Make for Yourself a King
Is it a mitzvah to appoint a king?
See Chapter 17, verses 14-15. Is it just a concession to the desire to
mimic the gentiles or is it a Divinely ordained position? How many
constraints and limitations does the king have? Notice that there is
hardly any indication of what the king is supposed to do. Would this
indicate that having a king is a mitzvah or not?
Separation of Powers
If you notice the judges at the
outset of the parasha, the Priests in chapter 17, verses 8-12,
and the later discussion of a king and the prophets (18, 18), what
emerges is that there are three branches of government, the Temple
leadership, the courts, and the monarchy. This triumvirate is quite
effective. The judges bring pure reason and law to the table. The prophets
and the priests bring the direct word of G-d and inspiration into the
decisions. The king, who is most entrenched in realpolitik is therefore
checked by the balance of spiritual leadership at his side. Ultimately,
like our American checks and balances system, it is designed out of a deep
distrust of government. The king does not reign alone. As a matter of
fact, oftentimes the king was chastised by the prophet.
Do not stray from that which they tell you, right
or left
We are commanded to follow the
judges, leaders, and rabbis of our time, especially if their judgments are
based on reasonable interpretations of the law. If so, every time the
rabbis in the Talmud tell us to follow a law, let’s say to keep Hanukah,
the Torah itself tells us to follow their commands. If so, there should be
no difference between Rabbinic law and Torah (from the Pentateuch).
However, in the Talmud we do find a distinction between Torah and Rabbinic
law. The answer is that when the Rabbis made laws, they were made on
condition that they not carry all the severity of the Torah laws. Hence
Rabbinic laws are treated with slightly more leniency than Torah laws. |
