~ Thoughts on the Parsha ~
Parshas Ki Seitzei
Partners in Crime
By: Daniel Listhaus
לֹא יִהְיֶה לְךָ בְּכִיסְךָ אֶבֶן וָאָבֶן
גְּדוֹלָה וּקְטַנָּה:
לֹא
יִהְיֶה לְךָ בְּבֵיתְךָ אֵיפָה וְאֵיפָה גְּדוֹלָה וּקְטַנָּה: אֶבֶן שְׁלֵמָה וָצֶדֶק יִהְיֶה לָּךְ אֵיפָה
שְׁלֵמָה וָצֶדֶק יִהְיֶה לָּךְ לְמַעַן יַאֲרִיכוּ יָמֶיךָ עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר
ה' אֱלֹקיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ: כִּי תוֹעֲבַת ה' אֱלֹקיךָ כָּל עֹשֵׂה אֵלֶּה כֹּל
עֹשֵׂה עָוֶל
“You shall not have
in your pouch a stone and a stone – a large one and a small one. You shall not
have in your house a measure and a measure – a large one and a small one. A
complete [perfect] and honest stone shall you have, a complete [perfect] and honest
measure shall you have, so that your days shall be lengthened on the land that
Hashem, your G-d, gives you. For an abomination of Hashem, your G-d, are all
who do this, all who act fraudulently.”
-Ki Seitzei 25:13-16
As
is most of Sefer Devarim[1],
this mitzva is a reiteration of what was commanded earlier in the
Torah.[2]
The requirement for a person to make sure that one's scales are accurate is a mitzva
which is fundamental in the Torah because it represents the necessary honesty
and truth which must be exhibited at all times.
The
Kli Yakar[3]
is bothered that if one takes a closer look at these passukim (verses),
one will notice a technical difficulty. What does the Torah mean by “a large stone” and “a
small stone”? Our first thought may be to think that they represent measures
which would result in giving too much or too little merchandise. The Torah
would then be describing a dishonest person who, when taking things for himself
uses the large stone, yet when measuring for others uses the small stone.
However, this cannot be the right explanation because it does not fit well in
the passuk. When the Torah writes what one should have instead of these
two stones, it says, “A complete [perfect] and honest stone shall you have...”.[4]
The passuk counters the small stone by stating that one must have a full
one, but does not seem to directly address the over-sized measurement by
advising to instead get a smaller one of normal size. Why is this so?
Based
on this question, it must be that there is a slightly different explanation and
perhaps a deeper message being taught here in the Torah. The Kli Yakar explains
as follows. Although when the Torah writes here “a small stone” it does indeed
refer to one which measures less than it should, the “large stone” which is
mentioned does not reflect this same idea to refer to a measure more than it is
supposed to be. Instead, when the Torah describes the “large stone” it means a
perfectly accurate stone. The Torah only used the adjective “large” in order to
compare and contrast it to the fraudulent small one.
The
obvious problem with this is, as the Kli Yakar himself points out, why
does the Torah command that such a stone should not be found in one's
possession? The Torah should instead have said, “You should not have in your
pouch a small stone, rather you should only have a large one.” Furthermore,
after stating this negative commandment, the Torah[5]
strengthens it by saying that this is considered an abomination to Hashem. Why
should Hashem despise those who carry accurate measures?
The Kli
Yakar answers these questions in the following way. Shlomo HaMelech writes
in Mishlei[6],
“A stone and a stone, a measure and a measure, also both of them are
abominations to Hashem”. The word “also” (“gam”) seems to be extra. Why
not just write “both of them...”? Based on this the Kli Yakar explains
that the two stones/measures that Shlomo refers to are not both dishonest.
Rather, one is small and the other is accurate, and yet Shlomo is coming to
teach us that even the one which is the right measure is an abomination. The
reason for this is because having the correct stone creates a situation which
allows one to be deceitful by accrediting the small one. After all, imagine if
this store owner would only have his small measure. He could take his chances,
but every time he dares to cheat someone, he will be worried that people will
realize and take him to Beis Din (Jewish court). In such a case he will
be found guilty and suffer the consequences. However, with an accurate measure
in his pocket as well, which he could use for some of his customers, a
fail-proof scheme is formed. Now if someone were to go home and discover he was
given less than he should have gotten and
try to take the dishonest person to Beis Din, this person would
be able to confidently go to Beis Din and call in those for who he
always measured correctly to swear in his defense. The result would be that Beis
Din would assume that the person claiming to have been cheated is indeed
the real cheater and that his own weights are the ones which are imprecise.
Immediately
after this commandment not to have inaccurate measures, the Torah charges us to
never forget what Amalek did to us when we came out of Mtzrayim.
They attacked us when we were vulnerable and we cannot forgive them of this. Rashi[7]
comments that the juxtaposition between these two seemingly unconnected topics
is coming to communicate the following message. If we are untruthful about our
measures and weights, then we should begin worrying about getting attacked by
our enemies.
