By Yael Horowitz

Forgive the shortness but Machaneh is Machaneh and Aliyah Bet is this week.

The parshat this week is Ki Teitzei which discusses in depth 74 different mitzvot. More mitzvot than any other individual parsha. The mitzvot in essence are there to show us how to live a "correct" Jewish life. Some of the mitzvot are kind but now a little irrelevant like:

"You must first send away the mother and then you may take the young"

Which discusses the way to take eggs away from a protective mother bird. The rationale behind this mitzvah is to show the same compassion to the mother bird as we do to our own parents.

Other ones included in this parshat are a little less kind and compassionate:

"You shall charge the non-Jew interest. And your brother you shall not charge interest."

If we are meant to show compassion to the bird and keep in mind our own parents when we take her eggs, are we not meant to take into consideration the non-Jew the same way as we consider our brother?

For me, there are always aspects of religious Judaism that I don't agree with, but I still find it important to admit that they play a part in the identity of Judaism. The part that is easier to control is the interpretation for what the mitzvot have to do with our own personal lives.

Still, the majority of the mitzvot in this parshat seem like calls to Social Justice and demand responsibility. A major interpretation of one of the mitzvot about a falling donkey, is that you CAN NOT turn away from the suffering of another.

So movement, some questions, cause what's an email to the listserve without questions?

What does it mean to connect with religious texts but have fundamental issues with them? How can we interpret these texts as a call to action? Are the mitzvot still relevant to modern day Judaism?