Ki Tetze

• marriage to a prisoner of war,
• the rebellious son,
• return of lost property,
• compassion towards a mother bird,
• building a parapet,
• the prohibition of adultery,
• holiness to be observed in the Army camp,
• prohibition of interest on loans,
• vows,
• marriage,
• divorce,
• kindness to animals,
• fair weights and measures
• and remembering Amalek.

The Ketubah

Though the ketubah is often richly decorated and illuminated, in essence it is a legal document which records the commitments that the groom undertakes towards his bride on the occasion of their marriage. In particular, it makes reference to his agreement to maintain her financially during the course of their marriage, as well as securing her some financial provision in the event of divorce or his death.

The officiating Rabbi acquaints the groom with the terms of the ketubah prior to the commencement of the ceremony. The groom indicates his acceptance of these terms by kabbalat kinyan - lifting up a small article such as a clean handkerchief handed to him by the Rabbi, and then the ketubah is signed in Hebrew by two witnesses. (In Jerusalem the practice is often that the witnesses sign the ketubah under the chuppah during the course of the ceremony.)

In order that the ketubah be valid it must contain the correct names of both the bride and groom, the Hebrew day and date, and the location where the wedding has taken place. When weddings are held in well established Jewish centres the lattermost requirement seldom proves a problem, but in the absence of precedent it can be difficult to establish the correct Hebrew spelling for places such as Chalfont-St-Giles.

Following the ceremony the ketubah belongs to the bride and she must ensure that she keeps it in a safe place. Should it get lost or destroyed a special replacement ketubah must be written.

SIDRA INSIGHTS
Rabbi Reuven Livingstone, Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue

When you go forth to war against your enemies and the L-d delivers them into your hands...‘

Man’s wars in life are of three kinds. First, a war against one’s enemies - if one is unfortunate enough to have them. Secondly, a war, that is a struggle, for existence - to earn a living. Thirdly, and this is the most important of all, a struggle with one’s own base instincts and inclinations such as pride, envy, spite and greed. It is in the third kind of struggle that man needs to apply the most ongoing and concerted effort in order to learn how to control difficult emotions and tendencies. This is no mean feat - as the mishna in Pirkei Avot puts it, ‘Who is truly mighty? One who conquers and controls his own inclinations’.

The Talmud tells of an unusual encounter between a group of Rabbis and Alexander the Great. Instead of praising him, obsequiously, for his conquests, the Sages repeated to him the words of the above mishna. They wanted to share a salutary pearl of wisdom which they hoped would help him: true courage lies in overcoming one’s own desires. It says much of the man that he appears to have accepted this advice graciously. It also says much of the Rabbis that they had the courage of their own convictions in speaking honestly to such a powerful ruler.

During the battle of Jenin in 2002, General Shaul Mofaz came to inspect the forces. He gathered the commanders and suddenly noticed that one Major General, a religious Jew, had a long rip in his shirt. When he asked about the tear, the commander explained that his mother had passed away the day before and that he had just come from the levaya. He said, ‘In the midst of the second day of battle my mobile phone rang. It was mum. She said, "Remember... that your true strength is not your might. You are my answer to the brutality of the Nazis" ...Sir, I have returned to ensure that my troops and I keep to her last wish’ .

Thus, an authentic Jewish hero is not the warrior - but one who achieves self-control. Particularly, as the Talmud tells us, that unlike other wars, the struggle against one’s impulses is never really over and done with - it takes place every day of a person’s life.

It is, therefore, worth remembering that, as in all wars, without considerable divine assistance man is bound to fail - as the prophet says, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the L-d’ (Zachariah 4:6). Maybe this is the message in the opening verse of the Sidra; you may ‘go forth to war’ - highly equipped and prepared - but ultimately ‘the L-d delivers them into your hands’. Thus, in every arena of struggle it is, paradoxically, only when we have the courage to look beyond ourselves that we may discover the true strength that lies within.

RABBI ABRAHAM ISAAC HAKOHEN KOOK
by Rabbi Dr Michael Harris, Hampstead Synagogue

Rav Kook, the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of what was then Palestine, was born in 1865 and died in 1935.