The Kli
Yakar is very bothered by this Rashi. First, what does being
dishonest have to do with our enemies attacking us? We know that Hashem
punishes middah k'neged middah (measure for measure), so why is having
our enemies attack us considered a fit punishment for cheating our customers?
Furthermore, when Amalek attacked us there were certainly no cases yet
of people with fraudulent measures, so this explanation does not even work well
with the first time Amalek waged war against us. How could we understand
this Rashi?
The Kli
Yakar continues and says that with the aforementioned idea we developed, we
could now have a better appreciation for this juxtaposition that Rashi is
coming to address. The person who has the accurate measuring stone together
with the under-sized one is trying to secretly deceive his customers. He is one
who is lacking yiras shamayim (fear of Heaven), for he does not consider
the fact that Hashem is omniscient. Rather, he thinks that Hashem will be
tricked with his scheme along with the Beis Din. A person with such a
mentality deserves to be attacked by Amalek – who attack publicly at
times when we are lax in our yiras shamayim.[8]
The
yesod (foundation, main point) of this Kli Yakar is one which is
an important one to internalize. Even though the accurate stone is nothing more
than a passive player in a plot to harm others, it is still considered as much
an abomination as the stone specifically designed to cheat. Keeping quiet while
a friend is doing something wrong, or being a silent partner in a crime, still
makes one a responsible party in what occurred. We must be careful not just to
make sure that we are not the dishonest stone, but to even make sure that we do
not place ourselves as the accurate measure in an environment which, with its
presence, sheker could be enhanced.
The
opposite is also true. Earlier in this week's parsha, the Torah relates
some exceptions as to who is allowed to convert to Judaism.[9]
Among these passukim, the Torah[10]
says, “You shall not hate an Edomite, for he is your brother; you shall not
abhor an Egyptian for you were a sojourner in his land. Children who are born
to them in the third generation may enter the congregation of Hashem.” At face
value, this passuk is extremely difficult to understand. We are
commanded to not show hatred toward Egyptians nor prevent them from converting
to Judaism because we are forever indebted to them; after all, we stayed in
their land. What exactly do we owe them for? The price we paid for staying in Mitzrayim
was not worth the value we received. We were forced into hard, purposeless
labor, they tried to kill our children by drowning them in the Nile, and even
after we finally left Mitzrayim they chased after us! Yet, despite all
this, we are expected to allow them to convert to Judaism after three
generations? For what do we owe this favor? Rashi[11]
on this passuk comments that although all these facts are true and we
were indeed treated miserably by the Egyptians, nevertheless because they were
a source of help during our time of need when there was a famine in Eretz
Yisroel and the shevatim came to Mitzrayim for food, we are
indebted to them.
This
Rashi does not make the passuk any easier to understand. No time
in history did the Ancient Egyptians intend to do anything nice for the Jews.
Hashem had a plan to get B'nei Yisroel down to Mitzrayim.
Therefore, Hashem created a famine everywhere except for Egypt which had seven
plentiful years and had stored silos of food. The Egyptian
government's full intention was to become fabulously wealthy using the advise
that Yosef HaTzadik gave them. Yet, even though they were nothing more
than a proverbial pawn in Hashem's master plan, still, because we benefited
from dwelling there, we must hold back our hatred and allow them to convert to
Judaism if they wish.[12]
We
see here a very similar concept as we saw in the Kli Yakar. It does not
matter how passive a part one may play in an overall plan. If one causes
goodness to come from him, no matter how indirect, it will be attributed back
to him. The same, however, is true in the opposite scenario. Even someone as
complete and perfect as the accurate stone, but who is lacking in yiras
shamayim and plays even the smallest role in contributing to bring aveiros
into the world, is responsible for those ramifications.
As
difficult as it may be for a person to become a “perfect stone” in the first
place, that still cannot be our ultimate goal. The Orchos Tzadikkim[13]
offers the following moshol. A person may work hard to fill his
barrel with wine, but as long as there is a hole in the barrel, it will all
leak out. The same is true when it comes to people. One may even be on the
level to realize that gashmiyus (materialism) is not what is important,
and such a person may fill his barrel with Torah and chesed. However, as
long as there is a lack in yiras shamayim, there are holes in the barrel
and it will all leak out.
The
trickster in our parsha has a perfect stone. However, because it just
sits silently as a deceitful scheme evolves around it, it too is an abomination
in Hashem's eyes. As mentioned, though, the opposite holds true as well. One
who is the cause of chesed, even if it be indirectly, is owed a sense of
gratitude for being there in a time of need. Imagine if we actually make an
effort to encourage people or actively help others to achieve, how much more so
will we be rewarded!
[1] This is in fact why Sefer Devarim is
also called Mishna Torah – because it is a repeat of many of the Torah.
[2] Vayikra 19:35
[3] Devarim 25:13
[4] Devarim 25:14
[5] Devarim 25:16
[6] Mishlei 20:10
[7] Devarim 25:17
[8] See Rashi on Shemos 17:8
[9] Devarim 23:4
[10] Devarim 23:8-9
[11] Devarim 23:8
[12] See Sifri Devarim 252 (23:8-9)
[13] In the Hakdama (Introduction) to the sefer.
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