Being King-Like in Getting Close to God and our Fellow Man

Parshat Shoftim 

 by Rabbi Avi Billet 

Today we read the Mishpat HaMelekh – the rules surrounding the appointment of a king. One of the Torah’s instructions for the king is to personally have a Torah written for himself, which he will have with him at all times. He must read from it daily in order to learn to fear God and to observe the words of the Torah and to fulfill its laws.

These rules are meant to prevent him from raising his heart above his brethren, and to prevent him from turning away from the commandments. As the Ibn Ezra points out – "if he doesn't learn it, how will he know what to do?" Through this he is assured that his kingdom will last forever.

We can safely assume King David did this – which is why we continue to say דוד מלך ישראל חי וקים.

Did the king have to physically carry it with him at all times? It would seem that the ability to do this would be contingent on the size of the Torah in question, and if there was a way to carry it that would not disable him from otherwise using his arms.

According to the Ksav V'hakabalah – the terms are specific. When he is instructed to read it – obviously for that he needs a physical Torah. When he is instructed to have it with him at all times – that is not as much about a physical book as much as he must carry the teachings of the Torah on his heart at all times. He must be governed by a Jewish ethic and a humanitarian ethic that prevents him from being above Torah law, or from abusing his position as king.

Ramban explains quite pointedly that the final verse's warning – not to raise his heart above his brothers – is the ultimate lesson in humility, warning the king to run from haughtiness and arrogance.

" כי הגאוה מדה מגונה ונמאסת אצל האלהים אפילו במלך Arrogance is one of the most despised character traits – even in a king. It is only God who has the גדולה and the רוממות. He alone is praised by Man. Shlomo Hamelech said in Mishlei (משלי טז ה) תועבת השם כל גבה לב " Everyone of haughty heart is an abomination of the Lord; hand to hand he will not go unpunished." In other words – even if he is a king.

The Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 2:6 records how the king must even carry the Torah with him – (whether literally or in his heart is not addressed by the Talmud here) – even when he goes out to battle. From this the Talmud learns a Kal Va'Chomer – which is essentially a logical structure for deriving a law or practice through comparing two issues.

The Talmud explains:

ומה אם מלך ישראל שהיה עסוק בצרכי ישראל If a king, who is so busy with the needs of the nation – he has to worry about security, finances, the needs of the people, making sure the law is followed, serving as a judge in many cases, etc etc – and he is nonetheless given NO exemption נאמר בו וקרא בו כל ימי חייו and he must learn the Torah on a daily basis, ההדיוט על אחת כמה וכמה. how much moreso would this responsibility to be dedicated to the Torah fall on someone who is not overwhelmed by all the national concerns.

The month of Elul began this week – shul goers have begun to hear the Shofar sounded. Does the Shofar arouse us from our slumber? Does this time period cause us to seriously reflect on our lives? Most of us can tick off marks on a checklist. We keep kosher. We keep Shabbos. We respect mitzvos. We daven. We value going to shul – even if current circumstances get in the way of minyan attendance.

But do we read from the Torah and other holy books on a DAILY basis? Do we try to know the halakha, understand the halakha, and live by the halakha? Do we aim to improve our relationship with God, through davening every day, through seeing God in our world and through making a sincere effort to get closer to Him?

We do not have a human king that we can turn to – to see in him model a relationship with God that we can emulate. Some turn to their Rosh Yeshiva for that, some turn to their Rebbe for that. Those who are in these spotlights should hopefully be worthy to be that inspiration for others. But they should always be blessed to remain humble knowing that in God's eyes, we are all the same.

All of us can create or set in our own mind's eye attainable goals.

The king is instructed not to have his heart turn away from his brethren. The image of the heart turning away is significant because it can be applied both to how we view our relationship with God, and to how we relate to our fellow Jew (and our fellow man).

The pandemic has brought out the best in some people. It has also brought out the extremes in the other direction. Judging others, not trusting others, thinking others are being careless and thoughtless are just some of the symptoms. It has also brought out a fear that I worry is a trauma people will need help pulling through to return to normal. We need to worry about ourselves and be concerned for others, but we also need to stop judging other people.

And in the between us and God realm, perhaps we can aim to start with one goal: to understand the words of our siddur and machzor better. We should read through them with a translation, and challenge ourselves to find meaning in the things we read, say and learn so we can reach these goals. Doing this properly should only help us connect with God. (There are other great goals, this is only meant to be a starting point!)

With God's help and the right drive, may we merit to get closer to Him in these weeks leading to Rosh Hashana. And may our goals be attainable as we remember – even the very busy king couldn't shirk from his relationship with God. Certainly we are capable of the same.