Ki Teitzei’s Call for Dignity vs. Hamas’ Celebration of Desecration

Parshat Ki Teitzei commands something extraordinary:

“If any party is guilty of a capital offense and is put to death, and you impale the body on a stake, you must not let the corpse remain on the stake overnight, but must bury it the same day. For an impaled body is an affront to G-d: you shall not defile the land that your G-d is giving you to possess.” – Deuteronomy 21:22-23

Even the guilty must not be left hanging overnight. The Torah demands swiftness in burial, even for one who deserved execution.

The biblical commentator Rashi (1040-1105) spells out the reason: “a degradation of the Divine King, for man is made in His image.” Since man is made in the image of G-d, it would be an insult to G-d to continue to embarrass the dead, even one who deserved capital punishment. The focus should be about restoring public order and nothing more.

Hamas: Desecration as Policy

Contrast that to Palestinian political-terrorist group Hamas. On October 7, terrorists not only murdered, but dragged Jewish bodies through the streets of Gaza, spat on them, and beat them before crowds cheering “Allahu Akhbar” – G-d is Great. Their deaths became props for Hamas’ theatre of hate.

To this day, Hamas holds the bodies of Israeli hostages, denying their families the ability to bury them, to say Kaddish, to mourn. It is deliberate, drawn-out torture.

The Law of Nations Agrees

This is not only a biblical imperative — it is a universal one. Article 17 of the Geneva Convention states plainly “Parties to the conflict shall ensure that the dead are honorably interred… and that their graves respected and properly maintained.”

Even in war, even between enemies, the dead are to be treated with dignity.

Hamas has made clear it recognizes no such obligation. It does not simply kill — it advertises cruelty, turning murder into propaganda and humiliation into spectacle.

The Moral Divide

Ki Teitzei calls us to a higher standard. To quickly bury even the criminal, to shield the image of G-d from public shame. The radical Islamist group calls its people to something else entirely: to spit, to drag, to desecrate. To turn death into a carnival. Jews believe sanctifying G-d means sanctifying the human body, even a murderer. Fanatical jihadists believe that Gd wants the community to mock the dead, even a female dancer.

This is not just a fight over land. It is a war between those who sanctify life — even those they must punish — and those who have turned death into a brand identity.

The choice before the world could not be clearer: stand with those who respect the divine image, even in death — or with those who trample it.