8.18.26 –Time to Go Out

 Ki Tetzei—which means "When you go out"—describes a situation of going out to war:

"When you go out (tetzei) to battle against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take them away captive, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman [Yefat Toar], and have a desire [chashak] for her and would take her as your wife..." (Deut. 21:10–11)

To modern ears, this passage may sound harsh or outdated. But from ancient times until today, conquering armies have routinely raped the women and children of their foes. Israel, however, was not to give in to such beastly behavior—even in wartime.

What this passage describes is what modern Judaism would recognize as a conversion process. After a month of mourning, in which her hair is shaved, her nails left unmanicured, and her beautiful eyes red and swollen from weeping, the Israelite warrior may find her more of an annoyance—always underfoot, yet untouchable.

Ancient armies like the Moabites and Midianites would dress their most beautiful young women in fine garments, jewelry, and fancy hairdos, then send them ahead of the army to seduce the enemy and distract them from battle. This tactic was used against Israel at Baal Peor, and without a single arrow being shot, the Israelites succumbed to adultery and idolatry.

Now this most beautiful young woman has exchanged her fine garments for mourning clothes, for ugly sackcloth. At the end of the month, if she has not agreed to abandon her foreign gods, she must be given her freedom. But if she agrees to cling to the Elohim of Israel, she may be married to her "captor" and assume all the rights and responsibilities of any Israelite wife. Either way, the foreign woman loses her "captive" status and finds freedom. One kind of freedom sends her back into captivity to foreign gods; the other gives her freedom in the perfect Torah of liberty.

Tetzei comes from the root yatzah, which means "to go out" or "to bring out." For an Israelite, going out to war carries a deeper meaning—especially since it may result in bringing a captive woman home to marry. Let us apply the Rule of First Mention and look at another significant context that uses the root yatzah. On the Third Day of Creation:

"The earth brought forth [totzei] vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good." (Gen. 1:12)

A few things stand out. First, trees are often metaphors for human beings. What "went out" of the prophetic people even before the Sixth Day, when actual human beings were created? Fruit with like-kind seed. Likewise, the plants are described as mazria zerah—"seeding seed" or "sowing seed (or making pregnant) after their kind." Elohim saw that when plants and people bear fruit with seed after their kind, it is tov—good. When an Israelite warrior sees a beautiful foreign woman, what is in question is whether she will reproduce children with a like-kind seed of the Word within them. If so, it will be good, tov.

What Elohim sees as tov may not be what human beings see as tov. With free choice, our view of tov may shift—but our view will never change what truly is tov.

The Torah recognizes the possibility of the seed replicating after His image. The risk is that the young warrior is carried away by his passion, chashak—the same word used to describe the passion with which Shechem raped Dinah. It is based on outward form, image, or appearance—toar. Some translations of the Bible do not even translate the word that defines this trap of falling in love with a foreign woman. This is called the Law of the Beautiful Woman—Yefat Toar.

The captive woman is beautiful of form, but is she also beautiful on the inside? The month of seeing her ugly on the outside may reveal the passionate warrior's true motivation. Is it love or lust? The prospective husband will not see her outer beauty for a full month—much like the month of Elul, when the law of the Yefat Toar is read in the annual cycle. Elul means "vain emptiness," and so the captive will be ugly on the outside—and perhaps so too will the warrior's heart. But both hearts will be revealed on the 1st of Tishrei, the Seventh Month, at rosh kodesh—the Feast of Trumpets, the resurrection of the dead, year by year in the annual cycle. While the captive's month of confinement may not align in practicality, the positioning of this Torah reading near the fall feasts teaches us the importance of this season.

The captive woman is not just a captive of Israel—she has been chained to the idols of her heritage. For a full month, she distances herself from that idolatry. If she will not be like Ruth—a true convert who leaves her idols behind—she is not permitted as a wife and must go free, back to the realm of death. Her seed will not be sown in Israel to produce a mixed field of the Word and tares. In a way, this weeding out prevents the "seed of the woman" from reproducing idolatry. A woman who converts to cling to the Land, Covenant, and People of Israel enters into true life and freedom.

Happy preparation season!

Shalom!
Alan