Parshat Shoftim-Preparation for Kingship

Speaker:
Date:
August 14 2018
Downloads:
0
Views:
91
Comments:
0
 


Parshat Shoftim 5778-Preparation for Kingship.



יד  כִּי-תָבֹא אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ, וִירִשְׁתָּהּ, וְיָשַׁבְתָּה בָּהּ; וְאָמַרְתָּ, אָשִׂימָה עָלַי מֶלֶךְ, כְּכָל-הַגּוֹיִם, אֲשֶׁר סְבִיבֹתָי.


14 When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein; and shalt say: 'I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me';


טו  שׂוֹם תָּשִׂים עָלֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ, אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בּוֹ:  מִקֶּרֶב אַחֶיךָ, תָּשִׂים עָלֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ--לֹא תוּכַל לָתֵת עָלֶיךָ אִישׁ נָכְרִי, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-אָחִיךָ הוּא.


15 thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose; one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee; thou mayest not put a foreigner over thee, who is not thy brother.



In 1980 I was living in Israel and working at Bank Mizrachi in Ben Yehuda street in the center of Jerusalem. A client came in and in the course of the transaction (as often happened in Israel and which makes it so unique) he asked me if I had seen the Netziv’s comments on Parshat Shoftim on the above pesukim. He told me that he had just left Iran approx. 3 months after the 1979 revolution and that he was wanted as a ‘CIA agent’ in Iran, for being an American  businessman there, which was very distressing. He had to leave all his business interests behind and could never go back. As he mentioned the Netziv, I was intrigued and this is part of his comments on the above verses, talking about the appointment of a King.


 



And you shall say, etc.: The explanation of "saying" [here] is not like its simple meaning, but rather like [its] usage in the phrase (Deuteronomy 12:20), “and you shall say,' I want to eat meat'” and in similar [instances]. However according to this usage, it is implied that this is not an absolute commandment to appoint a king, but rather optional, as in the case of “and you shall say, 'I want to eat meat,' etc.” And behold it is known in the words of the sages, may their memory be blessed, that it is a commandment to appoint a king. But, if so, why is it written, "and you shall say, etc.?" And it appears that it is because the government of a state depends upon whether it is run according to the opinion of a monarchy or according to the opinion of the people and its representatives: and there are states that cannot support the opinion of the monarchy and there are states that without a king are like a ship without a captain. And [so] such a thing cannot be done according to the coercion of a positive commandment, since a matter that is relevant to the government of the public touches upon mortal danger (sakanat nefashot) which pushes off a positive commandment. For this reason, it is impossible to absolutely command the appointment of king so long as it is without the consent of the people to support the yoke of the king as a result of their seeing states around them functioning more properly [with a king]. And then [only when they do so] is it a positive commandment for the Sanhedrin to appoint a king. And behold, it is certainly impossible to explain that there is no positive commandment here at all, but rather it is like, “and you shall say, 'I want to eat meat,' etc. and you shall slaughter from your cattle, etc.” which is only a negative commandment that comes out of a positive [statement], not to eat without ritual slaughter (shechita); [and that] here too, we would say that this is its explanation - "Surely place upon yourself a king that He will choose, etc., you may not, etc.," [meaning] specifically "that He will choose." But it is impossible to explain like this, as if so, what is it saying, "and you will possess and you will settle" and not before? Behold, even before the possession, it is permitted to [establish] a king, as behold, Yehoshua was like a king, as is written by Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars 1:3 and 3:8, see there, and Sanhedrin 19. But rather perforce, it is a commandment; yet regardless the Sanhedrin is  not commanded [to act upon it] until the people say that they want the administration of a king. And it is for this reason that for all of three hundred years, while the Tabernacle was in Shilo, there was no king; because it was lacking the people’s agreement.



The Netziv is dealing with the basic problem of whether there is a positive mitzvah to appoint a King or not. He argues that these verses suggest there is a mitzvah to do so , but there is a unique ‘caveat’ to this mitzvah, that it depends on the will of the people. There are some countries that need a King and can function well under this system, such as in the U.K.. Other countries require the opposite approach and a republic is established, as in the US, where kingship was rejected in 1776.This explains why the Jews waited nearly 400 years to appoint a king after coming into Israel, as the consensus had not yet been expressed  and ,even then, Shmuel told them they were wrong and that the request was premature (see:Sam 1 ch.8).This is the meaning of the word: ; וְאָמַרְתּ’and you will say….’ to show us that it depended on the will of the people as to whether a King should be appointed or not.


The businessman from Iran clearly believed that Iran would run best with a King/Shah and the proof of his analysis has been clear to see in the last 40 years of the appalling leadership of the ‘ayatollah’s’ and their supporters. For the Jewish people a King is also needed but only if the people want it and understand the significant challenges that having a King entails, as enumerated in our parsha.


This whole discussion made me think about the act of coronation and recognition of kingship which we will go through in a few weeks time, on Rosh Hashana. The focus is on God as King and we have to learn from our parsha that real acceptance of kingship depends on us. If we understand the beauty  of having a King and the responsibilities that go with the acceptance, then the system created becomes a true Kiddush Hashem as it was in the days of our great 'human' leaders such as  David and Shlomo. Our Rosh Hashana prayers are all focused on this point and we renew our allegiance to God and acceptance of the covenant with Him at this time. This is truly a privilege and a commitment and this is what Rosh Hashana is meant to be for us. The shofar announces the King, the tefilla stresses the Kingship of God and we should  become overwhelmed by this renewal of commitment which hopefully  comes from the depths of our soul. May we all experience this in the upcoming Yom Tov and see the emergence of the future King of Israel in the form of Mashiach, speedily in our days.


Ketiva vechatima Tova.


Rabbi Ian Shaffer                    Cherry Hill NJ              Aug 2018/Elul 5778


Venue: Stern College Stern College

Parsha:

Description

Some thoughts in preparation for Rosh Hashana.Based on a comment of the Netziv on this week's parsha. Dedicated to the memory of Rav Kook zal, a talmid of the Netziv and whose yahrzeit falls on the 3rd Elul.May his memory be for a blessing.

    More from this:
    Comments
    0 comments
    Leave a Comment
    Title:
    Comment:
    Anonymous: 

    Learning on the Marcos and Adina Katz YUTorah site is sponsored today by Judy & Mark Frankel & family l'ilui nishmos מרדכי בן הרב משה יהודה ע"ה and משה יהודה ז"ל בן מאיר אליהו ויהודית and by the Polinsky Family to commemorate the 5th Yahrzeit of Gil Polinsky, Gedalyahu Gootmun Chaim ben Yaakov Dov