📜 Daily Chumash & Rashi – Parshas Ki Seitzei Shevi’i: Miscellaneous Mitzvos

Shevi’i

1. Miscellaneous Mitzvos:
   • Paying a worker on time: Do not cheat a poor employee. You are to pay him the same day, prior to sundown, otherwise he may call to Hashem and you will carry sin.
   • Witnesses: Fathers and sons are not to die based on [testimony of] each other.
   • Orphans and widows: A judge is not to twist the judgment of an orphan or convert and one is not to take their garment.
   • Shichicha/Peia: When you harvest your field and you forget a bundle in the field, do not return to take it. It shall be left to the convert, orphan, and widow in order so Hashem bless you in all your actions. When you harvest your olive or grape orchard, do not remove all the olives and grapes from the tree, it shall be left for the convert, orphan, and widow. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and therefore Hashem has commanded you in this.
   • Not to give more lashes than required: When two people have an argument and the guilty is found guilty, then the judge is to give him lashes in accordance to his wickedness. He is to be stricken [close to] 40 times. You may not give him more lashes lest he become degraded before you.
   • Muzzling animals: You may not muzzle an ox while it is threshing.
   • Yibum: When a brother dies and leaves a wife without children, she shall marry her husband’s brother. The child will be born on behalf of his brother who died, and his name will not be obliterated from Israel.
   • Chalitza: If the brother does not desire to marry his brother’s wife, then she is to go to the elders by the gates and tell them that her brother in-law does not wish to marry her and establish a name for his dead brother. The brother is to be summoned and spoken to, and if he does not desire to marry her, he is to proclaim it. His sister-in-law is to then approach him before all the elders, and remove his shoe from his feet, and spit in front of him, saying that so is done to whom who does not wish to establish a home for his brother. His name will be called amongst Israel “Beis Chalutz Hanaal.”
   • Woman injures a man: If two men are fighting and the wife of one of the men grabs the other man in his private area, she is to [figuratively] have her palm cut off [by paying a fine].
   • Not to own false measurements: You may not own in your pockets measurements stones which are inaccurate. You must have accurate scales, so you live long on the promised land. It is an abomination before G-d to cheat in measurements.
   • Remembering Amaleik: Remember what Amaleik did to you on the journey when he killed the weak amongst you and he did not fear G-d. When G-d clears you of all your enemies and gives you the promised land, you are to obliterate the memory of Amaleik. Do not forget!

 

 

Q&A on Rashi

 

1. According to Rashi, why is the prohibition against withholding a poor worker’s wages repeated?
   Answer: To make someone who withholds a poor worker’s wages transgress two negative commandments instead of one.
2. What does the word אֶבְיוֹן (evyon) mean?
   Answer: A destitute person who longs for everything because he has nothing.
3. Who is meant by “your strangers” in Devarim 24:14?
   Answer: A righteous convert (ger tzedek).
4. What does “within your cities” include according to Rashi?
   Answer: A resident alien (ger toshav) who does not worship idols.
5. Why does the worker “risk his life” for his wages?
   Answer: Because he performs dangerous work, such as climbing trees or ramps.
6. What does “there should be sin upon you” teach?
   Answer: The employer is guilty even if the worker does not cry out, though punishment comes faster when he does.
7. How does Rashi explain “Fathers shall not be put to death because of sons”?
   Answer: Fathers cannot be sentenced to death based on their sons’ testimony.
8. Why is the Torah especially careful about the judgment of a stranger and orphan?
   Answer: Because it is easier to take advantage of the weak and poor.
9. What are we meant to remember from Egypt when helping the vulnerable?
   Answer: That Hashem redeemed us on condition that we keep His commandments, even when it costs money.
10. What is שִׁכְחָה (shikchah)?
    Answer: Produce forgotten in the field that must be left for the poor.
11. Does shikchah apply to a large stack of grain?
    Answer: No. Rashi says it applies to a sheaf, not a large stack.
12. If someone accidentally loses money and a poor person finds it and benefits from it, what reward does Rashi mention?
    Answer: The owner still receives a blessing from Hashem.
13. What does “You shall not deglorify it” teach regarding olive trees?
    Answer: One must leave gifts for the poor, similar to pe’ah.
14. What are עוֹלְלוֹת (olelot) in a vineyard?
    Answer: Small undeveloped grape clusters that belong to the poor.
15. According to Rashi, what usually results from quarrels?
    Answer: Court cases and further conflict, not peace.
16. Who receives lashes according to the Torah?
    Answer: Someone who violates certain negative commandments that are not corrected by a positive commandment.
17. Why are only 39 lashes given instead of 40?
    Answer: “The number of forty” means one less than the full forty.
18. After a sinner receives lashes, what does the Torah call him?
    Answer: “Your brother.”
19. What general lesson does Rashi learn from “You shall not muzzle an ox”?
    Answer: Animals working with food must be allowed to eat from it.
20. Which brothers are included in the mitzvah of yibbum?
    Answer: Paternal brothers who were alive at the same time.
21. What does “having no son” really mean?
    Answer: Having no descendants at all—not a son, daughter, grandchild, etc.
22. Which brother should perform yibbum first?
    Answer: The oldest brother.
23. What is chalitzah?
    Answer: The ceremony in which the widow removes the brother-in-law’s shoe if he refuses yibbum.
24. What does “You shall cut off her hand” mean according to Rashi?
    Answer: She pays monetary compensation; it is not literal.
25. What is forbidden by having two different weights?
    Answer: Using dishonest measures to cheat buyers and sellers.
26. What blessing comes from honest weights and measures?
    Answer: Long life and prosperity.
27. Why is the mitzvah of Amalek placed after the laws of honest weights?
    Answer: Rashi teaches that dishonesty in business can bring enemy attacks.
28. What are three explanations of the word קָרְךָ (karcha)?
    Answer: Chance occurrence, impurity, and cooling off Israel’s reputation among the nations.
29. Who were Amalek’s primary victims?
    Answer: The weak stragglers at the rear of the camp.
30. What is the final command regarding Amalek?
    Answer: Erase the remembrance of Amalek and never forget what they did.

Bonus Question:
What famous Rashi phrase from this section teaches about rehabilitation after punishment?

Answer: “Once he has been flogged, behold, he is your brother.”

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