Shoftim 5773 - English

By Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky
B´nei Israel Congregation
San José, Costa Rica

Jewish Leaders Should Study Too

This week’s parsha discusses the order of naming a king of Israel, when he is stable in his land: “Som tasim aleja melej”, “…you may indeed set a king over you” (Devarim 17:15). This king should fulfill several rules especially established for him, like not having too many horses, marrying too many women, or gathering excessive reserves of gold and silver. 

There was one more rule that should be followed, and I want to discuss it here: “And it shall be, when he sit upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this Torah in a scroll, out of that which is before the priests the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Adonai his God, to keep all the words of the Torah and these statutes, to do them.” (Devarim 17:18-19). 

According to the interpretation of our sages, the Torah commands the king to write an additional Sefer Torah to the one every man of the nation should write, according to the Torah. The Talmud (TB Sanhedrin 21b) interprets that one of these Sifrei Torah should remain kept in the chamber of the royal treasures, while the other would go with the king in all his missions and travels. Every day of their life, the King of Israel should read and study the content of the Torah. 

What is the meaning of this law? Why should the king live all the time with a Sefer Torah next to him and read from it every day? A first explanation is that the king should always know that he is under the authority of the “King of Kings”, meaning that he should never forget that God is above him, even when his entire kingdom strictly obeys him.  The Sefer Ha-Mitzvot explains that a king has a lot of power; he can condemn and give death to whomever he wants, and no one can criticize him. Therefore, it is important that he consciously reread the laws of the Torah to support them and refrain from surpassing its limits. 

Some other commentators suggest that all his people see the King, and he is in fact a leader to follow, so that if the people see him continuously studying, they will try to imitate him. 

I believe that each one of these opinions is valid and we can learn from them. I also believe that we can understand the law of the king that writes and reads from the Torah every day, as a metaphor for nowadays… even though today we don’t have kings! Among the network of all the Jewish institutions that represent us, today’s king could be represented by the Jewish leadership (lehavdil! saving the distances and without establishing hateful comparisons), on the people that lead our congregations, Jewish sports clubs, Jewish elderly homes, international Jewish organizations, etc. “To read from the Torah scrolls every day of your life” can nowadays symbolize the study of our tradition, of our sacred texts, of our sources. If we take this double metaphor to this day, maybe the Torah wanted to teach us that we need leadership who is educated in Jewish terms.  It is not possible that those who lead our Jewish institutions are illiterate or beginners in Judaism! It is necessary to make an effort to educate our current leaders and create a future generation of leaders who are profoundly educated in the Jewish tradition. 

Could someone lead a country without understanding politics? Could someone lead a hospital without being a great doctor? Could someone lead a sports team without knowing the details of that sport’s discipline? So with Jewish leaders it should be the same: no one doubts that they can be good speakers, great negotiators and have an exemplary service calling… but to all these virtues they should add the fact of being instructed in Judaism, and display a constant effort in personal Jewish education. Only then they will be able to work wisely in their institutional tasks, when they are trained to personally establish priorities, set goals and clearly define those values and institutions that are unavoidable in our tradition. 

The Torah tells us about the King of Israel and how he should write and read the Torah everyday. Maybe it wants to teach us that if we want to have strong and healthy people, we need our leaders to follow the example of the king, and invest with determination and perseverance the time and effort needed to educate them as Jews.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky