Parshat Ki Teitzei 5783
By Rabbi Daniel Reich
LA JOLLA, California — Our tradition tells us that there are 613 Mitzvot contained in the Torah, spread out among its 54 Parshas. So one might have assumed that these 613 statues are evenly distributed throughout the Torah, coming to approximately 11 or 12 Mitzvot per Parsha. However, as soon as you open the Chumash and begin reading the Torah, you find that these Mitzvot are spread out in an uneven fashion. For example, the entire book of Bereshit only has three Mitzvot! Parshat Ki Teitzei, though, stands at the top of the chart, as it is the Parsha with more Mitzvot recorded than any other — with a total of 74 of 613 Mitzvot listed, more than 10 percent! One of those Mitzvot is the Mitzvah to return lost items to your fellow Jew — Hashavat Aveidah. As is written in the Torah:
(I) If you see your fellow’s ox or sheep gone astray, do not ignore it; you must take it back to your fellow.
(II) If your fellow is not near you or you do not know who they are, you shall bring it home and it shall remain with you until your fellow claims it; then you shall give it back to them.
(III) You shall do the same with their donkey; you shall do the same with their garment; and so too shall you do with anything that your fellow loses and you find: you must not remain indifferent (you cannot turn a blind eye).
(Devarim 22:1-3)
However, upon further investigation, we find that this Mitzvah of Hashavat Aveidah is further reaching than just returning someone’s material belongings that are lost. The Mitzvah of Hashavat Aveidah applies to other forms of filling a void for someone. Let’s take a birds-eye view of the writings of our great Rabbis to understand the obligation of Hashavat Aveidah. By doing so we find a number of examples of how this Mitzvah manifests itself in different forms.
Example #1 – Doing the Mitzvah of Hashavat Aveidah by preventing a loss for your friend
The Talmud (Bava Metziah 31a) records the following application of Hashavat Aveidah. The Mitzvah extends even to include taking measures to ensure your friend does not incur a loss in the first place.
Rava says that the verse: “and so too shall you do with anything that your fellow loses and you find” (Deuteronomy 22:3), serves to include an obligation to protect your brother from the loss of his land. Rav Chananya said to Rava: There is a teaching that supports your opinion: “If one saw water flowing and coming to inundate another’s field, you must establish a barrier before the water in order to preserve the field.” (Talmud, Bava Metziah 31a)
Example #2 – Protecting your friend from physical danger is a fulfillment of Hashavat Aveidah
We just learned that there is an obligation to return a material item to your friend that is lost, filling their financial void, and by extension making sure they do not incur the loss in the first place — saving your friend’s material items. In the same vein, the Talmud (Sanhedrin 73a) applies this Mitzvah of Hashavat Aveidah to saving your friend from physical danger.
Concerning the matter itself, it is taught: From where is it derived that one who sees another drowning in a river, or being dragged away by a wild animal, or being attacked by bandits, they are obligated to save them? The verse states: “You shall not stand idly by the blood of another” (Leviticus 19:16).
But is this really derived from here? It is derived from a different verse, as it is taught: The Torah teaches that one must return lost property to its rightful owner. But from where is it derived that one must help his neighbor who may suffer the loss of his body or his health? The verse states: “And you shall restore it [vahashevato] to him (Deuteronomy 22:2)”. (Talmud, Sanhedrin 73a)
Example #3 – Helping someone who is lost find their way back home
As we have seen, the Mitzvah of returning lost items to your fellow applies to both material and physical loss. Now the Talmud (Bava Kama 81b) records the Mitzvah in a different context. Not returning lost items back to their home but rather returning SOMEONE who is LOST back HOME. This is recorded as follows:
With regard to one who sees another person lost among the vineyards, he may cut down branches and enter an area of the vineyard, or cut down branches and exit an area of the vineyard until he reaches him and brings him back up to the city or to the road… This is obligated by Torah law, as it is taught: There is a mitzvah to return lost items to their owner. From where is it derived that the requirement applies even to returning his body, i.e., helping a lost person find his way? The verse states: “And you shall restore it to him (Deuteronomy 22:2)”. (Talmud, Bava Kama 81b)
Providing directions for someone is a fulfillment of Hashavat Aveidah (think about all the Mitzvot the owners of WAZE will be cashing in on)!
Example #4 – Returning someone who has lost their way back to the Torah
Expanding on this Mitzvah further, Rabbi Yosef Babad (1801-1879), Av Beit Din of Ternopil, in his celebrated work Minchat Chinuch, extends this Mitzvah of Hashavat Aveidah to “returning” someone to the path of the Torah. The Mitzvah of Tochacha, “rebuke,” is recorded by the Sefer Hachinuch as follows:
The commandment to rebuke an Israelite who does not behave properly – whether about things that are between a man and his fellow or between a man and the Omnipresent — as it is stated (Leviticus 19:17), “You shall surely rebuke your fellow brethren, and you shall not bear a sin for him.” (Chinuch, Book of Mitzvot #239)
In elucidating of the laws of this Mitzvah, the Minchat Chinuch shows that this Mitzvah of saving your fellow from committing a sin is a fulfillment of Hashavat Aveidah — getting them back on the path of the Torah — the return of spiritual loss.
It appears to me that the obligation of rebuke is not only found in this positive commandment of “you shall surely rebuke your fellow.” There is an additional negative commandment of “You shall not stand idly by the blood of another” (Leviticus 19:16)… and also the positive commandment of “And you shall restore it to him” (Deuteronomy 22:2), which can also be translated as — And you shall restore himself to him. Certainly if one prevents another from sinning this is a form of returning a person to themselves – you are restoring their soul. (Minchat Chinuch. 239:6)
Example #5 – Providing healthcare is a fulfillment of Hashavat Aveidah
The Rambam (Maimonides, 1138-1204) also extends this Mitzvah of Hashavat Aveidah to include filling other voids a person may experience. Specifically, the Rambam writes that this Mitzvah applies to providing medication and healthcare for another Jew — returning their health. As the Rambam writes:
There is an obligation from the Torah for a doctor to provide medication and facilitate healing for a sick member of the Jewish people. This is included in the commandment of “And you shall restore it to him” (Deuteronomy 22:2), to heal their physical body when you see they are in a weakened state and you have the ability to help them… (Rambam Commentary to Mishnah, Nedarim 4:4)
The underlying connection in this Mitzvah is — help your friend feel complete. Trying to fill the voids in each other’s lives is a fulfillment of this Mitzvah of Hashavat Aveidah. Creating Shlaymut (wholeness) for each other. We as a nation are instructed by the Torah to look out for our fellow Jews to actively work on trying to restore, resolve, replenish, and refill any void our friends, family, and community are facing.
With God’s help, the more we apply our energy to every aspect of this Mitzvah of Hashavat Aveidah, we will be successful in filling the national void we are experiencing, called Galut, with the coming of Mashiach — the ultimate Hashavat Aveidah!
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Rabbi Daniel Reich is the rabbi of Congregation Adat Yeshurun of La Jolla.