DEUT1267 See [[EXOD549]] Exodus 21:14 neighbor SPERO 126-30

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DEUT1268 Do not mistreat slaves who flee to the Holy Land. Key concept: See [[EXOD638]] Exodus 22:20 abuse CHINUCH 41-2, the prohibition on wronging a convert. We are forbidden to wrong any Jew, but because converts feel alone, having no family to turn to for help, the Torah adds an additional prohibition to make us particularly careful to not offend them or harm them. For this reason, the Torah adds yet a further prohibition on mistreating their slave who has fled his master and seeks refuge in the Land of Israel. His position is more disadvantageous than other converts. Cold, unscrupulous people are even more likely to scorn and deride him. [These additional provisions apply only when the convert is a ger tzedek, and when the slave underwent circumcision and ritual immersion in the name of the halachic standing of a slave.]

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DEUT1269 This refers to verbal oppression (Sifrei)

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DEUT1270 This is an exhortation against homosexuality, it being written here: "and there shall not be a harlot" [masculine], and, elsewhere (I Kings 14:24): "And also a harlot [masculine] was in the land; they did according to all the abominations of the nations" [and homosexuality, specifically, is called "abomination" (Leviticus 18:22)] (Sanhedrin 54b)

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DEUT1272 One of the general aspects of Jewish holiness involves not the specific action that is permitted, but, rather, the proper time, place, and purpose surrounding the action. The same action can be wholly or unholy, depending on factors of time, place, and purpose. In fact, the Torah's word for prostitute [this verse] is kideishah, which has precisely the same letters as kedushah, in the same order as the Hebrew word for holiness. Thus, the sexual act itself is neither wholly or unholy. If sex is performed with a stranger for money, it is abhorrent in Judaism and unholy. The same act with one's spouse at the correct time of the month converts a person into a partner with God in the creation process, the holiest actor of all.

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DEUT1274 The Torah [this verse] calls the prostitute kideishah, from the same root word as holiness, kedushah. There is minute difference between the two words (the letters are identical) in that one vowel has three dots instead of two. This very subtle difference in words between a Jewish act of ugliness and a Jewish act of holiness is symbolic of the minute difference between the two in Judaism. It is the same action, but the purpose and context changes it from something holy into something repulsive.

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DEUT1271 Before the giving of the Torah, a man would meet a woman in the marketplace, and if he and she wanted, he would pay her wages and have sex with her … After the Torah was given, the k’deshah [prostitute, or possibly cultic prostitute] was forbidden, as it is written: “There shall not be a k’deshah among the daughters of Israel” (Deuteronomy 23:18). Therefore whoever has sex with a woman as an act of licentiousness without betrothal has transgressed the prohibition of k’deshah. Maimonides (Rambam), Mishneh Torah, Laws of Marriage 1:4

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DEUT1273 See [[LEV842]] Leviticus 20:13 lies DORFF-RUTTENBERGSEX 116

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DEUT1275 Do not have extra-marital relations. The abhorrence of promiscuity has been discussed previously. See [[EXOD442]] Exodus 20:13 adultery CHINUCH 28

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DEUT1276 Do not offer on the Altar an animal that was used as payment to a harlot or as payment for any forbidden relations. So, too, an animal that was traded for a dog is unfit as an offering. Of course, the disqualification applies to animals that otherwise are fit to be offerings, for other animals are barred from the Altar in any case. As noted earlier ([[EXOD940]] Exodus 25:8 sanctuary CHINUCH 62-5), offerings are to purify the thoughts and improve the deeds of those who bring them. Harlotry is a low and vile transgression, so if the animal brought as an offense was payment to a harlot, the corrupting, impure thought of that sin is likely to enter the mind of the person bringing the offering, which would have destructive consequences. The idea is similar regarding an animal that was traded for a dog. Offerings provided atonement. As someone guilty of sin brings an offering, he is supposed to imagine that everything that happens to the offering should be happening to him, on account of his sin. The animal is slaughtered before his eyes. Afterwards it is cut into pieces. The one bringing the offering thinks, “That should have been me,” and the pain of experiencing these thoughts is part of his atonement. He realizes that Hashem, in His kindness, accepted an animal as an “exchange.” Hopefully, because of these thoughts, the sinner's heart will soften. He will regret his sin and his heart will be filled with firm resolve to not sin again. Therefore, no offering can be an animal that was traded for a dog, for dogs are known for their gall. They are insolent. Shame is foreign to them. If an animal traded for a dog is used as an offering, the mind and heart of the person bringing the offering might become infected with gall and shamelessness. There is a chance that his heart will not soften and he will remain stubborn and not regret his sin.

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