Ki Tetze – Torah with Joseph

Read the transcript below, or watch a video of the teaching by Joseph Shulam.

Shalom from Jerusalem. My name is Joseph Shulam and together with Brad TV we are doing the portions of the Torah that are being read in the synagogues from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the book of Deuteronomy. These portions are read in every synagogue around the world and we are going through them one by one, and, I would say, cherry picking the most important and the most fascinating biblical facts from the law of Moses that would inspire and guide and educate and give a picture of God’s goodness and wisdom for all our brothers and sisters in Israel, in Korea, and around the world.

This week, we are in a portion that’s called Ki Teitzei. The English translation of Ki Teitzei is “When you go out to war.” When you go out to war. Instructions of the book of Deuteronomy is giving to the children of Israel of how to behave in war toward your enemies. It’s interesting.

Why is it interesting? Because going to war in the ancient world, and not in the so ancient world, even in our 20th century, all restraints, all limitations are ignored in the time of war. And this has been true in the world for ages and ages.

But let me start reading from 21:10 of the book of Deuteronomy and let us analyze this because I am only 76-years-old, and I remember, definitely the wars of Israel that I’ve been in, all of them here in Israel and the land.

But I also remember wars like in Cambodia, in Vietnam, in Afghanistan, in World War II in the Pacific theater with Japan and in Germany, in Europe, and Rommel and Montgomery in North Africa. Some of them I don’t remember personally, like Rommel and Montgomery, I wasn’t born yet, but I remember from reading, from studying. I might have used before the example of General Patton that fought against the German armies in North Africa. And when he was in Tunisia, one day he asked his driver to take him to ancient Cartago. And the driver took him.

It was safe enough for him, the Germans were far enough. And they drove to ancient Cartago and he parked the Jeep on top of the hill. And Patton, General Patton, wasn’t known to be a vegetarian, he was a pretty rough character but a great general, stood on the hill with his driver and started to describe the battle of Cartago with the Romans.

And the general was pointing. “You see that hill there; the Carthaginians were there and the Romans were on this hill here. And they came down and their legions met here and they did that and...”

Describing the whole battle of Rome in Cartago. His driver was not as educated as Patton was. And he said, “How do you know this? General, how do you know all these things that you’re describing to me; where the enemies were and where the armies were and how they attacked and what they did? How do you know that?”

He said, “I was here.” The driver was shocked. “You were here? How were you here?” He said, “I read the book.”

I read the Book. We have the Book translated in thousands of languages of human beings. We could read the Book. I’ve been reading the Book since I was 14-years-old. With interest. Yes, I’ve been reading the Book since I was 14-years-old. But you know what? Last Saturday there was a 12-year-old boy that read the portion of the prophets from the book of Joshua chapter two. And I read the book of Joshua, I know hundreds of times, for sure. Maybe much more than hundreds of times.

And I’m listening to that boy reading in Hebrew and boom, I hear a phrase that I never heard before. “The hope of the Crimson Cord.” Twice in the book of Joshua chapter two. Ah, I never heard that before, although I read it so many times but when I just heard it audio without looking at the text, it hit me. There’s something very special. I researched it. And I did a “mind candy” teaching that you can see at the Netivyah Facebook page about the hope of the Crimson Cord. Something that I never paid attention before.

And now, when I read the portion of the week that is going to be read in every synagogue in the world next Shabbat, and I read, “When you go out to war against your enemies and the Lord, your God, delivers them into your hands and you take them captive, you shall see among the captives a beautiful woman and desire her and would take her for your wife.

Then you shall bring her home to your house and you shall shave her head and trim her nails. She shall put off the clothes of her captivity, remain in your house, and mourn her father and her mother a full month. After that, you may go into her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.” Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.

This is the date, the latest date that this is possible to be is from the seventh century 640 BC. That’s the latest date. But I want you to understand this text and I want you to learn the moral and the spiritual lessons that this text is teaching us. Okay, you go to war, you capture your enemy, you see a beautiful girl, woman.

And, in the ancient world, you are allowed to take slaves. Everybody took slaves from among their enemies, not only in the ancient world, but in our own time. Just a few years ago when there was ISIS fighting in Syria, and in Iraq, and in Southern Turkey, we all saw the horrors of war. We also the Yazidi women being taken by the ISIS Muslims. Raped by mass, even 12-, 13-, 14-year-old girls, and then sold as brides for the fighters of ISIS. And then after they used them for months, they sold them as prostitutes in the marketplaces of the near east. We saw it in our own days, not too long ago.

But the Torah in the seventh century BC says, “No, you have no right. If you want this beautiful woman that you see as your wife, you cannot abuse her. You have to be patient. Let her mourn for her father, and for her mother, and for her house from which she was taken as captive for a month. Don’t touch her. Restrain your desires. Control your passion. Don’t touch her.

Let her mourn for a month for her family. And then you can still not abuse her and rape her. You want to marry her? Marry her legally. Make her your wife, legally.” This is God’s law. God’s law that demands us to control our passions, our desires, to put them under the restraint of God’s word. Yes.

