Parshat Shoftim

Why Not a King Now?

This week's parsha introduces the institution of the Monarchy to Judaism.

'When you come to the land the Lord, your God, is giving you, and you possess it and live therein, and you say, "I will set a king over myself, like all the nations around me," you shall appoint a king over you, whom the Lord thy God shall choose' (Devarim 17:14-15).

Depending on how we translate and emphasize key words, it is unclear from this section as to whether Israel is obligated to establish a monarchy or whether they are permitted, should the people feel the need, to appoint a king.

One could understand the word: “וְאָמַרְתָּ” as “you should (i.e. are required to) say: ‘I will set a king over myself’”, it would imply that the mitzvah is an obligation. On the other hand, one could translate it as "you are permitted to say" – making it optional. The same applies to the final clause: "שׂוֹם תָּשִׂים עָלֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ" can be translated as either "you must appoint king" or as: “you are free to appoint a king".

Was the Torah being deliberately ambiguous? Furhermore, if the monarchy was an ideal, why was it not instituted immediately in Sefer Devarim, or at least after the death of Moshe?

To answer these questions, we need to understand the structure of ancient of Israel's society.

Ancient Israel was a tribal society. It was divided into twelve distinct tribes, each with their own flag and substrata of clans. They were counted and camped according to their tribes (Bemidbar Ch.1 & 2) and at the conquest, the land was divided according to tribes (ibid 26:53). There were even circumstances when inter-tribal marriages were forbidden (ibid 36:6-8).

This meant that tribal loyalty was stronger than national loyalty.

Indeed the first time the Tenach calls the country: "Eretz Yisrael", is only after Sha'ul is crowned as Israel's first king (I Shmuel 13:19). Up until that point, there was no united country called Israel, only a confederation of tribes, with little national unity.

The lack of national unity was very disturbing to both King David and Shlomo, who undertook the building of a nation. They were concerned that the united kingdom would not survive if tribal loyalties remained strong.

Therefore, David built his capital (i.e Jerusalem) in a border city that was not associated with any tribe, while Shlomo divided the country up into twelve administrative units, not along tribal grounds (I Melachim 4:7), in attempt to break tribal loyalty and to create a national allegiance.

Therefore, the Torah appreciated that at Moshe's time, Israel was not ready for a Monarchy. However, it anticipated that as the nation matured, the people would see the importance of solidifying their unity and of creating a national structure that would have absolute authority of the whole nation. When that time came, the tribal elders would then be able to select a king. That occurred at the end of Shmuel's leadership.

The Torah understood that different models of leadership would be needed for different times. Therefore, the Torah was deliberately ambiguous and allowed Israel different options for different eras.

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat Shoftim entiled: "The King and Sha'ul" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007/08/parshat-shoftim-king-and-shaul-sefer.html.

Another Sedra Short on Parshat Shoftim entiled: "The King" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006/08/parshat-shoftim-king-this-weeks-parsha.html.

Parshat Tetsaveh

The Ephod

"They shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and crimson wool, and twisted fine linen, the work of a master weaver" (Shemot 28:6).

Rashi himself is unsure as to what the Ephod looked like, however, understanding what its function was is even more difficult.

On the one hand it is clear from our parsha and other sources that it was a type of clothing that was worn by holy people:

"Shmuel was serving before the Lord, being a lad girded with a linen ephod" (I Shmuel 2:18).

"Doeg turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day eighty-five men, wearers of the linen ephod" (ibid 22:18).

On the other, we have a strange story with Gidon. After his success in defeating Midian, Israel asks him to be their king. He rejects their demand, but instead asks them to give him some gold from the spoils of the war. "Gidon made it into an Ephod, and he set it up in his city… all Israel went astray after it there; and it became a snare to Gidon and to his house" (Shoftim 8:27).

How is an Ephod a substitute for being the king and how can it be a snare for the people? This episode seems to make the Ephod out to be an idol.

We can answer this question by seeing how the ephod was used. In our parsha, the urim and tumim are fitted on the ephod. While we are not sure what they are, we do know that they were used to divine God's will: " He shall stand before Eleazar the kohen and seek [counsel from] him through the judgment of the Urim before the Lord" (Bemidbar 27:21).

Furthermore, we see that the Ephod alone was also used for this purpose:

David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, "Bring near to me now the ephod." And Abiathar brought the ephod near to David. David enquired of the Lord saying, "Shall I pursue this troop? Will I overtake them?" He said to him, "Pursue, for you shall overtake and you shall rescue." (ibid 30:7-8).

It appears therefore, that the Ephod was a piece of clothing that enabled the wearer to communicate with God.

Those familiar with Gidon's story will now understand why Gidon wanted an Ephod. Throughout his journey, Gidon doubted that God a actually communicating with him. He needs signs, counter-signs and even an enemy's dream, to convince that he indeed, was hearing the word of God.

Gidon therefore, wanted an object that would make communication with God clearer. What better than an ephod.

The problem however, is that Israel began to think that the Ephod itself had was an object of worship, rather than a communication tool with God. Therefore, over time, Israel began to worship it.

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat Tetsaveh, entitled: "The Mizbeach HaKetoret – Part 2" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html

Another Sedra Short on Parshat Tetsaveh entitled: "The Mizbeach HaKetoret " appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_archive.html.