Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: A Byte Of Torah I,XL Ki Seitzey
From: ToraByte <CFRQC@CUNYVM.BITNET>
Date: Thursday, 10 Sep 1992 00:24:54 EDT
Organization: City University of New York/ University Computer Center

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                                     A                                   BS"D
   Volume I                       B Y T E     The Electronic
     Issue XL                       O F          Torah Weekly
                                 T O R A H
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 ----                    Editor : Zev S. Itzkowitz                       ----
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                           Dvar Torah of the Week
                           ----------------------

"If there will be to a man two wives, one loved and one hated, and they bear
for him children, the loved one and the hated one, and the firstborn son was
(born) to her that was hated. And it will be, on the day that he causes his
sons to inherit all that he has, he may not give the birthright to the son of
the loved one in front of the son of the hated one, the (one who is the true)
firstborn son." (Deuteronomy 21:15-16)

 These verses are perplexing. What does the Bible mean by "hated"? Was one of
the wives truly hated? In this case, the Bible's intention was not that one
wife was genuinely hated, but rather to indicate that in this man's
relationship to his wives, one was favored over the other (Baal HaTurim, Torah
Temimah).
 What is the birthright of the firstborn son? Double the portion of everybody
else's share of the inheritance (see Deuteronomy 21:17).
 Does the firstborn son receive this birthright if he is not deserving? If the
firstborn son of the 'hated' wife is not up to par, then the father has the
right to transfer the birthright to another wife's firstborn son (Sephoreno).
 What does the Bible mean by the phrase, "in front of"? This phrase is used
to indicate to us, if the firstborn son of the 'hated' wife died before the
father, then the father has the right to give the birthright to the firstborn
son of the wife of his choosing, e.g. of the beloved wife (Ramban).


                             Mussar of the Week
                             ------------------

"If there is to a man a deviating and rebellious son who doesn't listen to the
voice of his father and the voice of his mother ... and his father and his
mother shall grab him and take him to the elders of the city ... and they
shall stone him, the people of the town, until he is dead; and you shall
eradicate the evil within your midst ..." (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)

 These verses are mysterious. There never was a case brought of a 'deviating
and rebellious son', nor will there ever be such a case. Why then was it
written in the Bible? So that people may learn it and receive reward for
devoting their time to study (Gemara Sanhedrin 71a). However, it is still
incumbent upon us to give a possible explanation as to why it was written in
the Bible (Keli Yakar). It can be said that this section of the Bible was
written to teach and instill awe and fear into young males not to do anything
like this (Keli Yakar). May we rear our children properly, such that they will
be respectful and filled with proper values.

Please direct any comments, questions, etc. back to me here at CFRQC@CUNYVM,
or on internet CFRQC@cunyvm.cuny.edu. Please pass it on to a friend. If you
want to subscribe, please send e-mail to listserv@israel.nysernet.org
with the msg: SUB bytetorah <first name> <last name>.  --Zev Itzkowitz
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Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish,soc.culture.polish