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Orchard of Delights # Ki Teitzei

#
open roof is a serious safety hazard, the Torah instructs the builder under the appropriate circumstances, be redeemed. The Torah warns
to construct a protective railing around it, so that no one falls off the us though that redeeming sparks of holiness is a serious business
roof. which can only be achieved through a process of clarification and

Adopting a typical Chassidic approach to interpreting the Torah, purification. The Slonimer Rebbe further explains that as soon as we
the Slonimer Rebbe explains that this portion is always read in the pass the test of conquering our evil inclinations, we are immediately
month of Elul to teach each and everyone of us an important personal confronted with new tests, in this case, the test of the beautiful
message. As we prepare for the new year and strive to attain a higher captive. On a metaphorical level, the captive woman must shave her
level of consciousness – figuratively building a new house and, as it head, let her nails grow long, and take off her garments of captivity to
were, ascending to the roof – we may find the experience dizzying. symbolize the process whereby her alluring external form is removed
To counteract the tendency to build unrealistic castles in the air, to determine if there really is a holy spark worthy of redemption
the Torah teaches us to make a fence around our new aspirations by underneath.
protecting the roof, the new level of consciousness. After the woman undergoes a month of mourning (during which
her external beauty is significantly diminished), if the man is still
The Slonimer Rebbe discovers an allusion, a remez, to this message
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in the numerical value of the Hebrew word for guardrail (ma’akeh), attracted to her then the Torah assumes that his attraction to her was
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which is 215, or, more relevantly, 216 when one adds a one, to represent not merely a function of the heat of battle but a function of the spark
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the word itself. This equals the numerical value of the Hebrew word of holiness in her that has now been redeemed. Having ascended to
for awe or fear (yirah). Yirah is the internal motivating force for the a new level of consciousness over the course of the last month, the
sefirah of Gevurah, which means strength, discipline, and order. captive woman is now ready to begin a new life, so she may marry
The connection between the guardrail and Gevurah teaches us that him. Despite the Torah’s permitting the marriage, the Sages warn
we must create a disciplined plan of action to put our New Year’s that such a marriage is fraught with difficulties. The Sages, always
resolutions into effect and not squander our newly found, highly open to coded meanings in the text, understood the juxtaposition of
elevated ideals. the next two topics in the Torah portion as a warning against the
risks involved in making such a marriage. They suggested that such
Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, in an as yet unpublished discourse, a marriage – as these two topics indicate – can only lead to the cases
shines light on the personal nature of this mitzvah by revealing its of a man who has two wives, a beloved one and a despised one, and a
profound psychological and spiritual layers. He explains that “going couple who has a rebellious son.
up to the roof” symbolizes the individual’s attempt to leave the
pressures of society and one’s peers behind, so as to sort out what Rabbi Ari Kahn, in his book Explorations, goes to great lengths to
one really thinks. Furthermore, he points out that on the rooftop establish that the true facts of the case are quite different from what
one gains a new vantage point, which can lead to new perspectives, our initial superficial reading of the text leads us to believe. First,
unhampered by the consensus viewpoint and its inherent limitations. using rabbinic sources, he establishes that in those days only the
King David describes this sensation in the following way: “I am like most righteous of individuals were chosen to fight the Jewish people’s
an owl of the wilderness; I am like a night flyer of the desert. I watch wars. Secondly, he cites the Zohar’s comment that this captured
and am like a lonely sparrow upon the roof” (Psalms 102:7-8). woman was no ordinary woman; rather, she was a “beautiful soul,”
a spark of holiness trapped in a pagan culture. Thus, he concludes
Based on the unusual formulation of the verse – “if a fallen one that the righteous soldier, who is attracted to her, is indeed drawn
falls from it,” instead of “if someone falls from it” – Rashi comments to this spark of holiness and not just motivated by raw desire. This
that if someone falls off a roof, it is because he or she was a “fallen

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