Our guest this week is Rabbi Dovid Gutnick of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in Melbourne, Australia. Rabbi Gutnick studied at Yeshivah College in Melbourne before attending the Rabbinical College of Australia and New Zealand, Rabbinical College of Canada and Yeshivah Ohr Elchonon in Los Angeles. He received his s’micha (rabbinic ordination) at the Rabbinical College of America in New Jersey. Like his father and grandfather before him, Rabbi Gutnick serves in the Australian Defence Force Reserves as the army’s Jewish Chaplain.
This Week's Torah Portion – Parashat Ki Titze (Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19) – features a vast number of laws and commandments, including inheritance laws; judicial procedures and penalties for adultery, rape, and for husbands who falsely accuses their wives of infidelity; laws concerning credit and debt; rules on the treatment of escaped slaves; and Divorce laws. Overall, this week's portion contains 74 of the Torah's 613 commandments. Our discussion focuses on the command to destroy Amalek and on the idea of vengeance as part of Jewish tradition.
Our Previous discussions of Ki Tetze:
Rabbi Aaron Alexander on the eternal ban of the Ammonites and Moabites from the assembly of the lord.
Rabbi Jennifer Krause on treating the mitzvot mentioned in the parasha as a way of helping us uphold the dignity of all people.