A Thought on Parshat Ki Teitzei - Keeping the Entire Torah: You Can Do It!

This week’s parsha contains an episode that it is difficult for us 21st century beings to fully understand. The story of Yefat Toar, when a Jewish male soldier goes to war and sees an attractive non-Jewish woman, unable to withstand the temptation, the Torah permits the man to take her for a wife. The pasuk says ״וראית בשביה אשת יפת תאר וחשקת בה ולקחת לך לאשה״ and Rashi comments ״לא דיברה תורה אלא כנגד יצר הרע, שאם אין הקב׳׳ה מתירה – ישאנה באיסור.״

This is hard for us to comprehend. For hundreds and hundreds of years, Jewish society has lived with the decree of Rabbeinu Gershom, who forbids a man to have more than one wife; something that was clearly permitted and accepted in biblical times. But perhaps more troubling is the notion that because the man cannot withstand a prohibition, the Torah permits it? Interesting… how are we to understand that?

The commentators offer various explanations to help us understand this story, but I will focus on a different angle -  a powerful message we can glean from this episode.  The sefer שללי רב quotes an amazing story that occurred with Rav Yechezkel Abromsky. Rav Abromsky, a great Torah giant and former Av Beit Din in London would regularly give a shiur in parshat hashavua on Friday evenings for young Jews who were not yet observant. Every week they would come to his house to hear his Torah. When the week of Parshat Ki Teizei arrived Rav Abromsky was very anxious for he did not know how to explain this parsha in a way non-observant Jews could connect to it. As Friday night arrived, the Rav still did not know what he would say to these young minds - he davened to Hashem for the right words. And just like that, in the middle of the meal, an approach popped into his head, which would prove to be a most powerful lesson. When the students arrived Rav Abromski said to them, “before you open the books, you should know today we are going to learn a lesson that will obligate you to keep the entire Torah.” He went on to explain that in this week’s parsha, the Torah permits us to do something that would otherwise be considered a sin. Hashem permits this act to us because the evil inclination would be raging so roughly, making it too difficult for us to withstand. The logic to this is Hashem would never command us to do something not within our capacity to fulfill. From this we can glean, that EVERYTHING else in the Torah - every positive and negative commandment - are commandments we are capable of fulfilling. There is not a prohibition in the Torah we are not able to gather the strength to withstand. If there were, this week’s parsha teaches us Hashem would have created some permission to violate it.

Wow! What a powerful message. We live in a time where society presents us with many conflicting ideas, attitudes and opinions. We often find ourselves in places where keeping Kosher is not as easy as it is when we are in Toronto. We often find ourselves in places where keeping Shabbat, both in private and in public is not so easy. We often find a conflict between the Torah viewpoint of modesty and the “cool” or “fashionable” approach of society. Let us never say “We Can’t.” It might be hard, and some of us may have come from a less observant upbringing, but do not use the excuse you can’t. Maybe you can’t do it yet, but we all can do it. If we focus on the hidden message of the Yefat Toar we will understand we can do it, Hashem wants us to do it. Let’s spend our lives working towards doing it!