Ki Teitzei, Ki Tetzei, Ki Tetse, Ki Thetze, Ki Tese, Ki Tetzey, or Ki Seitzei (—Hebrew for "when you go," the first words in the parashah) is the 49th weekly Torah portion (, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the sixth in the Book of Deuteronomy. It comprises Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19. The parashah sets out a series of miscellaneous laws, mostly governing civil and domestic life, including ordinances regarding a beautiful captive of war, inheritance among the sons of two wives, a wayward son, the corpse of an executed person, found property, coming upon another in distress, rooftop safety, prohibited mixtures, sexual offenses, membership in the congregation, camp hygiene, runaway slaves, prostitution, usury, vows, gleaning, kidnapping, repossession, prompt payment of wages, vicarious liability, flogging, treatment of domestic animals, yibbum ( "levirate marriage"), weights and measures, and wiping out the memory of Amalek.
The parashah is made up of 5,856 Hebrew letters, 1,582 Hebrew words, 110 verses, and 213 lines in a Torah Scroll (, Sefer Torah). Jews generally read the parashah in August or September. Jews also read the part of the parashah about Amalek, Deuteronomy 25:17–19, as the concluding (, maftir) reading on Shabbat Zachor, the special Sabbath immediately before Purim, which commemorates the story of Esther and the Jewish people's victory over Haman's plan to kill the Jews, told in the book of Esther. Esther 3:1 identifies Haman as an Agagite, and thus a descendant of Amalek.
Readings
In traditional Sabbath Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven readings, or , aliyot. In the Masoretic Text of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), Parashah Ki Teitzei has two "open portion" (, petuchah) divisions (roughly equivalent to paragraphs, abbreviated with the Hebrew letter (peh)). Parashah Ki Teitzei has several further subdivisions, called "closed portions" (, setumah) (abbreviated with the Hebrew letter (samekh)) within the first open portion. The long first open portion spans nearly the entire parashah, except for the concluding maftir () reading. The short second open portion coincides with maftir reading. Thus, the parashah is nearly one complete whole. Closed portion divisions divide all of the readings, often setting apart separate laws.
First reading—Deuteronomy 21:10–21
In the first reading, Moses directed the Israelites that when they took captives in war, and an Israelite saw among the captives a beautiful woman whom he wanted to marry, the Israelite was to bring her into his house and have her trim her hair, pare her nails, discard her captive's garb, and spend a month lamenting her parents. Thereafter, the Israelite could take her as his wife. But if he found that he no longer wanted her, he had to release her outright, and not sell her as a slave. A closed portion ends here.
In the continuation of the reading, Moses instructed that if a man had two wives, one loved and one unloved, and both bore him sons, but the unloved one bore him his firstborn son, then when he willed his property to his sons, he could not treat the son of the loved wife as firstborn in disregard of the older son of the unloved wife; rather, he was required to accept the firstborn, the son of the unloved one, and allot to him his birthright of a double portion of all that he possessed. A closed portion ends here.
In the continuation of the reading, Moses instructed that if a couple had a wayward and defiant son, who did not obey his father or mother even after they disciplined him, then they were to bring him to the elders of his town and publicly declare their son to be disloyal, defiant, heedless, a glutton, and a drunkard. The men of his town were then to stone him to death. The first reading and a closed portion end here.
Second reading—Deuteronomy 21:22–22:7
In the second reading, Moses instructed that if the community executed a man for a capital offense and impaled him on a stake, they were not to let his corpse remain on the stake overnight, but were to bury him the same day, for an impaled body affronted God. A closed portion ends here with the end of the chapter.
In the continuation of the reading, Moses instructed that if one found another's lost ox, sheep, donkey, garment, or any other lost thing, then the finder could not ignore it, but was required to take it back to its owner. If the owner did not live near the finder or the finder did not know who the owner was, then the finder was to bring the thing home and keep it until the owner claimed it. A closed portion ends here.