, but neither is in
and of itself sufficient. As this
week's parasha reminds us, we
become holy not only through
achieving a "right relationship"
with God but also through achiev-
ing a "right relationship" with
others. The implication of the text
is that both are mutually depen-
dent relations.
Parshat Ki Thetze, though it
seems to jump from one subject to
another, is unified by a single
theme, namely, the relationship
of the individual to other people
and other things. The kinds of re-
lationships described here are di-
verse. They include the relation-
ship of man to man, man to
woman, victor to captive, parent
to child. Israelite to non-Israelite,
sister to brother, employer to em-
ployee, the judge to the con-
demned, etc. Despite this focus on
human relationships, the Biblical
text also describes the relation-
ship of the individual to birds and
animals. In each instance, both
the nature of the relationship and
the standard of behavior that is
expected are made clear. Thus, for
example, a man may marry a hea-
then woman taken captive in
battle but only after she under-
goes a month's period of mourning
for her family and adopts the He-
brew faith. Should the man, after
marrying her, decide that she no
longer "delights" him, he may lit-
erally let her go, but cannot sell
her into slavery since he has al-
ready had sexual relations with
her. A man who has two wives,
one of whom he hates, the other
whom he loves, cannot deny the
first-born son his rightful inheri-
tance even if that son is the child
of the wife that is hated.
He who finds a fallen bird's nest
may take the young birds, but not
their mother, with him; the Is-
raelite is not to hate the Egyptian
for he was once a stranger in the
Egyptian's land; one is not to
charge interest on a loan to a fel-
low Israelite but may if the loan is
to a foreigner, and so on.
In all, Ki Thetze describes more
than 50 kinds of relationships.
They may differ in nature (e.g.,
some are relationships among
equals, others of superior to in-
ferior) but all are to be established
on the basis of justice.
Yet despite these important
teachings, I am disturbed by the
text's understanding of justice.
Though one might argue that the
man who divorces the former cap-
tive without selling her into slav-
ery is being just, that it is just to
charge the foreigner interest, and
that it is just to stone to death the
son who refuses to obey his par-
ents, I question whether the di-
vorced wife, the foreigner, and the
condemned son would agree with
this assessment. While the hesi-
tancy of later generations of rab-
bis to enforce the death penalty
might lead us to conclude that
Ellen Umansky teaches religion at
Emory University.
even they questioned whether, in
the latter case, justice was being
served, their doubts did not con-
cern the decision to punish the
son, but rather the kind of
punishment that ought to be in-
flicted.
What is missing here is a sense
of justice tempered by love either
for the rebellious son, or for the
Parashat Ki Thetze:
Deuteronomy
21:10-25:19 Isaiah
54.-1-10
spouse that has committed adul-
tery. In none of the relationships
described here, is one exhorted to
be merciful. In none, do the ag-
grieved get to tell their side of the
story. Yet as the Haftorah (Isaiah
54:1-10) reminds us, love and
mercy are often as important as
justice. Using marriage (again,
relationship) as a metaphor, Is-
rael in exile is likened to a woman
abandoned by her husband.
Though God, as husband, has
abandoned her out of anger, feel-
ings of love and compassion lead
him to promise that she will be
returned to him in the future.
In order to strive for holiness,
we must view the teachings of the
Torah and Haftorah as insepara-
ble from one another. The Torah
maintains that justice may be
served without compassion. Yet
as the Haftorah reminds us, it is
only in tempering one with the
other that we truly become like
God.
Copyright 1984, National Havurah
Committee
SYNAGOGUE
Rabbi Efry Spectre, right, of Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington
Hills, met with Israel's chief election pollster Hanoch Smith during
Rabbis' Day, when 100 U.S. and Canadian rabbis met to plan the annual
Israel Bonds High Holiday Appeal.
NEWS
Israeli teachers and government
avoid strike in time for school
Tel Aviv (JTA) — The new
school year started on schedule
this week, but only after an all-
night marathon cliff-hanger
negotiating session between the
Teachers Union, which had
threatened to strike Sunday
morning, Educatio Minister
Zevvlun Hammer and represen-
tatives of the Finance Ministry.
Under the agreement which
averted the strike, the teachers
are to receive an advance equiv-
alent to one-quarter of a month's
salary.
In return, the teachers agreed
to take part in a committee to con-
tinue talks, and agreed to with-
hold further strike action for four
months.
The teachers did not get what
they had been demanding, but ac-
cording to their spokesman "at
least the Finance Ministry agreed
to discuss our claims — something
it has refused to do till now."
Mitterrand plans trip
to Syria before 1985
Paris (JTA) — President Fran-
cois Mitterrand will pay an offi-
cial visit to Syria before the end of
the year, according to the leftwing
weekly Le Nouuel Obseruateur.