Shabbat Parashat Ki Teitzei - 5782

Shabbat Parashat Ki Teitzei - 5782

Rabbi Hal Miller When you come into the vineyard of your fellow, you may eat grapes as is your desire, your fill, but you may not put into your vessel. When you come into the standing grain of your fellow, you may pluck ears with your hand but you may not lift a sickle against the standing grain of your fellow. [Devarim 23:25-26] These two verses come at the end of a chapter about the purity of the people. They raise a number of questions, such as why the Torah had to give us two virtually identical situations for the same lesson, who these are directed to, and when they apply. Some of our answer comes from the Mishnah at the bottom of Bava Metzia 87a and onto the following pages. It asks who these rules apply to and answers, "one who works with what is attached to the ground at the time of the completion of the work, or with detached from the ground before the work is completed, and with something that grows from the ground." It seems clear from this Mishnah that the verses refer to agricultural workers, and only under specific conditions. Rashi explains this means that anyone not working on harvesting is not included. Onkelos translates the "when you come" as "when you hire yourself". Rav Hirsch interprets it and says it "does not designate any irregular casual entry, but the ordinary justified entry of the workers". The verse says "of your fellow", which Torah Temimah says means we may not eat from the field of a non-Jew or of the Temple, even if hired to harvest. These laws protect the workers in the field. But they also protect the owner of those fields. The first verse limits the amount a worker can eat, and the second limits him to picking by hand rather than using tools. Nechama Leibowitz explains that he may not take some home for his family or for later, but must rely on his wages for those needs. Although there is no compulsion by force, the verses are telling us not to be gluttonous, which includes not squeezing out the juice and throwing away the remainder, as one would go through more grapes by doing so. Why two verses? Under the rules of explaining Torah law, we might think that it only applies to a vineyard or anything specifically like a vineyard. The second verse tells us that instead it applies to any food items growing from the ground and harvested by hand by workers in a field. As with all other verses, we can learn lessons beyond the text. Given their placement among others dealing with purity of the people, we see that these are really rules about maintaining a Godly practice in our interpersonal relationships, and are not limited to agricultural operations.