Parashat Ki Teitzei contains 74 mitzvot, 27 positive and 47 negative. The first of these, which is the 532nd Mitzvah in the Torah, the 210th positive Mitzvah, is the Mitzvah with which Parashat Ki Teitzei opens:
“When you go out to war against your enemies, and Hashem your G-d will deliver them into your hands, and you take captives - if you see a beautiful woman in her captivity and you desire her, and you take her as a wife, then you must bring her into your house, where she shaves her hair..." (Deuteronomy 21:10-12).
This constitutes the obligation to treat a captive enemy woman fairly: “You must bring her into your house", meaning that she must become part of the family, you may not treat her as an enemy captive or slave.
The Parashah concludes with three Mitzvot, the 603rd, 604th, and 605th Mitzvot:
“Remember what Amalek did to you when you were on your way out of Egypt - how he chanced upon you on the way and attacked you from behind… And so, when Hashem your G-d will give you respite from all your surrounding enemies, in the Land which Hashem bequeaths to you as an inheritance - wipe out the very memory of Amalek from beneath the Heavens; do not forget" (25:17-19).
So Parashat Ki Teitzei begins and ends with Mitzvot of war.
Wars fall into two categories:
The first is מִלְחֶמֶת מִצְוָה (obligatory war), which is any war fought against the seven Canaanite nations, against Amalek, and defensive wars against any enemy of Israel who initiates an attack.
The second is מִלְחֶמֶת רְשׁוּת (voluntary war), which is any war fought against other nations, or those fought to demonstrate the might of a king of Israel, to expand the borders of Israel, or to levy tribute on other nations.
Voluntary wars can be fought only with the authorisation of the Sanhedrin; obligatory wars need no such authorisation (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings and Wars 5:1).
The war-scenario with which our Parashah opens is a voluntary war. As Rashi (commentary to Deuteronomy 21:10) says:
“‘When you go out to war against your enemies’ - the Torah speaks here of a voluntary war, because in a war for the Land of Israel it would not say ‘and you take captives’; because it has already said ‘you will not keep any soul alive’ (20:16)".
In an obligatory war, a war fought inside the Land of Israel, the enemy has three options:
To surrender, in which case they live with us under our sovereignty in peace, their lives and property guaranteed safe;
To leave, in which case they are guaranteed safe passage to the border, and once outside of Israel we no longer have any claim against them;
Or to take up arms against us, in which case we fight a war to the death, and they thereby forfeit both their lives and their property (Rambam, Laws of Kings 6:1-5).
Having said this, we should note that even after such a war begins, if any of the enemy manage to reach the border and leave Israel, then we have no claim against them: once outside of the Land of Israel they are safe.
So in any obligatory war, we take no enemy captives: either they live with us in peace, or they leave peacefully, or they fight in which case we leave no survivors.
Therefore the fact that the Torah speaks of enemy captives indicates that it speaks of a voluntary war.
The Parashah concludes with the obligation to wage war to the death against Amalek - a war which, as we noted, is an obligatory war. It is unique, however, in being the sole obligatory war which ewe fight outside of the Land of Israel.
The Torah’s wording is important: our war against Amalek happens “when Hashem your G-d will give you respite from all your surrounding enemies, in the Land which Hashem bequeaths to you as an inheritance". This means, in the time when we are living in complete peace, in the time of final redemption, in the time of Mashiach.
The Midrash (Tanhuma, Ki Teitzei 1) gives an incisive insight into the connection between all the mitzvot contained in these eight verses:
“[The Torah] says: ‘When a bird’s nest happens to be before you… you shall surely drive away the mother… so that it will be well with you and you will prolong your days’. It continues: ‘When you build a new house…’ - you will merit to build a house and to make a parapet. Then it says: ‘You shall not sow your vineyard with an admixture’ - you will merit to have a vineyard and to sow a field. Then it says: ‘You shall not plough with an ox and with a donkey’ - you will merit to have oxen and donkeys. Then it says: ‘You shall not wear an admixture’ - you will merit to have good-quality clothes made of wool and good-quality clothes made of linen. Then it says: ‘You will make for yourself twined threads’ - you will merit to fulfil the mitzvah of tzitzit. Then it says: ‘When a man takes a wife and comes to her…’ - you will merit to have a wife and children. This is in accordance with the teaching that ‘a mitzvah draws another mitzvah after it, and a sin draws another sin after it’ . This is why [the Torah] juxtaposes these verses".
