Worse Than Dying Rav Binyamin Kahane

Kahane on the Parsha

Rav Binyamin Kahane  Parshat Ki Teitzei

WORSE THAN DYING

In this week's parsha, we learn that the offspring of converts from the nations of Edom and Egypt may marry into the Jewish people after three generations, but the offspring of Moabite and Ammonite (male) converts may never marry into the Jewish people.

That's right. the Egyptians who enslaved us for 210 years and the Edomites who refused to let us pass through their land are ultimately allowed to marry into the nation of Israel. However, the Ammonites and Moabites whose sin was passive--they did not offer us bread and water- are never allowed to marry into our people. A topsy-turvy world, indeed!

The Midrash (Sifri, Ki Tetze 252), however, clarifies the matter: "Since the Ammonites and Moabites looked for ways to cause Israel to sin, they were banished by the Torah forever. This teaches us that causing someone to sin is worse than killing him- since killing someone only removes him from this world while causing someone to sin removes him from both this world and the next."

The Kli Yakar explains that Bilaam told the Ammonites and Moabites not to offer bread and water to the Jews as part of his plan to corrupt them. Due to their hunger, the Children of Israel would eat from the altars of Moab's idols. And due to their thirst, the daughters of Moab would be able to ensnare them by giving them wine and then offering themselves on condition that they worship their idols first. Bilaam understood that causing Israel to sin would be more fatal than physical death.

A striking example of this axiom is the unprecedented case of the "rebellious son" in our parsha- the young man who has stolen relatively little from his father but must nevertheless be stoned. The Rabbis explain that the rebellious son is punished for what he is going to become. "The Torah knows where he is leading. He will eventually wipe out his father's property and then, seeking to maintain his accustomed habits, will go to the crossroads and rob people. The Torah therefore states: Let him die innocent and not guilty" (Sanhedrin 72a).

According to one opinion in the Talmud, an instance of the Torah's rebellious son "never occurred and never will occur." Why, then, does the Torah discuss the topic? So that we "study it and receive reward." In other words, even if all the conditions of the rebellious son never occur, one can still learn an essential lesson from this mitzvah. And what is the lesson? That death is better than a life without direction and laden with sin. In Judaism, life is a means and not an end in itself. Without an aim, without a real purpose, there is no reason to live.

For modern-day Hellenists who embrace Western culture, the "sanctity of life" trumps everything. For this reason we find individuals opposed to the death penalty for even the most heinous of criminals (such as Adolf Eichmann, whose execution was protested by some Jews.)

But Judaism regards the content of one's life more important than life itself. That is why converts from Egypt and Edom- nations that harmed us physically- may ultimately marry into the Jewish people while converts from Ammon and Moab- nations that harmed us spiritually- may not.

Darka Shel Torah, 1999

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Barbara Sandra Ginsberg

Anglos for Otzma Yehudit