Some things never change |
War, violent teenagers, divorce,
negligence, rape, mistreatment of the weaker populations, crooked courts… These sound like the headlines of
newspapers across the world today. These relevant topics and many more
are found in Parshat Ki Tetze. The parsha teaches the reality which is that all
of these situations can happen and we have to be careful to prevent them. If
they do happen, we must correct them and seek justice. The Torah does not mince
words. These situations are out there and we need to know how to handle them. Unfortunately, we have seen many
wars since the establishment of the State of Israel and the IDF must continue
on the path of being ethical despite what the rest of the world is doing. This
can often be a big challenge, but our soldiers need to be taught what is right.
Pre-army training programs, Mechinot, Yeshivot and Midrashot which prepare the
soldiers before they enlist are often relied upon to teach the future soldiers
proper ethics. These programs must be checked out to make sure that they are
teaching correct values. Over the summer, Israeli teenagers
were accused of rape in Cyprus. These seventeen and eighteen year olds did not
have a grasp on proper morals before setting off on their trip. I hope that these
teenagers and others who have followed the story have learned from their
mistakes. Rape or what may appear as rape should not be taken lightly. The Torah was very open about
divorce at a time when other cultures were not. The cases where the Rabbinate
makes it difficult to carry out divorce procedures honestly and properly are very
upsetting and we have to stand up for justice in order to carry out what the Torah
requests of us. The idea of negligence, especially
at building sites in Israel is a big problem. This year alone, thirty two workers were
killed due to negligence at building sites. We need to change the standards to
ensure that this does not continue. Often the weaker populations are
mistreated as there is nobody to stand up for them. The Torah understood this
and told us to specifically take care of the stranger, the orphan and the
widow. We must go out of our way to make sure that they are not being abused. The Torah is very clear about issues
with crooked courts. We can’t allow twisted behavior to happen and both the
religious and secular courts must be called out when they do not comply with
the law. With the elections upon us, we must
follow the light of the Torah and work on correcting injustices that are taking
place. Our goal should not be to separate from the Torah but rather to use the
Torah’s values and true intentions as our guidebook. |