"If a man will have a stubborn and rebellious son, who does not hearken to the voice of his father and the voice of his mother, and they discipline him, but he does not hearken to them." (Deut. 21:18) This passage…was included to enable us to receive a reward for studying…

If we do not properly observe the commandment: "Do not allow any of your enemies to survive," (Deut. 20:16) then Israel the first born son may turn out to become a "wayward and rebellious son". Raising a son who turns out to be wayward and defiant is the result of our not having waged the war against the evil urge with all our might.

The Zohar describes this passage in approximately the following way: Upon being given this passage of the Torah, Moses asked G‑d how a Jewish father and mother could be expected to take their own son to the Supreme Court in order to have him executed? This whole passage should be deleted from the Torah! G‑d explained to him that it was included to enable us to receive a reward for studying it, though it would always remain only in the realm of hypothesis.

At that time G‑d called upon Yofi--, the "prince" of Torah, who asked Moses to allow him to explain the meaning of the passage. He explained that the word "man" at the beginning of the verse, "If a man has…" refers to G‑d Himself, who is known to us as a "man of war". (see Ex. 15:3) The word "son" in our verse refers to the people of Israel, G‑d's firstborn son. The words stubborn and rebellious are an allusion to the verse, "Israel has balked like a stubborn cow". (Hosea 4:16)All the exiles…can be traced back to the original sin committed by Adam…

The words "...he does not hearken to the voice of his father and the voice of his mother..." refer to G‑d, the father, and the Community of Israel, the mother, respectively. Such concepts are alluded to by Solomon in the verse, "Do not abandon the teachings of your mother". (Proverbs 1:8)

The words, "they discipline him" are reminiscent of: "G‑d warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and seers: 'Turn back from your wicked ways...'" (Kings II 17:13) The words here: "…and did not listen to them" are parallel to the words "...and did not listen to them" in the same verse in Kings II.

The Torah continues:
"His father and mother will seize him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the public place of his community..." (Deut. 21:19)

We must ask ourselves: Why did the Torah not write "their city" instead of "his city?" Why did the Torah not write "their community" instead of "his community"? His city is the city of G‑d and His community is the community of Community of Israel. The Torah alludes to the highest Tribunal in the Celestial Regions whence supervision of man's activities on earth is exercised…

Immediately after Moses had heard all this, he understood that all the exiles the Jewish people would have to suffer in the course of their history can be traced back to the original sin committed by Adam.

[Translated and adapted by Eliyahu Munk.]