Safety of Others is Our Personal Responsibility- Ki Teitze

 

A few days ago, Charlie and I went to visit our apartment in which we will be living in the city center of Jerusalem that we rented virtually sight unseen.  When we got up to the 10^th floor and walked into our apartment we were able to step out onto a porch that extended on the side of the building.  My first inclination was to worry what might happen if someone got too close to the end of the porch.  But no worry, there was an enclosure surrounding the entire mirpeset, the entire porch that actually reached as high as my older grandchildren’s armpits!  Had I thought about it, I would have immediately related it to a statement in this week’s parasha. 

“When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you should not bring any blood upon your house, if any man falls from there.” (Deuteronomy 22:8)

 

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

 

When a person builds a house, they must put a parapet around the roof to prevent people from falling off. Later Rabbinic law goes into detail about how tall and how strong the parapet must be. In Biblical times food was dried and other chores were done on the roof of a home. The homeowner was responsible for everybody’s safety.

Of course in this day and age, we have building codes which are designed to keep individuals safe who are inhabiting or visiting various buildings.  For example, in places where earthquakes are anticipated, buildings are designed to withstand seismic activity.  It is all a matter of society feeling responsible for everyone’s safety.

There is another section in Torah in the book of Exodus where a similar law about responsibility for other’s safety is stated.   It says, “If a person digs a hole and someone’s animal falls in, or worse, if a person falls in, the person who created the hole is responsible for damages.”

The Torahitic legislation does not allow room for individuals to say that they have a right to build a house with no parapet or they have a right to dig a hole. The Torah perspective is that one’s rights end when they threaten the safety of one’s neighbors.

So if you think about it, this idea of individuals or society being responsible for everyone’s safety, is a particularly timely subject as we are experiencing this ongoing covid19 pandemic all around the world.  Here in Israel there are laws that everyone over the age of 7 must wear a mask when outdoors or when indoors in a public  space.  Does everyone comply?  No.  But enforcement regulations allow one to be ticketed for 500 shekels (approx.. $148) per incident when found not complying.

Why is there such a push by governments across the world to mandate mask wearing?  It is exactly because of the concept that we are each responsible for everyone’s safety.  There is evidence in the only letter even found written by the Ba’al shem Tov that when there was a pandemic individuals in the Chasidic community in Poland (which is now part of the Ukraine) placed themselves into quarantine and as a result their infection rates were much lower than the general population.  In fact, they were blamed for the disease because their actions didn’t result in high death rates like those experienced by groups that did not quarantine.

 

Rabbi Michael Gold wrote, “ Our tradition teaches that when it comes to medical questions, one goes to medical experts. Physicians who specialize in infectious diseases and public health officials should decide…. If the experts say that masks are necessary to prevent the spread of a disease, then our tradition would teach the importance of wearing masks.”

The idea that one individual is responsible for any harm that comes to others as a result of their inaction, is not a new idea for us.  It just so happens that at times like these, parts jump out of our weekly Torah readings that we have never seen in the same light until we began dealing with this pandemic. May we all learn from our tradition and from the medical experts advising us at this time.

 

 

 

1.       What is the best way to emphasize the well-being of others is the social responsibility of each of us?

 

 

The coronavirus pandemic has shaken our lives. Many of us have experienced loss of loved ones, loss of income, illness, fear, isolation, frustration, fatigue. Some of us have put our lives at risk on the front lines as doctors and nurses, grocery workers, delivery workers, and other places of vulnerability. All of us are trying to cope and adapt to a new reality. We all suffer in different ways, and no one's suffering is more important than anyone else's. We are in this together. And we can help each other.

 

2.       What are the best ways that we can help each other during this time?

Till We Have Faces

By Terry Boyle

We covered our faces in fear,

And, our hearts opened,

We kept ourselves a grave apart,

Six feet to remind us of what we fear,

Connected now by virtual intimacy

We brave the isolation,

Our hands hidden from touch

Reach out to a host of solitary souls,

Ritually washing, cleansing the flesh,

All of us grieving the loss of fellowship,

As we wait for the day till we have faces.