by Rav Moshe Leib HaCohen Halbershtat, Founder and Dean of YORU Institute, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.
This week's Torah portion is Shoftim, in Deuteronomy 16,18-19,21. In it we read of the commandment to appoint a king: "When you come to the Land… and you say, 'I will place a king over me, like all the nations around me. You shall certainly place upon yourselves a king; you may not place upon you a foreigner who is not your brother" (17,14-15).
Several questions present themselves, including the following:
1. The Medrash (D'varim Rabba 5,9) says that when kings of Israel oppressed their subjects, G-d essentially told Israel it was their own fault for asking for a king in the first place. "You yourselves chose to leave Me and accept the kingship of flesh and blood!" But how can the Medrash say this, if we see that the Torah itself not only condones the selection and coronation of a King, but even commands us to do so!
2. The Torah states that G-d will choose the king, meaning via a prophet or the Urim VeTumim on the High Priest's breastplate - but at the same time, we are told that we may not take a king who is not our brother. Which is it: Is the choice up to us, or is it up to G-d and His prophet?
3. Toward the end of the Prophet Samuel's life, his sons Yoel and Aviyah were judges in Israel, and they behaved very sinfully. When the elders of Israel came to Shmuel and asked that a King be appointed to replace them, Shmuel was saddened, and prayed to G-d for guidance. But, why was he upset? Did he not realize that this was an opportune time to fulfill the Torah's command to "place upon yourself a king"? And even more puzzling is G-d's response: "Hearken to the people's request, for they have not turned away from you, but rather from Me." In what way were they turning against G-d, if they were simply trying to replace corrupt judges with a king in accordance with the Torah's command?
The Medrash explains that while the Israelite elders' request to name a king was acceptable and even laudable, it was the lower strata of the nation who marred the process. This was because they stated that they wanted a king so that they could be "like the other nations." That is, they wanted a king not because they sought honest and G-d-fearing leadership, but simply because they preferred a mortal king like the other nations, and not to have to be subject to the Divine King of all Kings. They basically wanted to stop having to worship G-d, and to commit idolatry instead. This is, of course, why G-d was angered at their request.
This point answers the first two question as well. The Torah presents here two ways in which a king can be installed in Israel, and their respective inevitable consequences. One way is the result of wanting to be "like all the nations around me" (D'varim 17,14). This is of course a betrayal of G-d, and it leads to various forms of evil: appointing a king who was not chosen by G-d, but rather one that they will choose themselves, including possibly even a foreigner (verse 15). Such a king is liable to acquire too many horses (verse 16) or wives (verse 17), leading him to become arrogant and seek out only silver and gold (verse 17). This in turn will cause him to stray from the Torah's commandments (verse 20) and not remain king for long. The Prophet Shmuel listed some of the terrible consequences for Israel if they choose a wicked king: "He will take your sons and employ them in his chariots, and they will have to run before him… He will take your daughters, and your good fields and orchards and give them to his servants… etc." (Samuel I 8).
The second option for the choosing and coronation of a king is with the aim only of fulfilling the Torah's commands. This means choosing only a king whom G-d wants, one who will be very diligent not to act in a way that will lead to arrogance, so that he will not fall into heresy and idol worship. He will be a king who is far from physical and material lusts for wives and silver and gold, and who will certainly not return the nation to Egypt (verse 16).
How will such a king be able to avoid the pitfalls of power and stature and not fall into traps that will lead him into the above wicked behaviors? The answer is that he is commanded to "write himself a Torah Scroll… and it will be with him and he will read from it throughout his life, so that he will learn to fear G-d and carefully keep the Torah's laws" (verses 18-19). And in this way, "he will have a long reign amid Israel" (verse 20).
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