AUGUST 24 • 2023 | 45
SPIRIT
Behaving Ethically
T
he ancient world of
the Torah addresses a
society starkly different
from ours. Nevertheless, what
I often find is that despite the
many differences, there are also
many similarities. Perhaps that
is because people are
people, whether they
lived in the ancient
Near East thousands
of years ago, or they
live nearby in the 21st
century. In examining
parshat Ki Tetze, we
find an example of this.
The Torah teaches,
“You shall not abuse
a needy and destitute
laborer, whether a
fellow countryman or
a stranger in one of
the communities of
your land.
” (Deuteronomy 24:14)
This verse finds good company
among the many ethical
precepts in this parshah, which
emphasize ethical behavior in
society. Ki Tetze sets the bar for
treatment of workers, fairness
in business generally, lending
and borrowing money as well
as the inequities that can arise
from differences in wealth and
power.
This prohibition on abusing
the poor laborer has a strong
resonance in the 21st century.
Throughout the Torah, we
find a variety of laws that show
concern for the ger as it does
in this verse as well. Ger has a
variety of meanings. Often, our
rabbis understood ger to refer to
a convert. Many commentaries
say this is how it should be
defined here as well. If so, our
verse would be telling us that
people who convert to join the
Jewish community need an
extra bit of protection in the
workplace.
However, I tend to believe
that the Torah was thinking
more broadly here. Ger can
also mean stranger or foreigner.
If that is the Torah’s intention
here, it would seem to be saying
that society needs to provide
protection for foreign
workers who would be
vulnerable to bad treatment
by some employers.
It is easy to understand
why foreign workers would
need to be highlighted for
additional protection. Far
from home, perhaps not
knowing the language of
the land well (or at all),
foreign workers are missing
the support of family and
knowledge of society as
they try to earn a living.
We should remember, the
workers the Torah has in mind
are not engineers coming to the
U.S. for specialized work after
extensive training (although
there are challenges in this as
well). We are talking about
impoverished individuals
who must not be able to earn
enough for them to survive
back home due to drought or
famine.
Just as in the ancient world,
there are many migrant workers
today — hundreds of thousands
of them throughout the world.
Of course, the United States is
home to many thousands of
migrant workers as well. The
Torah recognizes the vulnerable
state of migrant workers and
encourages us across the
generations to be sensitive to
them. The Torah demands
that we create a society that
demands fairness for citizen
and stranger alike.
Rabbi Steven Rubenstein is rabbi
of Congregation Beth Ahm in West
Bloomfield.
TORAH PORTION
Rabbi Steven
Rubenstein
Parshat
Ki Tetze:
Deuteronomy
21:10-25:19;
Isaiah
54:1-10.
DIAL
2
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