{"id":64085,"date":"2019-10-06T13:19:15","date_gmt":"2019-10-06T10:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=64085"},"modified":"2023-05-03T07:35:58","modified_gmt":"2023-05-03T04:35:58","slug":"why-amaziah-is-the-first-really-jewish-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/why-amaziah-is-the-first-really-jewish-king\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Amaziah Is The First Really Jewish King \u00a0"},"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":[835,436,410],"acf":{"old_id":"64085","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33992,"related_cahpter":"323","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The end of Don Corleone starts with Torah","content":"

Remember poor King Joash and how his servants murdered him after he was forced to become a vassal to the local king of Aram? Well, a new generation has grown to adulthood, and his son, Amaziah is now the king. It is generally the way of biblical kings that they take revenge for the wrongs perpetrated on their predecessors (recall David\u2019s Godfather-like conversation with his son, Solomon, on his deathbed?) or, even worse, they often wipe out the children and relatives of deposed opponents. Nothing personal, of course, it\u2019s just politics. A cruel but effective way of removing any competing claimants to their throne.<\/span><\/p>\n

So we\u2019ve been primed to expect that from the new king as well. Once his realm is secure, we aren\u2019t surprised when he turns his attention to revenge against the servants to murdered his dear old dad: \u201cit happened when the kingship\u00a0 was firmly in his power that he struck down his servants who had assassinated the king, his father.\u201d Business as usual for an Iron Age king.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what comes next is far from business as usual: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026 but he did not put to death the sons of the assassins, as it is written in the Book of the Torah of Moses, which God had commanded, saying, \u201cParents shall not be put to death because of their children, nor children put to death for their parents, rather, people should be put to death for their own sin\u201d (Deut. 24:16)<\/span><\/p>\n

Amaziah is the first king to explicitly restrain himself because of a verse in the Torah. And in doing so, he reveals the intended purpose of Torah itself. In the face of customs that are universally accepted, despite the casual practice of brutality and cruelty, the Torah asks us to rise to a higher standard. It sets itself against cruel consensus or callous indifference and demands that we are each responsible for our own deeds. Even in the realm of politics, we are not to hold people guilty for the actions of their families or their loved ones.<\/span><\/p>\n

By allowing the children of the assassins to live, King Amaziah lays claim to being the first really Jewish king: one who moderates cultural norms in the light of the ethical values of Torah. The presumption that each person is made in the divine image precludes erasing someone\u2019s unique value and identity. We cannot treat people based on expedience or political self interest, realpolitik must take a back seat to righteousness, compassion, and justice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Jacob Chayat, King Solomon, detail, 2015\u00a0 \/ wikipedia\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":64086,"id":64086,"title":"2kings14-King_Jacob_Chayat","filename":"2kings14-King_Jacob_Chayat.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings14-King_Jacob_Chayat.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/why-amaziah-is-the-first-really-jewish-king\/2kings14-king_jacob_chayat\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2kings14-king_jacob_chayat","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":64085,"date":"2019-10-06 10:19:04","modified":"2021-09-01 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