In this week’s parasha, Ki Tetze, the Torah introduces a number of mitzvot that are being taught for the first time and recounts other mitzvot that had been presented in previous parashiyot . One of these mitzvot relates to the general requirement to bury a dead body in a timely manner. It is well known that the body of each departed soul requires immediate burial. In our parasha , the Torah extends this requirement even to criminals who are hanged. The Torah writes, “If a man commits a sin for which he is sentenced to death, and he is put to death, you shall hang him on a pole. But you shall not leave his body on the pole overnight. Rather, you shall bury him on that day, for a hanging [human corpse] is a degradation of God, and you shall not defile your land, which the Lord, your God, is giving you as an inheritance.” (Devarim 21:22-23) At first glance, one would assume that it would be appropriate to disgrace the body of this criminal. Leaving the body overnight would serve a...
Rabbi Benjy Owen, Dean, Margolin Hebrew Academy-Feinstone Yeshiva of the South, Memphis, TN