Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L
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Pay Workers on Time. Some Laws Relating to Judgements. Some Laws Relating to Harvesting. Lashes. Muzzling Animals. Levirite Marriage. Fines for Embarrassing Someone. Honesty in Commerce. Remember Amalek.
Pay Workers on Time.
Moshe teaches that we are not to withhold the wages of a Jewish hired worker who is poor or destitute (even a Jewish convert) or a "ger toshav" (lit. "resident alien").* This includes the hiring of animals or utensils.
*Side note: There are different opinions as to who constitutes as a "ger toshav". Rashi defines it as being a non Jew who took upon themselves not to practice idolatry however they do eat animals that have not been ritually slaughtered. Others define such a person as being one who accepted upon themselves all of the seven Noachide commandments. A ger toshav is the only type of non Jew who is allowed to live in the land of Israel.
While the prohibition against withholding pay against any worker has been taught previously (see Vayikra 19:13), it is reiterated here regarding specifically a destitute person so as to teach that in so doing, one would transgress two negative commandments.
Rashi defines a "destitute person" as being one who longs for everything for he has nothing.
Rather one is to pay such a person on the day he is due before sunset, as he is poor and risked his life for this pay (for example he may have climbed up a ramp or suspended himself from a tree).
One is to be careful to pay such a worker on time, lest the worker cry out to G-d against them. Even if this worker did not cry out to G-d, G-d would still punish the employee for this, however punishment is meted out faster in the merit of one who cries out.
Some Laws Relating to Judgements
Sons are not to testify against their fathers causing them to be put to death, nor are fathers to testify against their sons causing them to be put to death.
Fathers and sons are not liable for the sins of each other, aside from in the case of minor children who may die at the hand of Heaven on account of the sins of their parents.
In Devraim 16:19, we were taught that we must not pervert justice for anyone, regardless of their economic standing. Here, scripture repeats this prohibition in regards to a poor person, to teach us that if one perverts justice for a poor person, one would be transgressing two negative commandments, and also, it is easier to pervert justice towards a poor person, and thus it warrants repeating.
If a widow defaults on a loan, one may not take her clothing as collateral at that time.
G-d asks the Israelites to remember that He took them out of slavery in Egypt on condition that they observe His commandments, even if it means that they will lose money in so doing.
Some Laws Relating to Harvesting
If after reaping one's harvest, one forgets to reap a sheaf in their field, they may not go back to retrieve it - rather it should be left to the stranger, orphan and widow to take. This applies even to sheaves which are still in the ground (i.e haven't been reaped).
One is allowed to go back and retrieve more than one sheaves which are bundled together (i.e. a stack or in other words a sheaf containing two se'ah), as this is not considered to be שִׁכְחָה.
This category of שִׁכְחָה, i.e. those sheaves which were unintentionally left behind and cannot be redeemed only applies to those sheaves which were left behind in back of him but not those which are in front of him. For more of an explanation of this, see Pe’ah 6:4.
Observing this commandment of leaving behind sheaves for the stranger, orphan and widow will bring a person blessings from G-d. Rashi points out that if such blessings will come to a person who leaves something for someone unintentionally, how much more so will a person be blessed who gives intentionally. Rashi also says that this verse teaches us that by implication, if a person drops a sela (a silver coin, equivalent to two shekalim) unintentionally and a poor person finds it, the one who dropped it will be blessed.
When one beats their olive tree to remove olives, they should not take all of olives they forget to take (in a similar manner mentioned above with regards to sheaves) with them, but rather some should be left behind for the convert, orphan and widow. This applies to any fruit tree, that one must leave a "corner" of the tree behind for the poor.
In harvesting one's vineyard, they are to leave behind the "young grapes" for the convert, orphan and widow. Young grapes are defined as those grapes which have neither "shoulder" nor "drops". What this means is that the way mature grape clusters come about is that smaller clusters grow on small branches of a main shoot and the upper clusters lean on one another as one would lean on someone's "shoulder" and the lowest clusters then hang down from the bunch resembling "drops".
