This Week’s Torah Portion: 74 Mitzvot

August 24, 2018
By Beth Mordecai
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This Week’s Torah Portion: 74 Mitzvot

Some weeks are so busy, it can be hard to find a time to breathe. There may be so much going on it is difficult to give complete focus to any task.  Our parsha this week, Ki Teitzei, contains 74 mitzvot, or commandments. This is more than any other parsha. Some of the mitzvot include shooing away the mother bird before taking eggs from the nest, building a fence around the roof of the house, not yoking together different animals such as a donkey and a ox to flow the field and various commandments about our clothing.

Some of these statements have obvious reasons, such as putting a fence around the roof. In ancient times, people used their roofs for a variety of purposes.  A fence around the edge could save lives.   We also have the prohibition against wearing a garment made from a mixture of linen and wool.  This mitzvah has no clear reason.  In Torah times and today many garments are made from this mixture.

So why should it be forbidden?

While the rabbis try to explain possible reasons, ultimately we don’t know.  I also do not think we always need to know.

When shopping for something containing wool, I check the tag and have decided not to buy items that are made from linen and wool.  By checking, I am remembering God, thinking about Jewish tradition and law.  This Torah portion, that contains the most mitzvot of any other portion comes to show us that even when we are extremely busy, we must remember God and our Jewish tradition.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Metz

Category : Rabbi Rabbi's Journal