There is no such a law in the human history as the law that God gave us in the five books attributed to Moses. Notice I’m continuing the reading because that’s not the end of it. You make her your wife. Verse 14 of chapter 21.

Oh, where are you, my Muslim brothers and friends? Where is the level of moral righteousness that you find the Torah, in any other code of law of the ancient world? Even in the Christian medieval world? Where are you going to find this? This is the word of God, folks. This is righteous, this is right.

Even in the ancient world, the seventh century BC or maybe even earlier in the 12th century BC, in the days of Moses. No, you have no right to abuse her. You don’t like her, she doesn’t like you, you don’t get along, you set her free. You cannot sell her for money. Like the Muslims did in ISIS in Syria and in Iraq in our own days, just a few years ago. No, you cannot sell her for money. You set her free and you do not treat her brutally. You give her honor and respect, as you should. Aye yai yai.

My dear brothers and sisters, our world is not improved. Christianity also has some very, very ugly chapters of history in medieval Europe and even in 20th century Europe. Where Christians from Germany were fighting Christians from France. And Christians from Germany were fighting Christians from Russia, and Ukraine, and Latvia, and Lithuania, and Romania, and Bulgaria, and France, and Belgium, and Holland, and Denmark.

All Christian! Slaughtering one another for what? Why? And then going on Sunday to church to pray to that Jew hanging on the cross. No, folks, the Torah is essential for us to study, to examine, to learn from; because it is recommended in the New Testament for the Gentiles, not only for the Jews, to hear the word of God read in the synagogue in 15:20-21. Yep.

Yes, my dear brothers and sisters, the Torah has some wonderful secrets. Some wonderful teachings. Yes. We have the fortune of having God’s revelation given to us, given to us for free by the Holy Spirit. One more interesting piece that we have here in this portion of the week called “When you go out to war.” I’m going to read a few verses from chapter 22 of the book of Deuteronomy.

This is the basis of the whole Good Samaritan story, folks. This, the basis, is from the Torah of Moses.

That Samaritan acted according to the law of Moses. The priest and the Levite that passed by and saw that bleeding Jew on the side of the road between Jerusalem and Jericho and said, “Oh, we are spiritual brothers. We have to go to the house of the Lord to worship. And that’s why we are ignoring you, poor brother, that’s been beaten by bandits and bleeding. We are too spiritual, too religious. We have a debt to the church, a debt to the temple, a debt to the synagogue. And we don’t have time for you, my dear brother.”

No, you have no right to do that. You are commanded by the law of God in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 22, that if you find an ox or a donkey or a horse or a camel or a sheep or a goat or a turtle that belongs to your brother you are to feed it, to take care of it, to look for your brother, and if you can’t find him to keep that animal in your house and feed it until your brother comes to look for it and then you just give it to him. That’s your obligation according to the law of God.

Just think of all the applications that you can make in your church. Just think of all the applications you can make with your children’s friends and their families. Just think of all the applications you can make if you find a wallet on the sidewalk in the streets of your city and it has got a lot of money in it. You have no right to keep it. You have a right to take it and to look for the owner.

And if you have his identity card or his phone number or his address in that wallet, you’re obligated to return it to him. You have no right to keep it. There is no such a thing in the law of Moses “finders’ keepers.” No. It’s not yours. You found it. God is testing you when you find something like that to see if you are going to be righteous and right or you’re going to be greedy and selfish.

No, there’s no room for selfishness and greediness. You find your neighbor’s donkey straying, even eating from your field, from your garden, you have no right to ignore him. You have to take him, feed him, give him water, wait for your neighbor to come and pick him up, and then give it to him. No charge at all. It’s your brotherly responsibility.

I think that this is an absolute important teaching for all people, for Jews, for Muslims, for Christians, for all of us, because we are in the 20th century. We have smartphones, computers, ways of communication. We can look for Google. And in Google, you can find just about anything you look for. But we are not educated. Not Jews, not Christians, not Muslims.

We are not educated according to the law of God. We have taken the fresh fish swimming and jumping in the ocean and we have canned it into a Star-Kist can. We have made a religion out of faith. We have made an institution out of freedom of faith and relationship with the almighty living God. And we have divided the body of Christ by our institutions.

But if we go back to the word of God, if we go back from Genesis to Revelation, not only from Matthew to Revelation, but from Genesis to Revelation, and we examine the word of God and we learn to study it, and glean from it, the riches of the glory, and the love, and the hope, and the faith that God wants us to have in him and through him in ourselves as righteous children of God, then we will find more than happiness and more than satisfaction from our relationship with Jesus, with Yeshua our Lord, and with the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

May God have mercy on us. Please read the Torah portions. This Torah portion that I’m ending right now is called, “When you go out to war” starts in chapter 21 of Deuteronomy verse 10, end in 25:19. The prophet portion is from Isaiah 54:1-10. And the commentary from Ephesians 5:1-33. Read those texts. You will be enriched and inspired and your faith will grow.

In Yeshua’s name, Amen.