Once again, G-d reminds the Israelites that they are to remember that they were slaves in Egypt and thus He is commanding them to keep these ordinances.
It is only natural that when people argue, they will be unable to resolve the issue on their own and will need to seek judgement. Rashi brings the example of Lot (i.e. his herdsmen) and Avraham, who due to a dispute ended up parting ways.
Lashes.
Lashes are sentenced to people who are found guilty of transgressing a negative commandment which is not mitigated by a positive commandment. An example of this would be in the case of someone found guilty of sending away a mother bird from it's young - which is a transgression, however it is mitigated by the positive commandment to do so before taking the eggs or young birds away (i.e. Shiluach HaKan).
An example of a negative commandment which is not mitigated by a positive commandment is the prohibition of muzzling an ox while it is threshing on grain, which scripture mentions after this discussion regarding lashes to point out this connection.
If in the case of the above mentioned argument, the judge indeed sentences the guilty party to lashes, the judge is to flog the guilty party while he is bent over - not while he is standing or sitting. Two thirds of his sentenced lashes are to be administered to the back part of his body, while one third is to be administered to the front part of his body.
The number of lashes the guilty party is sentenced to is not given as an exact number, but rather as an approximation, for example one sentenced to forty lashes is sentenced "by a number of forty" which can be interpreted to mean 39 (i.e forty minus one).
The one administering the flogging should not give more than the prescribed number of lashes so as not to degrade the one being flogged.
Up until the flogging, the guilty party is referred to in scripture as being the "wicked one" however once he has been flogged, he is referred to as being "your brother."
One is forbidden from striking one's fellow man even apart from a court case.
Muzzling Animals
One is forbidden from muzzling any animal who is working*. Scripture specifically mentions an ox as this is a common animal in such a situation however it applies to any domesticated or wild animal, or fowl. Another reason an ox is mentioned here is to exclude a man, to who this rule does not apply.
*Scripture specifies that this applies to an animal while they are threshing, however Rashi interprets this to mean at any time, i.e when the animal is engaged in those activities which are like threshing in that it is done to a thing who's work (related to those things which grow from the ground) has not been completed (like tithes or challah). This is why people are excluded from this prohibition as work done by people does not fall into this category and includes such things as: milking, making cheese, churning milk to make butter (as milk does not grow from the ground), kneading, smoothing the surface of dough (as this is done after the work regarding challah is done) and separating dried dates or figs (as their work has been done in regards to tithing).
Levirite Marriage
If a married man dies without having had children, his oldest surviving brother is to marry his wife so that the dead brother's name will not be "blotted out from Israel". This is what is known as a Levirite Marriage. There are a few stipulations regarding this law:
This law only applies to paternal brothers as inheritance of estates is passed down through families patrilineally and in a case when the surviving brother was not born after the other brother passed away.
We are to make sure that the brother who passed away indeed did not have any children by researching this and seeing if we are able to find one of his children or grandchildren.
This law also only applies in the case of a woman who is able to bear children (i.e who was not born sterile).
If the man who passed away was sterile, his brother is excluded from this law, as in such a case, his name was already "blotted out" while he was alive due to his inability to have children.
The brother who marries the dead brother's wife inherits his brother's portion in addition to his own.
If the living brother doesn't want to marry his brother's surviving wife, then this woman shall go to the gate of the court and tell the elders in Hebrew that he doesn't consent to the Levirite marriage.
The elders are then to summon this brother in law and he is to say in Hebrew while standing up, "I do not wish to marry her".
The wife of the deceased man is then to approach her brother in law, remove his shoe and spit on the ground in front of him* and say, "So is done to the man who will not build the house of his brother." The wording of "will not" is specific and teaches that once a man decides not to perform the Levirite marriage, he is forbidden from doing so in the future.
*One might read this that she should spit in his face, however the Maskil LeDavid explains that Torah would not want to put them through something so degrading.
