A good leader knows: Hate the sin but not the sinner. Do not forget the past but do not be held captive by it. Ki Teitse contains more laws than any other parshah in the Torah, and it is possible to be overwhelmed by this embarrass de richesse of detail. One verse, however, stands out by its sheer counter-intuitiveness: “Do not despise an Edomite, because he is your brother. Do not despise the Egyptian, because you were a stranger in his land” (Deut. 23:8). These are very unexpected commands. Examining and understanding them will teach us an important lesson about...