Son of the local Rabbi, who was a Chassid, and a devout mother descended from Mitnagdic stock, Rav Kook was raised in the shtetl of Grieve in northwestern Russia. By the age of nine he was recognized as an illuy, or child prodigy. Subsequently Rav Kook became an outstanding student at the famed Volozhin Yeshiva, whose head at that time was the Netziv (see this column in Daf vol 16 no. 37). Rav Kook became Rabbi of the town of Zoimel, moving at the age of 30 to the Rabbinate of Boisk.

Rav Kook was becoming well-known for his advocacy of Jewish nationalism. Unlike many other Orthodox Rabbinic leaders of his day, he viewed many aspects of secular Zionism in a positive light. He decided to settle permanently in Eretz Yisrael, becoming Rabbi of Jaffa in 1904.

Travelling to the Agudat Israel conference in Germany in 1914, Rav Kook was stranded in Europe because of the outbreak of World War I. After two years in Switzerland he came to London, where he was Rabbi of the Machzikei Hadass Synagogue, and helped to mobilize public opinion in favour of the Balfour Declaration.

In 1919 Rav Kook became Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, and in 1921 of all Eretz Yisrael. Rav Kook was renowned for his love of all Jews and his saintliness. Aside from being a major Jewish thinker with a strong mystical orientation, he published several important halachic works.


(see also Vol 16 no. 42 - Israel A-Z.)

A TO Z OF ISRAEL’S STREET NAMES by Simon Goulden, Agency for Jewish Education R - Rothschild Most cities in Israel have a Rothschild Street or Boulevard.

The family of Mayer Amshel Rothschild took their name from 'the house at the sign of the red shield', where they lived in 16th century Frankfurt am Main. He made his fortune originally as a coin dealer but soon became the financial agent to the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel during the Napoleonic Wars. He wisely established his five sons in the major financial capitals of Europe and their acumen and probity became a by-word in banking. The English branch produced the first Jewish peer, world class scientists and devotees of horse racing, but it was Baron Edmond de Rothschild, (1845- 1934) a scion of the French branch, who became one of the most important figures in the development of the early yishuv.

He and his wife Adelaide were still attached to Jewish tradition whilst they followed artistic and intellectual pursuits. The first Zionist pioneers turned to them in the 1880's, hoping they would be saved from financial collapse and he readily, but unostentatiously, agreed, gradually taking under his protection all the new settlements. He personally bought some 1/2 million dunams ( 125,000 acres) of land in Eretz Israel, from 1900 transferring the management to PICA. Indeed, without his help, Galilee and the Sharon would not have been settled.

He visited Eretz Israel five times and, towards the end of his life he cooperated with Weizmann and Sokolow, becoming honorary president of the Jewish Agency in 1929. He and his wife were reburied in Zichron Yaakov in 1954.

Riddle of the Week
by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis

LAST WEEK'S QUESTIONS

Prove: We recite Ein Kamocha in Shul in the morning services on Shabbat, Yomtov, Mondays and Thursdays.

nswer

The words Ein Kamocha are recited before taking the Torah from the Ark on Shabbat and Yomtov and in the Tachanun for Mondays and Thursdays.

EXTRA CHALLENGE set by Jerome Cohen of Wembley.

Most people do it half of the time on the right and half on the left.

Some do it always on the left.

All are correct.

What is it?

nswer

Leaning for Tachanun.

Right handed people who have Tefillin on the left arm for Shacharit lean on the right arm.

Everyone leans on the left arm at Minchah,

and left handed people on the left arm also at Shacharit since their Tefillin are on the right arm.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS

At the beginning of today’s Sidra of Ki Tetze, we learn about the firstborn’s rights of inheritance. The Vilna Gaon wrote that you can prove from the letters of (firstborn) that he receives a double portion.

What is the proof?

EXTRA CHALLENGE set by Liora Graham of Hendon.

In the opening verse of which book of the Bible do we find a grandfather, father and son mentioned?

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