#NoKings
Around the dinner table the other night with extended family, our conversation turned to the frightening changes we are all witnessing in our country. A quick laundry list of abuses of power were tossed out in rapid-fire: the National Guard takeover of DC, ICE raids, firings at the Fed and the CDC, financial corruption and kick-backs related to the president's real estate holdings. "And the sexual misconduct," one relative piped in. "Don't forget about the Epstein files."
Toggling to a different (but related) subject for a moment: When Elisheva Goldberg, NIF's Senior Director of Media & Policy, gave a briefing about Israel earlier this month, she too focused on the abuses of power of the Netanyahu government. "Let's remember that Benjamin Netanyahu is still on trial," she said. "He is on trial for corruption, fraud, and breach of trust. His main goal is maintaining his position as Prime Minister -- maintaining 'ha-kisei shelo,' 'his chair or throne' -- to inoculate him from being put in jail. The consensus among the abroad swath of Israeli society and the media is that he is only maintaining the war in Gaza to keep his kisei." (If you're interested in watching her entire talk, the recording is here.)
Given these current events that serve as a backdrop, it's no wonder that a particular section of our Torah portion, Shoftim, almost jumped off the page at me this week. Here is the text of Deuteronomy 17:14-20, which I invite you to read carefully in full:
"If, after you have entered the land that Adonai your God has assigned to you, and taken possession of it and settled in it, you decide, 'I will set a king over me, as do all the nations about me,' you shall be free to set a king over yourself, one chosen by Adonai your God.
Be sure to set as king over yourself one of your own people; you must not set a foreigner over you, one who is not your kin. Moreover, he shall not keep many horses or send people back to Egypt to add to his horses, since Adonai has warned you, 'You must not go back that way again.' And he shall not have many wives, lest his heart go astray; nor shall he amass silver and gold to excess.
When he is seated on his royal throne, he shall have a copy of this Teaching written for him on a scroll by the levitical priests. Let it remain with him and let him read in it all his life, so that he may learn to revere Adonai his God, to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching as well as these laws. Thus he will not act haughtily toward his fellows or deviate from the Instruction to the right or to the left, to the end that he and his descendants may reign long in the midst of Israel."
I remember learning this passage in depth for the first time while in rabbinical school at JTS. There, we learned about the "documentary hypothesis:" the idea that the Torah's five books were not written by a single author, but rather by a compilation of multiple independent literary sources, their narratives stitched together to create the text we have today. Deutoronomy, in particular, is attributed to a "Deuteronomist" (D) author, who is thought to have lived in the late 7th Century BCE, and is associated with the reign of King Josiah (see 2 Kings 22:3-11 for an account of King Josiah "finding" a scroll -- understood by scholars to be the text of Deuteronomy -- in a wall).
This background may seem a little wonky, but it's an important context for the above passage from Parashat Shoftim. Given that scholars are reasonably certain that the Book of Deuteronomy was written during the reign of one of the Kingdom of Judah's most important kings, we might expect the text to be more clearly pro-monarchy. However, the text seems ambivalent at best about the idea of having a king. "If you decide" to set a king over yourself, communicates that perhaps it would be better not to make such a decision. Asking for a king in order to be like all the other nations reads like a terrible idea, coming as it does in a book of the Torah that typically prizes Israel's unique mission and distinctiveness from other nations!
What follows the text's initial ambivalence about the idea of a king is a series of strong warnings. The Torah here is communicating: If -- even though it's not a good idea -- you still want to set a king over yourselves, then you must understand that abuses of power are common, and these are some of the specific traits and behaviors that you must be most careful to guard against.
1) "He shall not keep many horses." In ancient times, horses -- especially the ones referenced here as coming from Egypt -- were a military technology. (We see this, for example, in the phrase "sus v'rochvo" - "horse and rider" - in the Song of the Sea, which refers to Pharaoh's Egyptian army that chased the Israelites as they fled from Egypt.) Here, our Torah portion is warning that a king should not be permitted to amass more military power than is necessary. This warning reminds me of the late 19th century quote attributed to British historian Lord Action: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
2) "He shall not have many wives." Even in this ancient era -- before monogamy was widespread (and certainly before today's more expansive conceptions of gender and sexuality had taken hold) -- there was already an understanding that a king's appetite for women needed to be kept in check. Patriarchy, greed, and the objectification of women here go hand in hand with other power overreaches, and are an important red flag.
