Parashat Ki Teitzei: Doing What is Right vs. Doing What is Good

Ki Teitzei opens with a perplexing scenario in which a man who goes out to war may capture and eventually wed a woman from the enemy's side, even against her will. The following passages - a "hated wife" who has lost her husband's favor, and a "rebellious child" who will inevitably grow up to become a murderous adult - serve to demonstrate what an incredibly bad idea such a marriage would be. Rashi explains this as one dire chain of family tragedies, all stemming from the initial impropriety of that so-called "marriage". Taken together, these passages serve more as a warning against, rather than permission for, such conduct.

Stepping back, a larger narrative begins to emerge. Throughout the Torah, there seems to be a repeating admonition: "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." One who eats only kosher food might still be a glutton, and one who is married could still act in a sexually coercive or even abusive manner. The Torah demands that we not only do what is "right", but also what is "good", in the eyes of G-d. May we hold fast to Ramban's injunction to act lifnim mishurat ha'din - going beyond the letter of the law - and remember that Halacha serves as a legislative floor, not a moral ceiling.

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Artwork by Hillel Smith.