Aug 25/07 - Parashat Ki Tetze

Commentary by Chazzan Aníbal Mass

 

This week we read a wonderful Parashah from which I want to highlight some points that represent a tribute to the Jewish woman. One part of the Parashah—that I remember with a mixture of pride for the tradition of Israel and pain for the human condition—says:

“If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young; you shall certainly let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, in order that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.”

(Deuteronomy 22:6-7)

And it is here where I feel pride for the wisdom of Judaism. If you find a nest and you want the eggs, then first you shall scare the mother away. This is usually interpreted as a humanitarian concept, so as not to make the mother suffer. Then we can learn that there is no difference between the suffering of any mother, either human or animal.

But, there is a wonderful comment that I found from Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld (1849-1932) which tells us that this philosophy is basically incomplete. He asks us: “Where have you seen that a mother abandons the nest? When a person approaches a mother bird, she does not fly away. She suppresses her natural inclination and remains, trying to protect her brood.” Then it finishes by saying that because the mother is present, the children survive.

This week’s Parashah is called “Ki Tetze la Milchama”—“When you go out to battle”. And we have several wars and several fronts among those we are fighting.

One of these fronts, although perhaps far from Canada, is the nearest to our hearts: the State of Israel, where there are fights almost every day and where the woman is also battling at the front, or maybe behind the front—in the house, receiving the soldier, helping the wounded, educating the country. And because of that, we will survive.

But there is another war nearer to Canada. It is the war against assimilation, against the loss of the most valuable thing—our Jewish heritage. And, if counter to this intent of breaking into the nest from which they want to steal our pigeons, from which they want to steal a whole generation, the mother remains firmly in the nest, teaching Jewish values, living a life of mitzvot and love, nobody will be able to harm our children.

For that reason, dear Jewish woman, I’d like to tell you that continuity of Judaism depends mainly on you. May God bless you with wisdom and courage, so that you can be an example to the coming generations. By the great effort that you make to preserve your children’s Jewishness, you are preserving the future of all the People of Israel.

Shabbat Shalom.