3) "Nor shall he amass silver and gold to excess." The desire for money in excess is understood as a weakness for a king. While all ancient rulers were expected to collect taxes and amass some wealth, here the Torah is warning explicitly to be wary of kings seeking personal financial gain. (For example, Siftei Chachamim, a 17th-century super-commentary on Rashi, allows that the king should be able to collect the funds needed to supply his soldiers and servants with food, drink, clothing, and all that they need; however "he may not accumulate in abundance for himself when he [merely] wants to put it into his treasury.")
4) "He shall have a copy of this Teaching written for him" and he must read from it regularly. On this point, the Torah is crystal clear: No one is above the law, not even the king! Being beholden to laws, guidelines and restrictions is part of what keeps a king appropriately in check. Reading from his Torah regularly will ensure that a king will revere God and "not act haughtily towards his fellows" -- foundational principles about how all humans (including kings) should strive to be in the world.
Given the world we inhabit today and the swing towards autocracy we are witnessing all around us (including not only the examples above, but also Putin, Orban, and more), this Dvar Torah practically writes itself. It is kind of crazy that the White House itself released an image in February of Trump wearing a gold crown, on a fake Time Magazine background with the caption "Long Live the King!" In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has long been dubbed "King Bibi" by supporters and critics alike. It is not a coincidence that these two democratically-elected leaders who are engaging in radical overreaches of power are now embracing monarchical images and monikers.
Our Torah portion clearly warns that kings are not always good; there is something about the throne and title itself that lends towards inherent corruption and abuses of power. Each of the categories of abuse that our passage lays out -- military overreach, the abuse of women, greed and acting for personal financial gain, the feeling of being above the law -- feel relevant and necessary for us to hear and internalize right now. And the message that "we the people" need to internalize is clear: we must not tolerate these abuses! Seemingly small acts that abuse power are connected to one another, and must be challenged, as they add up to produce the kind of strongmen who will stop at nothing and will ultimately leave their nations in ruin.
Historian Timothy Snyder recently moved to Canada, but in 2017 while he was still living and working in the U.S., he originally published his book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. I have found his guidelines to be very sensible and helpful, and I believe they are worth reading and re-visiting on a regular basis these days. Click here for an on-line summary of Snyder's lessons for fighting tyranny -- for example: "Do not obey in advance," "Believe in truth," "Make eye contact and small talk," "Establish a private life," "Contribute to good causes," "Listen for dangerous words," "Be as courageous as you can." -- and although it's not easy, let us take these words to heart as much as we possibly can.
Fortunately, our secular and Jewish calendars both support us in finding our way in the face of tyranny. On the secular calendar, we are headed into Labor Day weekend. That holiday was started in the 19th century, by trade unionists, as a day to celebrate labor. In other words, Labor Day is a reminder of the power of the people. Today, functionally, it marks a day off from work for recreation -- "a general holiday for the laboring classes." In granting time to all of us, Labor Day can serve as a reminder that every human being deserves dignity... not only a king!
On the Jewish calendar, we have now formally turned the corner into the month of Elul and the lead-up to the High Holidays. In Elul, the popular metaphor "the king is in the field" signifies that God is closer and more accessible to us than ever. King/sovereign language ("melech") will continue to loom large through our holiday liturgy, most of all during Rosh Hashanah, where the Malchuyot prayers celebrate God's kingship. In reciting verses that center God's sovereignty, we remind ourselves that it is God -- and never a human being -- who is the ultimate sovereign, worthy of praise and worship.
As we move into this weekend of Parashat Shoftim, my blessing for us all is that through our lens of Torah, we may all be fortified in our resolve to fight abuses of power. Together, may we lift up a vision of society in which our leaders are servants rather than abusive and tyrannical kings, and in which all people can live in prosperity and freedom, with good governance. We certainly have our work cut out for us, but I take some comfort in knowing that these issues and abuses have long been a part of the human condition, and that our Torah has concrete wisdom to offer us.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum
