Small Actions with Big Impacts – Ki Teitzei 5784

Parshat Ki Teitzei, which we read this morning, enumerates several seemingly miscellaneous mitzvot. Some of them, to be honest, aren’t the most pleasant ones to think about. For example, in our parsha we learn about the law of the ben sorer u’moreh– the wayward and defiant son, who doesn’t heed his parents’ instructions and is publicly proclaimed to be insubordinate (or as the Torah describes, is “lazy and a drunkard” [21:20]). What is done in such a situation? The child is to be brought out in front of the elders and is to be stoned to death!

There is a caveat, though, beyond the plain meaning of the text: the rabbis of the Mishnah in tractate Sanhedrin, as our Etz Hayim chumash explains, “attenuated the force of this law by making the son’s violation much more stringent than the text suggests, essentially eliminating cases in which the penalty would apply”. In fact, it’s quite possible that this case was only hypothetical, and “was included in the Torah to emphasize the importance of children heeding their parents”. This, we can surely say, was a prudent and wise decision.

Besides the case of the ben sorer u’moreh, I was recently reminded of two other mitzvot described in our parsha. The other day, I walked my kids to the bus stop in the morning before school. My son pointed up into the tree on the corner where they were standing, and he showed me that there was a bird’s nest on one of the branches. While it looked like there weren’t any birds or eggs in it, it reminded me of another mitzvah in our parsha: the mitzvah of shiluach ha’ken– sending away the mother bird if we desire the eggs or the fledglings for food. It’s a lovely mitzvah, in my opinion, but also one that is something of an enigma. Believe it or not, this is one of only two mitzvot in the entire Torah for which the reward for fulfilling it is a long life. As the Torah teaches in chapter 22 verse 7:

שַׁלֵּ֤חַ תְּשַׁלַּח֙ אֶת־הָאֵ֔ם וְאֶת־הַבָּנִ֖ים תִּֽקַּֽח־לָ֑ךְ לְמַ֙עַן֙ יִ֣יטַב לָ֔ךְ וְהַאֲרַכְתָּ֖ יָמִֽים׃    

“Let the mother go, and take only the young, in order that you may fare well and have a long life.”

The other mitzvah with this reward, perhaps fittingly, is found in the Ten Commandments; the fifth one, to be precise:

כַּבֵּ֥ד אֶת־אָבִ֖יךָ וְאֶת־אִמֶּ֑ךָ לְמַ֙עַן֙ יַאֲרִכ֣וּן יָמֶ֔יךָ עַ֚ל הָאֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לָֽךְ׃    

“Honor your father and your mother, that you may long endure on the land that your God יהוה is assigning to you.”

The 613 mitzvot are divided into categories: positive and negative ones, active and passive ones, and so called “easy” and “great” ones. One can make the connection that this simple act of shooing away a mother bird is done out of respect for life. Therefore, the reward for showing this respect for other life is that our own lives may be lengthened. That, perhaps, is justice shown in kind. 

The other mitzvah that I want to draw our attention to is that of shechichah, which the Torah describes in 24:19. We read:

כִּ֣י תִקְצֹר֩ קְצִֽירְךָ֨ בְשָׂדֶ֜ךָ וְשָֽׁכַחְתָּ֧ עֹ֣מֶר בַּשָּׂדֶ֗ה לֹ֤א תָשׁוּב֙ לְקַחְתּ֔וֹ לַגֵּ֛ר לַיָּת֥וֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָ֖ה יִהְיֶ֑ה לְמַ֤עַן יְבָרֶכְךָ֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ בְּכֹ֖ל מַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יָדֶֽיךָ׃ {ס}    

“When you reap the harvest in your field and overlook a sheaf in the field, do not turn back to get it; it shall go to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow—in order that your God יהוה may bless you in all your undertakings.”

The word shechichah, literally, means “forgetting”. As the commentators explain, this is the rare mitzvah that cannot be performed on purpose- “one cannot choose to forget or overlook a sheaf of grain.” In fact, we learn that tales are told of sages who rejoiced when they realized that they inadvertently left some grain behind, at last fulfilling this mitzvah.

It’s of note that this is far from the only mitzvah that is to benefit the resident alien (or “stranger”), the orphan, and the widow- ger, yatom, v’almana. These three classes of people are often grouped together in rabbinic literature as having no, or little, economic protection. We are exhorted repeatedly to care for those who cannot provide for themselves- and in providing them with reward, we too merit reward ourselves. 

In Pirkei Avot, the chapters of the Sages, we learn that Rebbe said: “Be careful with a light commandment as with a grave one, for you did not know the reward for the fulfillment of the commandments.” Similarly, we also learn elsewhere that “Ben Azzai said: Be quick in performing a minor commandment as in the case of a major one, and flee from transgression; For one commandment leads to another commandment, and transgression leads to another transgression; For the reward for performing a commandment is another commandment and the reward for committing a transgression is a transgression.”

My own takeaway from these teachings is that a “small” mitzvah, while it may seem inconsequential, can not only have a lasting impact but can lead to “greater” mitzvot. Likewise, transgression is a slippery slope: bad behavior begets bad behavior. By fulfilling mitzvot, we not only engage in creating a better world for ourselves and others, but by also challenging ourselves to be our best selves. 

The sages taught that Jewish education, and therefore the fulfilling of mitzvot, is a lifelong process requiring constant dedication, but often done in small steps. For example, the mitzvah of Torah study- talmud Torah– is seen as equal to or greater than many other mitzvot, even though it can take very little effort (how fortunate are we that it’s a mitzvah to pick up a text and study it!). There are seven aliyot per parsha, and (perhaps not so coincidentally) seven days in the week- studying one aliyah of the weekly parsha per day, along with Rashi’s commentary, is a small way to fulfill this mitzvah daily that I try to uphold (some weeks better than others, if I’m being honest). The daf yomi program encourages participants to study just one page of Talmud a day, which if one holds to allows them to study the entire Talmud over a period of seven and a half years.

Let us always remember that seemingly small actions can have a great impact: a phone call to a friend to check in, an invitation to a Shabbat meal, giving our children a kiss on the keppe to show that we love them. All of the mitzvot, no matter how grand or small, have a lasting impact on improving our world, and bring us into a closer relationship with the Divine and with each other.