DEUT1258 See [[DEUT1250]] Deuteronomy 23:14 excrement GATES 217-9

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DEUT1257 Concerning the adultery of the mouth and the ear – which means to speak obscenities or to listen to them – they "squawked like cranes" and said (Yerushalmi Terumos 1:6): "'And let [the Eternal] not see any sort of nakedness [ערות דבר] among you' [this verse] is referring to the 'nakedness' of speech, [ערות דבור] i.e., obscenities in speech." And they said (Shabbos 33a): "Because of the sin of uttering obscenities tragedies occur in the youth of the enemies of Israel [a euphemism for Israel itself] die," and (ibid.), "Whoever uses filthy language is given the depths of Gehinom," and (ibid.), "Everyone knows why a bride stands under the marriage canopy, but anyone who pollutes his mouth in speaking of this will find that even a decree of seventy good years is converted into [a decree of misfortune." And they have said (Chagigah 5b): "Even a frivolous conversation between husband and wife is reviewed at the moment of his judgment." With reference to this evil type of listening, they added (Shabbos 33a): "This includes even the one who [just] hears it and is silent, as it says (Mishlei 22:14), 'He who has incurred the Eternal's wrath shall fall therein.'" So you see that all the senses must be cleansed from promiscuity and whatever relates to it.

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DEUT1259 This teaches us that illicit relations cause the Shechinah to depart (Sifrei)

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DEUT1260 See [[DEUT542]] Deuteronomy 11:22 keep LEHRMAN 27 and [[EXOD158]] Exodus 12:23 home LEHRMAN 27-8

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DEUT1261 Do not extradite slaves who flee to the Holy Land. Hashem desires to stress the unique nature of the Holy Land. Therefore, a slave who flees there from outside of the Holy Land earns his freedom and cannot be returned to his master against his will. By highlighting the dearness of the Holy Land, the mitzvah inspires Jews who are there to serve Hashem with added devotion.

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DEUT1262 See [[LEV1093]] Leviticus 25:45 property OXFORD 47

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DEUT1263 See [[EXOD272]] Exodus 17:15 Amalek LOC 149-50

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DEUT1264 See [[EXOD549]] Exodus 21:14 neighbor SPERO 126-30

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DEUT1265 If a slave ran away, it was forbidden to return him to his master [this verse]; in the [American] South, it was a crime not to return him, and in the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1857, the Supreme Court ruled--in direct contravention of the Bible--that a runaway slave who had achieved freedom in the North could be forcibly returned to the South and to slavery.

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DEUT1266 The Torah commands nations as well as individuals to be hospitable. Three thousand years before the American Supreme Court ruled that slaves who fled to freedom in the North should be forcibly returned to slavery (Dred Scott decision, 1857), the Torah commanded precisely the opposite [this and preceding verse]. In modern times, this ancient biblical law would seem to mandate granting political asylum (the ultimate act of hospitality) to those fleeing dictatorial and totalitarian regimes [In context, Maimonides understands this law as applying to a non-Hebrew slave of a Hebrew master who wishes to move to Israel (see "Laws of Slavery" 8:9–10). In Onkelos's translation of the Torah, he interprets the verse as referring to a non-Hebrew slave of a Gentile master who flees to Israel. While the Torah, written many thousands of years ago, obviously it did not offer specific legislation for a society such as the United States, it would seem that the ethical upshot of this verse, "You shall not turn over to his master a slave who seeks refuge with you from his master," would apply to a society such as ours, and certainly to the Jewish community in Israel.

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