📜 Daily Chumash & Rashi – Parshas Ki Seitzei: Sheiyni Miscellaneous Mitzvos

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Sheiyni

1. Miscellaneous Mitzvos:
   • Hanging and Burying a corpse: If a man received the capital punishment of hanging, his corpse is not to be left hanging on the tree [past sundown]. He is to be buried that day.
   • Hashavas Aveida: If you see a lost animal, or garment, or any lost item of a friend, you shall not overlook it and rather you are to return it to the owner. If you do not know the identity of its owner, it shall remain by you until its owner is discovered.
   • Helping load the donkey of a friend: Do not ignore the fallen donkey or ox of your friend, rather you are to help lift him.
   • Beged Isha/Ish-Crossdressing: A woman may not wear the garments of a man and a man may not wear the garments of a woman. It is an abomination to Hashem.
   • Shiluach Hakein: If you happen upon a nest with a bird and chicks or eggs, and the mother is crouching over them, then do not take the mother with the children. Rather, send the mother away and then take the children. Hashem will grant you long life for fulfilling this command.

📘 Rashi Q&A — Devarim 21:22–23 & 22:1–7

Devarim 21:22–23 — The Executed Criminal

21:22

Q1. What case is discussed here?

1. A person sentenced to death by the court.

Q2. Why is this section placed after the law of the rebellious son?

1. To teach that if he is not corrected, he may eventually commit crimes punishable by death.

Q3. What happens after certain executions?

1. The body is hung on a wooden structure.

Q4. Which executed criminals are hung according to the Sages?

1. Those executed by stoning.

Q5. Why specifically those executed by stoning?

1. Because blasphemy leads to stoning, and the verse associates hanging with one who cursed God.

 

21:23

Q6. May the body remain hanging overnight?

1. No.

Q7. What must be done instead?

1. The person must be buried that same day.

Q8. Why is leaving the body hanging called an affront to God?

1. Because human beings are created in God’s image.

Q9. What analogy does Rashi give?

1. Twin brothers resemble one another; if one becomes king and the other is executed publicly, people might associate the disgrace with the king.

Q10. What lesson follows?

1. Public degradation of a human being dishonors the Divine image.

 

📘 Devarim 22:1–4 — Returning Lost Property

22:1

Q11. What must a person do upon finding a lost ox or sheep?

1. Return it to its owner.

Q12. What does “ignore it” mean?

1. Pretending not to see it.

Q13. According to the Sages, are there circumstances where one may ignore a lost object?

1. Yes, certain exceptional cases exist.

 

22:2

Q14. What if the owner is unknown?

1. Keep the item until the owner can claim it.

Q15. What does “until your brother seeks it” teach?

1. One must verify that the claimant is the true owner.

Q16. Why investigate the claimant?

1. To avoid giving the item to a fraud.

Q17. What does “return it to him” additionally teach?

1. Preserve the item’s value while safeguarding it.

Q18. What if the object costs more to maintain than it is worth?

1. It may be sold and the money preserved for the owner.

 

22:3

Q19. Does the obligation apply only to animals?

1. No.

Q20. What other items are included?

1. Garments and any lost object.

Q21. What does “you cannot ignore it” mean?

1. One may not deliberately avoid responsibility.

 

22:4

Q22. What if an animal collapses under its load?

1. One must help reload it.

Q23. What does “הקם תקים” teach?

1. The obligation to help replace the fallen load.

Q24. Must the owner participate?

1. Yes.

Q25. What if the owner refuses to help?

1. The passerby is exempt.

 

📘 Devarim 22:5 — Distinctive Dress

Q26. What is forbidden to a woman?

1. Wearing items associated with men.

Q27. Why does Rashi explain this prohibition was given?

1. To prevent situations that could lead to immorality.

Q28. What is forbidden to a man?

1. Wearing women’s clothing.

Q29. What concern does Rashi identify?

1. Entering settings inappropriate for him through disguise.

Q30. What additional law do the Sages derive?

1. A man may not remove certain body hair in the manner associated with women.

Q31. What is the Torah’s underlying concern?

1. Behavior leading to moral corruption.

 

📘 Devarim 22:6–7 — Sending Away the Mother Bird

22:6

Q32. When does this mitzvah apply?

1. When one happens upon a bird’s nest.

Q33. What type of nest is excluded?

1. A nest that is readily available and already under one’s control.

Q34. What may not be done?

1. Taking the mother bird together with the eggs or chicks.

 

22:7

Q35. What must be done first?

1. Send away the mother bird.

Q36. What may be done afterward?

1. Take the young birds or eggs.

Q37. What reward does the Torah promise?

1. It will go well for the person, and he will have long life.

Q38. What lesson does Rashi derive from this reward?

1. If such reward is promised for an easy mitzvah with little cost, certainly greater reward awaits fulfillment of more demanding mitzvot.

 

✅ One-line takeaway

These laws teach profound respect for God’s image in every person, responsibility for another’s property and welfare, moral boundaries that preserve holiness, and sensitivity even toward animals, showing that Torah values are expressed through everyday acts of compassion, dignity, and responsibility.