Ki Teitzei () is the incipit and title of the 49th weekly Torah portion, or (), in the annual cycle of Torah reading in Judaism. It is the sixth in the book of Deuteronomy, comprising Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19. The sets out a series of miscellaneous laws, mostly governing civil and domestic life, including the treatment of a beautiful captive woman; inheritance among the sons of two wives; the punishment of extremely wayward sons in the community; the treatment of the corpses of executed persons; the treatment of found property; actions undertaken when coming upon another in distress; rooftop safety; prohibited mixtures; sexual offenses, membership in the congregation; camp hygiene; runaway slaves; prostitution; (); and destroying the memory of Amalek, among other topics.
The is made up of 5,856 Hebrew letters, 1,582 Hebrew words, 110 verses, and 213 lines in a Torah Scroll (). Jews generally read the in August or September. Jews also read the part of the about Amalek (Deuteronomy 25:17–19) as the () reading on (), the special Sabbath immediately before Purim, which commemorates the story of Esther and the Jewish people's squashing of Haman's plan to commit eliminationist genocide against Jews living in the Achaemenid Empire.. Esther 3:1 identifies Haman as an Agagite, and thus a descendant of Amalek.Numbers 24:7 identifies the Agagites with the Amalekites. A midrash tells that between King Agag's capture by Saul and his killing by Samuel, Agag fathered a child, from whom Haman, in turn, descended. Seder Eliyahu Rabbah chapter 20 (circa 640–900 CE), in, e.g., William G. Braude and Israel J. Kapstein, translators, Tanna Debe Eliyyahu: The Lore of the School of Elijah (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1981); Targum Sheni to Esther 4:13.
Readings In traditional Shabbat Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven or "readings" (). In the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, Ki Teitzei has two "open portions" (), roughly equivalent to paragraphs, abbreviated with the Hebrew letter . Ki Teitzei has several further subdivisions, called "closed portions" (), abbreviated with the Hebrew letter within the first open portion. The long first open portion spans nearly the entire , except for the concluding reading. The short second open portion coincides with the reading. Thus, the is nearly one complete whole. Closed‑portion divisions divide all of the readings, often setting apart separate laws.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, The Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim/Deuteronomy (Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2009), pages 136–61.
First reading—Deuteronomy 21:10–21 In the first reading, Moses rules that if captives of war were taken and an Israelite soldier noticed a beautiful captive woman he wanted to take as a wife, the Israelite was to bring her into his household and home, have her hair cleaned and trimmed, her nails pared,"pare her nails" is the translation in most English texts. However, in classical Hebrew writings, the sense is literally to "grow out her nails without cropping them." This interpretation follows the Targum Onkelos on Deuteronomy 21:12, Maimonides (Hil. Melekhim 8:1–3), Rashi's commentary on Deuteronomy 21:12, as well as the author of Sefer ha-Chinuch (no. 532), unlike the popular English translations for the same verse. and her dirty garbs discarded and replaced, and then allow her a month to lament the deaths of her loved ones, if applicable. Thereafter, the Israelite could take her as his wife. However, if the soldier found that he no longer wanted her as his wife, he was required to manumit her outright; he was not allowed to sell her into slavery. A closed portion ends here.Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim/Deuteronomy, page 137.
In the continuation of the reading, Moses instructed that if a man had two wives—one whom he loved deeply and another whom he did not love—and both wives bore him sons, but the unloved wife gave birth to his firstborn son, then when or if the man later decided to will his property to his sons, he was not allowed to treat the son of his beloved wife as the firstborn, ignoring the older son of his unloved wife. Instead, he was required to recognize the firstborn as the son of the unloved wife and to give him his birthright, which included a double portion of all that the man possessed, as mandated by biblical law. A closed portion ends here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim/Deuteronomy, page 138.
Moses then instructed that if a couple had an extremely wayward, defiant son who did not show obedience toward his parents even after they undergoing punishment, they were to bring him to the Israelite elders of their town and say, "This son of ours is disloyal and defiant; he does not heed us. He is a glutton and a drunkard." The Israelites of the town were then to stone him. The first reading and a closed portion end here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim/Deuteronomy, page 139.
Second reading—Deuteronomy 21:22–22:7 In the second reading, Moses instructed that if the community executed an individual for a capital offense by impaling them on a stake, they were not to let their corpse remain on the stake overnight. Instead, they were to bury them the same day, for an impaled body is an affront to God. A closed portion ends here with the end of the chapter.
