Our guest today is Rabbi Michael Werbow, leader of Temple Beth Sholom in Sarasota, FL. Rabbi Werbow holds a bachelor's degree in Special Education and a master’s degree in Jewish Education. He was ordained by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University (formerly University of Judaism) in Los Angeles. Before moving to Sarasota, Rabbi Werbow served as rabbi at congregation Beth Shalom in Pittsburgh.
This Week's Torah Portion – Parashat Ki Tetze (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 remember Amalek and on the role of remembrance in the Torah in general.
Our Previous discussions of Ki Tetze:
Rabbi Dovid Gutnik on the command to destroy Amalek and on vengeance in Jewish tradition
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
