Ki Titzei and Protecting Women

In this week’s parsha Ki Titzei, there is a long list of laws concerning sexual purity, marriage and family.  In fact, some of the most taboo topics are discussed:  rape, incest, adultery, loss of virginity (pre-marital sex), prostitution (sex trafficking), kidnapping and slavery.

As you read you’ll notice that most of these laws are geared towards protecting women. 

How did we get here?

When we go back to the beginning of Elohim’s plan for mankind in the garden, it all started with the beauty of Adam and Hawah (Eve) being created as transcendent beings in harmony and equality both as male and female aspects of the divine:

“When Elohim created man, he made him in the likeness of Elohim. He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them “Adam.”

Yet after Adam and Hawah chose to violate Yah’s commands, their relationship descended into darkness and became one of enmity, hatred and cruelty towards one another – reaping a curse instead of blessing:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” Gen. 3:15

Adam and Hawah were no longer friends but enemies who inflicted violence upon one another – whether literal or figurative.  In this context, the difficult topics of gender based violence can better be understood.

Adam’s cruelty is described here:

“To the woman he said, ‘I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

At first, Adam separated from his mother and father to ‘cleave to his wife,’ in a loving and consensual marriage bond.  But now, although she desired her mate, he would ‘rule over her.’  Rulership suggests a relationship of cruelty, force and bondage such as with a slave master.

So, there it is, according to scripture, both the nature of Adamic men and women changed after the fall, becoming cruel and violent towards one another.  

In particular, Hawah and subsequent generations of Adamic women lost their elevated status and became secondary citizens ‘so to speak’ in many ways, subject to domination and subjugation by men.  The writings of Genesis say that this was a punishment for leading Adam in rebellion against Elohim’s laws.

Whether you agree with the explanation of gender inequality or not, we can simply look to world history both ancient and modern to confirm these realities.  Although women have gained equal rights in modern western societies, misogyny and discrimination still continues in most countries and manifests in religious, social and business platforms worldwide?

How do we get beyond gender discrimination and oppression?  Elohim’s laws in Ki Titzei are a beginning.  

Severe penalties were put in place to protect women from rape and subsequent honour killings, prevalent throughout the Middle East and parts of Asia.  For instance, in certain parts of India or under extremist Islamic regimes, victims of rape – not the perpetrators – are shockingly killed in what’s called ’honour killings.’  You heard it right, the poor victims and not the attackers are blamed for the crime and executed.

Elohim’s law protects victims of rape by codifying these safeguards into law in Deuteronomy 22: 

“25 But if out in the country a man happens to meet a young woman pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man who has done this shall die. 26 Do nothing to the woman; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor, 27 for the man found the young woman out in the country, and though the betrothed woman screamed, there was no one to rescue her.”

Notice how the wording here explains at length that a rape victim is completely innocent and should never be punished for this atrocity? While the attacker, on the other hand, deserves death.

In other places, the law calls for punishment of both men and women – not just women – guilty of adultery (whether officially married or engaged); protection of widows under the levirate laws; forbidding temple prostitution – equally protections for men and women; making kidnapping a capital offense (often connected with sex trafficking); restricting divorce, forbidding incest and general protections for refugees and the poor, 

Although the content of Ki Titzei is difficult to stomach at times, if we read it in context of societies that persecute female victims of sexual assault, widows, divorcees, etc., it becomes clear that these laws were created to protect women in a fallen world.

The time and care with which these topics are addressed are an indicator of just how important protecting women and family is to our Heavenly Father and to the building of a strong nation.

May the protection of women and young girls be a principle of righteous leadership, governments, families and communities worldwide.  This is righteousness.

Blessings and peace to all! 1❤️💛💚

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Torah Study Challenge

Last week’s parshat Shoftim was primarily  dedicated to laws concerning conducting fair and just judiciary in Israelite society.  However, this week’s parshat Ki Tetze is primarily focused on family matters – the sanctity of marriage and sexual purity, of which protecting women is a central theme.  

It makes sense that Elohim brings our attention back to family, for how can you have justice in society if there’s no justice in the most fundamental roots of our society?

Here is a list of the Laws of Family addressed, followed by a study challenge and discussion questions: 

• Marriage
• Fornication (vs. virginity)
• Rape/Sexual Violence 
• Adultery (w/a betrothed or married woman)
• Incest
• Prostitution
• Wives in plural marriage 
• Marrying an enslaved woman
• Re-marriage to the former husband after divorce (forbidden)
• Levirate Marriage & Halitzah
• Assault on Male genitals
• Divorce
• Laws of the Entry into the Sanctuary

The time and care with which these topics are addressed are an indicator of just how important protecting women and maintaining a strong healthy family unit is to Elohim and our success.

This week, the challenge is to re-read the parsha with family (English/Hebrew) and use the following questions to spark meaningful discussion about the topics.  What are your reflections? Dig deeper: Select a topic you’d like to know more about for independent study and use primary and secondary resources to study that topic. Look up key words in Hebrew. Share what you’ve learned.

CLICK HERE FOR WRJ DISCUSSION  QUESTIONS

I pray you enjoy this activity and have a blessed Shabbat!

If you’ve found this resource useful or have suggestions or comments, contact morahmakedah@gmail.com. 

• For info on Tehillim, Torah or Hebrew studies, visit http://www.queenmakedah.com/hebrew-classes.
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Shabbat Shalom & May Yah Bless! Morah Makedah

p.s. Below are some other links that you may find useful.

TORAH READING & COMMENTARY QUICK LINKS: 

Traditional:

• CHABAD – https://www.chabad.org/parshah/default_cdo/jewish/Torah-Portion.htm  
• AISH – https://aish.com/weekly-torah-portion/  
• SACKS – https://rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/ 
• TORAH.ORG  – https://torah.org/parsha-index/ 
• KABBALAH – https://www.kabbalah.com/en/pages/portion-of-the-week/ 

TOPICAL STUDIES WEBSITES – QUICK LINKS

• JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA – https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/ 
• WIKIPEDIA – https://www.wikipedia.org/ 

WORD & TOPICAL  STUDY:

• BLUE LETTER BIBLE – https://www.blueletterbible.org/ 

(Other) SHABBAT TABLE TALK DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

https://tanach.org/arch.htm

https://teletefila.com/parsha-questions.html