In the continuation of the reading, Moses instructed that if one found another's lost ox, sheep, donkey, clothing, or any other lost thing, then one could not ignore it but was required to take it back to its owner. If the owner did not live near the finder or the finder did not know who the owner was, then the finder was to bring the thing home and keep it until the owner claimed it. A closed portion ends here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim/Deuteronomy, page 140.
Next, Moses instructed that if one came upon another's donkey or ox fallen on the road, one could not ignore it but was required to help the owner raise it. A closed portion ends here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim/Deuteronomy, page 141. Moses then instructed that a woman was not to put on a man's apparel, nor a man wear a woman's clothing, essentially prohibiting cross-dressing. Another closed portion ends here.
And as the reading continues, Moses instructed that if one came upon a bird's nest with the mother bird sitting over fledglings or eggs, one could not take the mother together with her young, but was required to let the mother go and take only the young. The act is referred to as ((). The second reading and a closed portion end here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim/Deuteronomy, page 142.
Third reading—Deuteronomy 22:8–23:7 In the third reading, Moses taught that when one built a new house, one had to make a parapet on the roof so that no one would fall from it. One was not to engage in sowing a vineyard with a second kind of seed, nor use the yield of such a vineyard. This is because the soil would not be enough for them, and the product of both would not be of good quality. A closed portion ends here.
In the continuation of the reading, Moses instructed that one was not to plough a field with an ox and a donkey together, as their force is uneven. One was not to wear cloth combining wool and linen together ((, ), as their integrity and quality would be lowered. A closed portion ends here.
Moses next instructed the Israelites to make () on the four corners of the garments with which they covered themselves. As garments like those worn by Israelites are no longer worn, religious Jews instead don a prayer shawl known as a () during the () prayer service to fulfill the () described in Deuteronomy 22:12. Conservative and Orthodox Jewish men oftentimes wear a smaller garment, a (), under their clothing throughout the day. Another closed portion ends here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim/Deuteronomy, page 143.
As the reading continues, Moses instructs that if a man marries a woman, cohabits with her, takes an aversion to her, and falsely charges her with non-virginity at the time of marriage, the woman's parents were to produce a cloth with evidence of the woman's virginity before the town elders at the city gate. The community's elders were then to have the man flogged and fine him 100 shekels of silver to be paid to the woman's father. The woman was to remain the man's wife, and he was never to have the right to divorce her. A closed portion ends here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim/Deuteronomy, page 144. Moses instructed that if the elders found that the woman had not been a virgin, then the woman was to be brought to the entrance of her father's house and stoned to death by the men of her town. A closed portion ends here.
Moses next declares that if a man is found lying with another man's wife, both the man and the woman with whom he lay must be executed. Another closed portion ends here. Next, Moses teaches that if, in a city, a man lay with a virgin who was engaged to a man, the authorities were to take the two of them to the town gate and stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry for help—implying consent and infidelity even when there was already a compromise from her—and the man because he slept with another man's wife. A closed portion ends here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim/Deuteronomy, page 145.
Next, Moses instructs that if the man raped the woman in the open country, only the man was to die, as she cried for help and there was no one to save her. The law compared this vile act to a murderer. Another closed portion ends here. In the continuation of the reading, Moses instructed that if a man seized a virgin who was not engaged and lay with her, then the man was to pay the girl's father 50 shekels of silver; she was to become the man's wife, and he was never to have the right to divorce her. A closed portion ends here with the end of the chapter. As the reading continues in chapter 23, Moses instructed that no man could marry his father's former wife after his death. A closed portion ends here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim/Deuteronomy, page 146.
Moses next taught that in God's service, the Levites could not admit into membership anyone whose testicles were crushed or whose member was cut off.. A closed portion ends here. Later in the reading, Moses explained that the Levites, the service-members in God's Tabernacle, were not allowed to include anyone born from illegitimate unions or within ten generations of such unions. Individuals in this category were known as (; ). A closed portion ends here. Furthermore, Moses instructed that God's Levites could not admit into membership any Ammonite or Moabite, or anyone descended within ten generations from an Ammonite or Moabite. As long as they lived, Israelites were not to concern themselves with the welfare or benefit of Ammonites or Moabites, because they did not meet the Israelites with food and water after the Israelites left Ancient Egypt, and because they hired Balaam to curse the Israelites—but God refused to heed Balaam, turning his curse into a blessing. The third reading and a closed portion end here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim/Deuteronomy, page 147.
Fourth reading—Deuteronomy 23:8–24