Parashat Ki Tetze (Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19)

Have you ever wondered what the “least of the commandments” is that Yeshua speaks of in Matthew 5? (See Matthew 5:17-20.) According to our sages, the least commandment is found in this week’s Torah portion:

If you come across a bird's nest 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 let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long. (Deuteronomy 12:6-7)

Sending away the mother bird is considered to be the least or the “lightest” of the commandments. It requires no great effort on the part of the one performing the commandment. It is considered an act of compassion, similar to the commandment in Leviticus that says, “You shall not kill an ox or a sheep and her young in one day” (Leviticus 22:28). Other commandments, however, are more weighty. They require more effort and seem to have more significance than others. For instance, honoring one’s father and mother is considered one of the most weighty or important commandments. But the division between light and heavy commandments is somewhat artificial. Yes, the distinction exists, but they are all to be followed equally. Rabbi Judah explains:

Be as scrupulous about a light commandment as a weighty one, for you do not know the reward allotted for each commandment. (Avot 2:1)

Why does he say this? Because we are told the reward for both a light commandment (the sending away of the mother bird) and a heavy commandment (honoring one’s parents) is the same—long life:

Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 5:16)

Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9

As one exits the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem, the final site is a sign written in Hebrew and in English. It is a profound quote from the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidic Judaism in the eighteenth century: 

Forgetfulness leads to exile, while remembrance is the secret of redemption.

What does this mean? Let’s explore the implications. According to our Torah portion for this week, the king of Israel is commanded to write a copy of the Torah for himself as a reminder of his responsibilities as the leader of a holy nation bound to a covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe:

And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left. (Deuteronomy 17:18–20)

The king of Israel represents the nation of Israel. Therefore, when the king is diligent to uphold the Torah, he is considered righteous and the nation is blessed. But when the king forgets the precepts of the Torah, he is deemed wicked and the nation is therefore judged and led into exile.