The Ibn Ezra (commentary to Deuteronomy 22:8) has a parallel, though startlingly different, understanding:
“‘When you build a new house’ - This section is placed directly after [the section dealing with] warfare [which applies when] they are in the Land; it begins with the mitzvah of the home…and after the mitzvah of the home comes the mitzvah of sowing and planting, because after entering the Land, one builds a home and [then] sows".
Both of these views emphasize the inexorable connection between the mitzvot, the chain from one mitzvah to the next.
The mitzvah to build a parapet around the roof of one’s house adds an extra dimension: many commentators pick up on the unusual expression “you will not place blood in your house if he who has fallen falls from it": surely the Torah should have said “…if a person falls from it," or words to that effect. Why the expression “he who has fallen"?
The Talmud (Shabbat 32a) and the Midrash (Sifri 229) explain that this refers to “one who deserves to fall…but nevertheless, let his death not be caused by you - the righteous should have their reward caused by the righteous, and the wicked should have their punishment caused by the wicked".
This commentary clarifies the Targum Yonatan’s rendering of this verse:
“When you build a new house, you shall make a railing as a surrounding to your roof; you shall not cause the sin of blood of a killer to be brought about in your house, lest he who deserves to fall, falls from it".
And similarly the S’forno: “Thus in the event that a certain faller should fall from there, it will not be you that caused blood to be punished in your house".
Keeping the mitzvot protects the Jew from external enemies, from natural disasters, and from becoming the agent through which G-d brings punishment into the world.
The Ramban introduces an additional idea: “The mitzvah of the parapet is a renewal, or an explanation, of ‘You shall not stand idly by your neighbour’s blood’ (Leviticus 19:16)".
A brilliant insight into this comment of the Ramban’s is given by an almost-contemporary gadol ba-Torah:
“We should not think that the mitzvah of ‘You shall not stand idly by your neighbour’s blood’ applies only after disaster has struck and a fellow-Jew is already in danger, that only then does the mitzvah of ‘You shall not stand idly by your neighbour’s blood’ begin to apply and we are then obliged to save him. Rather, the truth is that one is obligated to anticipate and to consider in advance what is liable to occur, and to avoid the problem. And similarly, one must understand in advance and help a Jew who is in distress before he asks for help" (Rabbi Meir Kahane Hy"d, Peirush ha-Macabee to Deuteronomy 22:8)).
The Ibn Ezra, quoted above, mentions the significance of this mitzvah occurring specifically in the wake of the mitzvot of warfare, and this significance goes deeper.
The parashah opens with the words, “When you go out to war against your enemies…" (Deuteronomy 21:10), on which the Sforno says very simply, “‘When you go out’ - outside of the Land [of Israel]". Rashi’s comment indicates the same conclusion: “The Torah speaks here of a voluntary war" - and since any war inside the Land of Israel is obligatory, Rashi also makes it clear that this speaks of a war outside of Israel.
Rabbi Meir Kahane, in a shiur in his Yeshiva delivered almost forty years ago, explained the context:
The parapet around the roof of a house protects the house. “You shall not place blood in your house": inside the house - inside the national home - must be a safe place. It is normal that blood not be shed inside the home. Wars should not be inside the Land of Israel: “you shall not place blood in your house" - if blood has to be shed, it must happen outside of your house, outside of your national home. It is normal that the house is a place of safety and refuge; it is normal that no blood be shed inside the house.
And this lesson is the national imperative today.