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Parshat Shoftim

By: SFW Students & Alumna
Sari Gelernter, SFW ’05-‘06

In this week’s Parsha, Parshat Shoftim, we read in Perek 17 Pasuk 15 “Som tasim alecha melech asher yivchar Hashem,” which sounds as if Hashem is commanding us to have a king. However, in Shmuel Aleph, Perek 8, we read about Shmuel asking Hashem for a king on behalf of Bnei Yisrael, and we see that Hashem’s reaction (and that of Shmeul) is not the one you would expect if there really is a positive commandment to appoint a king. Indeed, Hashem compares the act of asking for a king to avodah zara.

The Ramban maintains that Bnei Yisrael were commanded to do three things upon arriving in Eretz Yisrael: Build the Beit Hamikdash, anoint a king, and wipe out Amalek. This would mean that according to the Ramban there is clearly a commandment to appoint a king. How can he reconcile this with Sefer Shmuel? He explains by saying that Hashem’s intension in a king was so that there would be a leader for Bnei Yisrael who would set an example of selflessness and wholeheartedness for Am Yisrael to serve Hashem better and to grow in kedusha. So when Bnei Yisrael came to Shmuel and asked for a king so that they could be “k’chol hagoyim,” the same as all the other nations, Hashem was upset, because that was the exact opposite of the reason for having a king. If the king was meant to instill kedusha and separation from the goyim, then asking for a king in order to emulate the nations of the world was the wrong thing.

We as Am Yisrael are told by Hashem many times throughout Tanach that we are supposed to be kadosh, separate, holy. We can live among the other nations and do many of the same activities as them, but if our intension while doing these things is to make them holy and spiritual then we are correcting the mistake of Am Yisrael in the time of Shmuel. If we can do so, then no matter what it is that we are involved in, we can continuously be striving to fulfill our purpose in this world, which is to develop a stronger connection with Hakadosh Baruch Hu.