Building Parapets, and Community- Ki Tetzei 5785

I have a cousin who’s a few years older than me, who lives in south Florida with his wife and young son. Both his wife and son, sadly, are dealing with long-term serious health problems, but are thankfully doing more or less okay right now. We hadn’t touched base recently, but he crossed my mind last week, so I texted him to check in. He was thankful to hear from me, and we made plans to touch base again soon.

I’ll come back to them momentarily, but first I want to point out an interesting verse in our parsha this week, Ki Tetzei. There is a mitzvah described in this parsha which may be a little peculiar at first glance. In chapter 22 verse 8, we read: 

כִּ֤י תִבְנֶה֙ בַּ֣יִת חָדָ֔שׁ וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ מַעֲקֶ֖ה לְגַגֶּ֑ךָ וְלֹֽא־תָשִׂ֤ים דָּמִים֙ בְּבֵיתֶ֔ךָ כִּֽי־יִפֹּ֥ל הַנֹּפֵ֖ל מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃

When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if anyone should fall from it.

First things first…what is a parapet, or ma’akeh in Hebrew? According to one definition, it’s “a short, protective wall or railing along the edge of a roof, balcony, or bridge, serving as a safety barrier to prevent falls and as an architectural element to improve aesthetics or conceal rooftop equipment. Historically, parapets were defensive walls for soldiers, and today they are still used in this capacity, but also for weather protection and to manage rainwater runoff from flat roofs.” According to Maimonides, a parapet must be at least 10 handbreaths high (about 30 inches), and be strong enough not to collapse if someone leans against it. 

Jeffrey Tigay, in his commentary on the book of Deuteronomy, notes: “This law is comparable to Exodus 21:33-34, which holds a person responsible if an animal falls into a pit he has left uncovered. Halakhic literature sees it as an example of an obligation to block or remove anything on one’s property that is capable of causing death, such as a pit, a faulty ladder, or a vicious dog; and to personally avoid potentially harmful food and drink and other risky practices.” Tigay continues, insightfully: “It has recently been argued that the principle underlying this obligation would support a ban against smoking.”

The motivation of this commandment to build a parapet is for both personal and communal protection. Just as I shouldn’t endanger myself, so too I should not endanger others even within my personal domain. We are all responsible for ensuring the reasonable safety of ourselves and others. That is the essence of community.

I want to take Tigay’s commentary a step further. You may have heard in the news this past week that Florida is planning to do away with all vaccine mandates, including for school children, which I find to be very dangerous and worrying. I want to avoid the political tussling that is associated with this, but I do want to call out the negative effects of this proposed action. For the last several years, we’ve heard too often about the re-emergence of diseases that were once considered eradicated among children, such as measles and polio, due to parents choosing not to vaccinate their children. While I am a believer in certain individual freedoms, part of the responsibility of living in a community with others is reasonably ensuring the safety of those I live amongst. 

Which brings me back to my cousin and his family. Their health is precarious, and they’re no stranger to sickness. I’m worried about their health, knowing that where they live can have an affect on their well-being. Willfully letting down health guardrails such as this one endangers them and others- a danger which, through common sense I must say, can be avoided and make us all safer.

As we all know, irrefutably, vaccines are incredibly safe. My wife works in the biotech field and is much more knowledgeable about this topic than I am, but I remember a few years ago during the height of the Covid pandemic learning about herd immunity. Herd immunity refers to enough people being immune to a disease that the infection can’t spread from one person to another. This lack of movement protects those who aren’t immunized.

So, I was happy to hear that in response to Florida’s actions and the new, weaker vaccine guidelines from the Center for Disease Control, Massachusetts and other states are taking steps to ensure the widespread availability of vaccines for all who need them, including children and the elderly. 

This, truly, is a parapet- ensuring the proactive safety of ourselves and others.

You may be familiar with the adage: “The right for you to swing your fist ends at my face.” In other words, feel free to do what you want- but when what you’re doing endangers others, you then become liable for any damages that result from them. 

In a controversial comment on the verse commanding us to build a parapet, Rashi says anyone who falls to his death deserves it on account of some crime he had committed. However, he continues: “Nevertheless his death should not be occasioned by your agency, for meritorious things are brought about through the agency of good men and bad things only through the agency of evil men (Sifrei Devarim 229:7).”

In other words, according to Rashi: if it’s within your power to prevent the injury of someone else, you’re commanded to do so. It will be to our benefit if we look out for each other. We have the potential, ourselves, to make our world safer.

One of my favorite blessings that we say is found in the weekday Amidah. It’s the blessing in which we ask for knowledge. It reads in English: “You, G-d, endow humans with knowledge and teach understanding to humanity. May you grace us with knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Blessed are You, G-d, who bestows knowledge.”

We are all endowed with humans’ capacity for understanding, including the use of science and technology. To not use it responsibly, especially when it comes to the health and safety of others, is to abdicate an aspect of our divine connection. From something as scientifically advanced as vaccination, to something as technologically simple as building a parapet on our roofs, we are responsible for each others’ safety. 

We are taught that kol Yisrael arevim zeh b’zeh– all of Israel is responsible for one another. Judaism is by and large not in the business of advocating rugged individualism, or going it alone. We need each other; Judaism can only reach its fullest potential in myriad ways when it is lived in community, amongst others. So, let’s do what we can to keep each other safe. The parapet is not just a safety tool; it’s a sign to all who see it that we value life and safety in our community, and that our lives are inextricably bound up with each other.

Too often, it seems nowadays, people tend to forget that- often to our communal detriment. But we Jews are in the business of building parapets, in whatever forms they may take- not out of fear that something bad may happen, but out of a willingness to live our fullest lives. May we all be safe, and may we all be concerned for each other on this Shabbat and in the coming new year.