VOLUME 122 NUMBER 6
Elul 8, 5786
August 21, 2026
Parshas KiSeitzei
Candlelighting Time 7:30
One of the perks of studying Torah is a glimpse into understanding life with tremendous insight and bringing to light principles that will guide us for our entire journey. This week we learn about the wayward son known as the ‘ben sorar u’morah.’ Apparently this young man has developed a taste for wine and meat. Although in today’s setting we wouldn’t think twice about such behavior, the Torah teaches us to examine conduct not as it perhaps seems today but the clear and obvious deduction we must assume. This innocent young adolescent, only thirteen years old, based upon today’s enticement to gluttony is deemed to be a future bandit as he matures and continues to lust for the gusto of life and its entrapments. Perhaps that in of itself is a lesson for our generation. However, it doesn’t stop there. The concern that this young man will turn into a Jesse James individual and kill others to support his habit should only obligate him a death sentence of what is referred to in the Talmud as ‘sayif,’ a beheading procedure. Although gruesome and not a pleasant way to die it is not viewed as the most severe of the four types of capital punishment administered by a Rabbinical court. The most punitive is called ‘skilah’ and it involves pushing the person off a two-story scaffold and stoning him afterwards if he survives the fall. This young seemingly tender soul is hammered now with that degree of castigation. And the famous question is why is he so harshly penalized even with the thought of his future spree of crime?
Maharil Diskin, the Rov of Jerusalem, puts forth this idea. His presaged outlook is indeed that he will kill to maintain his lifestyle. That is of course what we realize will be the outcome of his approach to life. However, once he embarks upon a life of depravity he will necessarily transgress other grave sins as well, such as desecration of Shabbos and perhaps other offenses that obligate him the most severe death sentence skilah. Therefore, the Torah only mentions the beginning of his unfortunate downfall but does not elaborate on the extent of what will also eventually occur. However, it is alluded to in this fact that his death sentence is not ‘sayif’ rather ‘skilah.’ As the saying goes, the punishment fits the crime because his overindulgence in the lusts of partying will lead him down this bleak and decadent path.
The takeoff of this parsha is something which we actually don’t really accept as reality. Very often we view events that take place and we dismiss them as one time occurrences that have no reality. However, we need to seriously assess with an eye on the future. As it says in Pirkei Avos that who is the wise man, the one that can detect that which will happen. Foresight is difficult to acquire because we frequently lack the ability to judge with enough depth and perception that which is taking place. That is why it is vital to adhere to the standards that have been established by our Sages because they truly had such acumen and wisdom to divine what could be the result of certain actions. And indeed, how often do we backpedal and say to ourselves that we should have been more cautious and vigilant in a certain decision that we may have made and blundered.
This is perhaps the greatest inspiration that we receive every morning when we listen to the blasts of the shofar in the morning reminding us to ‘wake up,’ reassess and move forward in a new and profound manner.
A BYTE FOR SHABBOS
We are banned from despising the Egyptians even though they murdered our male children in order to eliminate the future savior of the Jewish nation because they accommodated us within their country. It is amazing to see how far-reaching the theme of gratitude goes. K’SAV SOFER
GOOD SHABBOS
