All About the Mitzvot?

Parashat Ki Tetzei is infamous as the portion full of mitzvot (mirroring sections of Leviticus). But what do we learn from G!d’s statutes to his people about to enter the promised land? The first thing I notice is that these commands deal directly and distinctly with relationships between people – husband and wife, parents, children, and siblings, community elders, foreigners, enemies, and previous slavemasters, money lenders and borrowers, fellow countrymen, orphans, widows, gleaners, prostitutes, workers, and Amalek.

There are also commands dealing with oneself – addressing clothing notably – and one’s relation to G!d. Some of these mitzvot were later interpreted to be dealing with G!d but don’t read that way in this parsha (22:12 is the justification for tzitzit). The mitzvah near the end about weights and measures – just before the statement about Amalek – addresses a person’s integrity and honesty, the ability to trust their words and deeds.

Philo comments on 23:22 that we are to quickly show gratitude to G!d for the things he has done (rather than forgetting, believing we are self-sufficient, or assuming we are deserving). Maimonides in his Guide for the Perplexed (XLII.3) teaches concerning 23:8 the principle of loving (giving charity) to all those near you, even if we have been wronged by them or they are evil. G!d teaches that we should respect other people because of their value as his creation. In commentary on Deuteronomy 6:18, Nachmanides says, “The intention of this verse is that first G!d said that you must keep his laws and his testimonies which he commanded you; and now it says also in those areas in which G!d did not command you, you must set your mind to do the good and straight in his eyes, because he loves the good and the straight. This is a great matter because it is impossible for the Torah to regulate every area of human behavior on both an individual level and a communal level.”

Mitzvot have over the centuries been viewed as important standards to teach G!d’s people how to be in a good relationship with him, with other people (family, friends, countrymen, strangers, foreigners, enemies, authorities, etc.), and with oneself. But what happens if we only follow the specific statutes mentioned? Is G!d suggesting that these are all the guidelines we need to live well within society? The sages of the ages (or, you know, the rabbis) have taught that we are to act beyond the letter of the law – to apply these mitzvot as overarching principles to follow what Hillel is famous for quoting as the basics of Torah, which is to love G!d and others (the rest is commentary!). Mitzvot – these guidelines – serve to order a society (we have our own set to govern the communities in which we live now), but we often find ourselves in situations where it is the principle that matters, rather than the exact word of instruction in this week’s parsha (or other teachings of Torah).

Finally, it isn’t insignificant that Ki Tetzei ends with an admonishment to the Israelites to destroy Amalek. Of course, we know this is something they didn’t do, and it has followed them throughout history (and is promised to continue throughout the generations). We also know they didn’t perform all the mitzvot (or perhaps any) well, which resulted in their exile from the land they possessed shortly after this teaching. We still don’t follow all these teachings very well – so how do we relate to G!d in a pleasing way? That’s why we need to go beyond the law – to understand the intimacy and intricacy of a relationship with the one who created us.