All who are standing there at that time are to then publicly proclaim this man as being "the one who's shoe was removed".
Fine for Embarrassing Someone
If men argue with one another, this will eventually lead to them fighting with one another physically as Sifrei taught, "Peace cannot come out of strife" (Sifrei 25:160) . If this happens, and the wife of one of the men comes to his rescue and grabs hold of the other man's male organ, she is to pay a monetary fine of the value of the embarrassment which is calculated based on the one who was embarrassed as well as the one who did the embarrassing. The more honored the one who did the embarrassing is, the lower the value of the embarrassment. This relative value of the fine being linked to the people involved is hinted at in scripture's figurative wording regarding her monetary payment in saying "you should cut off her palm". The way Rashi knows that this is a reference to monetary payment and not to be taken literally is that scripture concludes this verse by saying "your eye shall not show pity" which is similar to the wording used regarding Zomemim (see Devarim 19:21) who are false witnesses who are called out by newer witnesses who say that these first witnesses could not have seen the event as they were in another location at that time. The zomemeim are sentenced to whatever punishment they wanted the court to give to the defendant.
Honesty in Commerce
One is forbidden to carry two weights of different measures but which look the same which could cause a person to be dishonest in weighing things in buying and selling. This is forbidden even if a person were to use the weights in such a way that would cause them to overpay when buying or lose money while selling as this could lead either him or his neighbor to mistakenly use the weights to underpay or sell for too high a price.
If one does carry these two asymmetrical weights, this will result in them not having anything.
One may also not have in their home different kinds of measures. Rather one should have a "perfect and honest stone" and a "perfect and honest measure". This will result in one having much, and a long life in the land of Israel.
Scripture refers to anyone who acts fraudulently as being an "abomination to G-d".
Remember Amalek
Scripture tells us to remember what Amalek did while we were leaving Egypt.
This remembrance of Amalek is mentioned here rather than right after the account of Amalek's attack on the Israelites to teach us that if one is dishonest with weights and measures, this will lead to their being attacked by their enemies. The Amalekites engaged in sodomy which the gemara (Sanheidrin 55a-b) associates with the word humiliation.
Scripture recalls Amalek's attack of the Israelites as having "happened", which in Hebrew is קָֽרְךָ֜. Rashi points out a few different things this word could be alluding to paralleling various related words with different meanings:
On a simple level, the idea of chance/happenstance relates to the fact that the Israaelites didn't expect to be attacked.
Alternatively, it is also related to the word semen (קֶרִי), as an allusion to the impurity of seminal emissions and pollution, hinting at the fact that the Amalekites would "pollute" the Israelites with homosexual relations.
Another explanation is that קָֽרְךָ֜ is related to the word קור which means cold. To back up this explanation, Rashi references the one place in scripture that this word קור appears in which it is contrasted with the word hot (see Breishis 8:22 "קֹ֨ר וָחֹ֜ם"). This represents the idea that Amalek "cooled off" the other nations from waging war with the Israelites, who were too scared to fight them up until then. Rashi cites the Midrash Tanchuma (Tanchuma 9) who likens this to someone who jumps into a boiling hot bath, burning themselves but making it cooler for everyone else who jumps in after that.
Scripture goes on to describe how the Amalekites mutilated the Israelites by cutting off the circumcised organs of the male Israelites and threw them up in the air as a show of rebellion against G-d.
The tribe of Dan was especially vulnerable to being killed by the Amalekites for having committed idolatry during the Israelites' sojourn in the desert, and all of the Israelites were vulnerable to Amalek's attack due to their being thirsty and exhausted from traveling.
Scripture describes how Amalek didn't fear G-d.
Once we have "rest from our enemies" and have possesion of the land of Israel, we are instructed to "wipe out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heaven." Rashi explains that this means that we are to not only wipe out all of their men, women and children (even babies), but their animals as well. Such that no animal should be recognized as belonging to an Amalekite.
Ki Teitzei, 7th Aliya