Questions & Commentary on Parashat Ki Tetze'

1. Our Sages see the reference to lost sheep in Deuteronomy 22:1 as superfluous (b. Makkot 24a). The Marharsha (the 17th century sage Rabbi Shlomo Eidel) responds that it is in actually an allusion to the Jewish people, who are the "lost sheep," dispersed among the nations. Yeshua said of himself that he came for the "the lost sheep of the House of Israel" (Matthew 15:24). What responsibility do we have to engage in qiruv (outreach) to people who are far from God?

Rabbi Jason Sobel

In this week's Torah portion, a seemingly benign verse having to do with retrieving lost property is transformed by the Maharasha into a homiletical commentary on qiruv (Jewish outreach). Such a response is not so far from the principal laid out in the Torah of returning something that is lost. In referring to the "lost sheep" of Israel, the question becomes "what is this lost item?" and "how do we return it?"

In the last fifty years, Judaism has taken a shift towards outreach - from the outspoken and unconventional style of the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach in the 1960's, to the recent focus on reaching out to the "un-churched Gentiles" within the Reform movement. There is no question that Judaism has for centuries sensed a deeper yearning, phrased in the words of the Shemoneh Esrei prayer: ki liyeshuatecha kivinu kol hayyom-"for your salvation we will await everyday." All of Israel awaits a deeper connection, a more profound sense of spirituality - which Yeshua brings (John 16:12-15). Equally important, and often overlooked, is the same hunger among "Church Jews." Often bid to turn their backs on "the old ways" of Judaism, and encouraged to embrace "grace over law," Jews within the Church community can feel the tug of a familiar feeling during Passover or High Holidays. The larger Church community has often overlooked the very clear description the Tanakh gives of the Torah as "perfect reviving the soul" (Psalm 19:7).

How then can we as a Messianic movement fulfill the Torah's injunction to hashev tishvem le'achikha-"return [the lost items] to your brother or sister?" Two suggestions come to mind. The first is to "catch the vision," of the entire goal of God - to contribute to that time when "all Israel shall be saved" (Romans 11:26). Only we realize that the mystical transformation of the very cosmos depends upon simply opening our mouths and hearts (Romans 8:21-22). To become a part of this transformation begins with pointing out that which is lost - the Torah, and its ultimate goal the Mashiach (Romans 10:4).

I am committed to sharing him with everyone with whom I come in contact. There is no doubt in my mind that he and his message will prevail.

Some evangelist or missionary did not pen the quote above about Yeshua, rather it speaks of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe - Menachem Mendel Schneerson.  Such bold words can be spoken as well by the sheluchim ("sent out ones") of the true Mashiach Yeshua. May we continue to carry out his mission to return the items that Israel has lost-thereby returning the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24).

As you consider your calling to carry out Messiah's mission, consider the following discussion questions:

            1. What is your congregation's vision of qiruv?

2. What are some biblical examples we can draw from for our vision of qiruv? What should modern qiruv look like? How can we learn from modern-day examples in the larger Jewish world?

3. What are some practical, everyday ways we can begin to incorporate the Brit Chadasha's mandate for qiruv (see Romans 10) into our daily lives? 

2. Parashat Ki Tetze' ends with the command to "blot out the memory of Amaleq from under heaven" (Deuteronomy 25:19). Why are Amaleq's sins so great that he should suffer perpetual condemnation?  What moral lessons does this commandment teach us?

Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan

This week's parasha ends with stern injunction to blot out the memory of Amaleq from among Israel and throughout the world.

Remember what Amaleq did to you on the road when you left Egypt - how, he surprised you on the road and cut down all the stragglers behind you when you were tired and weary. For he was undeterred by fear of God. Therefore, when the LORD your God grants you safety from all your enemies surrounding you, in the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall blot out the memory of Amaleq from under heaven. Do not forget!

Deuteronomy 25:17-19

Earlier in the Torah, Amaleq is merely described as waging war against Joshua at Refidim without reference to his explicit practice of war (Exodus 17:8). Here, Moses passes moral judgment on Amaleq's martial tactics. He describes Amaleq as attacking non-combatants who were straggling at the rear of the Israelite multitude. Amaleq was picking off the sick and weary. Moses explains his actions as resulting from his lack of fear of God (Deuteronomy 25:18).

Amaleq's immoral, criminal war tactics entered the Jewish historical memory as the archetype of merciless hatred of the Jewish people. The wicked Haman, son of Hammedatha the Agagite (himself a descendent of the Amalekite king Agag; see 1 Samuel 15:8), sought to destroy the Jewish people in the Persian Empire during the time of Esther (see Esther 9:24). Haman's name is blotted out each year during the reading of the scroll of Esther at the time of Purim. Equal contempt is reserved for other Amaleqs who have sought the destruction of the Jewish people such as Adolph Hitler who killed over 6 million of our people including over 1 million children.