{"id":61287,"date":"2019-08-18T13:56:52","date_gmt":"2019-08-18T10:56:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=61287"},"modified":"2023-03-13T11:57:46","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T09:57:46","slug":"the-ideal-political-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-ideal-political-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ideal Political Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[689,799,834,835,571,400],"acf":{"old_id":"61287","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":36277,"related_cahpter":"287","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Which we learn from David\u2019s failures as much as from his successes","content":"

The book of Samuel ends with one more story of David sinning, acknowledging his error and repenting. This time the king wanted to count the people which, as we know from Exodus 30, is liable to bring punishment, unless each person counted makes a half shekel contribution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before anyone rebukes him, David realizes he has done wrong, saying before God, \u201cI have sinned grievously\u2026I have acted foolishly.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This capacity for self-judgment and change was one of David\u2019s most striking characteristics. He sins grievously a number of times in his life, abuses his power (most egregiously in the sin with Bathsheba) and thanks to disastrous misjudgements is nearly overthrown by his son Absalom. Yet David repeatedly recognizes his faults. He expresses pangs of conscience for having cut off the edge of Saul\u2019s robe, and relief that Abigail held him back from his plan to massacre Nabal and his men. Mostly famously, David confesses, \u201cI have sinned greatly\u201d when Nathan the prophet confronts David for his responsibility for Uriah the Hittite\u2019s death.<\/span><\/p>\n

This ability contrasts notably with his predecessor Saul\u2019s poor powers of self-criticism. In the counting episode David says, \u201c<\/span>I<\/span><\/i> have acted foolishly,\u201d whereas when Samuel rebukes Saul, the prophet has to tell the king, \u201c<\/span>you<\/span><\/i> have acted foolishly.\u201d (I Samuel 13)<\/span><\/p>\n

Maimonides, drawing on the Talmud, synthesized these biblical stories, the commandments on kingship from the Torah and their oral interpretations into a unified system of law and thought about the ideal Jewish monarchy, (which some have extended to Jewish government more generally.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These teachings set a high bar for the moral and spiritual qualities of the king, insisting that despite the honour paid him, \u201chis heart should be humble\u00a0 within him,\u201d and that he should keep a Torah scroll with him at all times to consult and remind him of his subjection to a higher law than his own power and appetites.<\/span><\/p>\n

A clear distinction is made between kings from the house of David, who are under the jurisdiction of the legal system and other Jewish kings, who are not (Talmud Sanhedrin 19a, Maimonides, Laws of Kings 3:7.)\u00a0 Maimonides explains, based on the Talmud, that non-Davidic kings are not brought to court because they are proud-hearted; if you try and make them liable under the law, they will wreak disastrous damage on the legal system. Davidic kings, on the other hand, are held to have the humility needed to endure, and perhaps even welcome, the rebuke of law.<\/span><\/p>\n

David\u2019s acts of self-criticism and repentance, in this chapter and throughout his life, were I suggest, formative for the Torah\u2019s construction of the ideal political leader. The power to self-correct, to acknowledge a higher law, whether from within one\u2019s conscience or from an outside authority, and to change course, were enshrined as essential characteristics of the Jewish ruler envisaged by the tradition.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":61288,"id":61288,"title":"2sam24-failure","filename":"2sam24-failure.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam24-failure.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-ideal-political-leader\/2sam24-failure\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2sam24-failure","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":61287,"date":"2019-08-18 10:56:42","modified":"2019-08-18 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