Parshat Ki Tetzei Schedule

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Insights into Parshat Ki Tetzei of Mr. Eli Bagley of Yeshivat Sha’alvim, by Rav Re’uven Ungar of Sha’alvim.

The parsha of Ben Sorer U’Moreh (the wayward and rebellious son) contains the laws for handling a very particular case of a child who shows signs of rebellion. By today’s standards, this is quite a minor form of rebellion – he steals a little money from his parents, he consumes a little meat and drinks a little wine. The parents bring him to court and testify that he refuses to listen to them. The fate of this child – at most a few months past the age of Bar Mitzvah – is that he is publicly stoned and everyone comes to watch and observe his execution.

There is a Talmudic opinion that this case never happened and never could happen. At most it would happen extremely infrequently. The main purpose of its inclusion in the Torah is so that we might homiletically expound upon it and gain reward thereby (d’rosh v’kabel sechar).

The Kli Yakar notes that the Torah’s exhortation of “and let all Israel hear and fear” [Devorim 21:21] (regarding the execution of the wayward and rebellious son) is itself an uncommon expression. If ben sorer u’moreh is in fact a case that happens rarely if ever and if the primary function is just to serve as a theoretical lesson, then why does the Torah go out of its way to say “and let all Israel hear and fear”?

The Kli Yakar explains that this mitzvah serves as a great lesson to the Jewish people, who are called “sons of the Almighty” [Devorim 14:1]. The underlying message of the laws of Ben Sorer U’Moreh is that as “sons of the Almighty” we should not become overly confident that Hashem will always overlook our sins and tolerate our misbehavior. It is not true that fathers are always tolerant and let their children get away with disobedience. We should not take it for granted that He will always overlook our sins.

The Kli Yakar comments on the pasuk in HaAzinu “lo banav mumam” (His children’s is the blemish) [Devarim 32:5] that the fact that we are His children is our blemish. It causes cockiness on our part as we tell ourselves that we can get do whatever we want and get away with it. We rely too much on the fact that we are His children.

To impress upon us that sometimes a child can go too far and not get away with it, the Torah writes the chapter of the wayward and rebellious son. When we go too far, even our father drags us into court and has us executed! Even children cannot cross beyond a certain line. That is the lesson that “all Israel must come to hear and fear.”