Monarchy Machloket Nevi'Im by Moshe Abelesz

8/14/2019 Monarchy Machloket Nevi'Im by Moshe Abelesz

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192 HaMelucha VeHaMemshala Monarchy - MachloketNevi'im 193

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Appoint us a king to judge us like all the nations.ShmuelAleph 8:5TheFlaws of the Monarchy

The western world today is governed by a democratic model ofgovernment. Officials are periodically chosen by the people to ruleand govern. The underlying premise is that the elected will do theirbest to work for the benefit of their employers, i.e. the people. If thepeople are dissatisfied with their leader's .performance, they willchoose different leaders when the next election comes.While there arecertainly flaws to this system and alternative democratic models havebeen tried in various countries, the economic success and power ofcountries with democratically elected governments remainunparalleledby the non-democratic countries. Indeed, the freedom andstandard of living of citizens in democratic countries are far superiorto the terror andpovertyof those ruled by dictatorship.It would seem to emerge that monarchy is an inferior model ofgovernance. Kings are answerable to no one and often concentrate onimproving their own personal lot at the expense of that of the people.Furthermore, while a good king may serve his people and succeed inmeeting their needs, there is no guarantee that his successor willfollow in this path. Indeed, a brief glance at Israel's flirtation withmonarchy illustrates what a failure it actually was. One after another,Israel's rulers alternated between good and bad kings. This led first toa split in the kingdom, with Israel and Judah in constant rivalry, andfinally to the exile of both the Northern and Southern kingdoms. ThesecondTemple kings were even worse than this.Nevertheless, monarchy was probably the best model ofgovernance in the ancient world, as it provided its citizens withstability and authority. How so?

The Stability of the MonarchyIn English tradition, a ceremonial phrase is declared upon thedeath of a king:

"The King is dead. Long live the King."This sentence is the key to understanding why ancient and medievalsocieties needed their kings. The instability, in-fighting and chaos thataccompanies a powervacuum is disastrous for a nation. At best, it canusurp the country's economic resources while it strives to establishorder. At worst, it encourages their enemies to take advantage of thechaos and to act upon their hostile intentions.4 This does not occurwhen a king dies. There is no power vacuum; there is no instability.There is an immediate smooth transition of power to a new king,ready to maintain themechanism of government.Throughout the 350-year reign of the judges, Israel lackedstability and absolute authority. There never was an automaticsuccessor after the death of a judge, and Israel found itself plungedinto chaos., The elders of Israel believed that their only real recoursewas to establish a strong monarchy. However, despite all we havesaid, the author of Seier Shoftim, was unconvinced that Israel'sproblemswould be solvedwith the appointment of a strongking.Sefer Shoftim and theMonarchy

We have explained ancient Israel's security and economicproblems as resulting from the consistent lack of stability andauthority, which was in turn based on their localized system ofleadership. Nevertheless, that is not how Seier Shoftim views the causeof Israel's problems. Israel's problems, according to Seier Shoftim,were a direct result of their being unfaithful to God. Its successesresulted from their return to God.

4 This can also occur if it' is unclearwho is to succeed the king, as occurred after thedeath of Shaul and Gidon and almost occurred after David's.death.


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The children of Israel again did that which was evil inthe sight of the Lord; and the Lord strengthened Eglonthe king ofMoab against Israel. ..Butwhen the childrenof Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them up asaviour. Shoftim 3:12-15

Seier Shoftim is not trying to teach the history of ancient Israel atthe time of the Judges. Indeed, i t only focuses on a few short years,remaining silent on large chunks of history:

The land had rest forty years (Shoftim 3: 11) The landhadrest for eightyyears (3:30) The land had rest forty years (5:31) The landhadrest forty years (8:28)

Seier Shoftim does not tell us a word about what happened dur ingthose long periods of tranquility. The only knowledge we have fromthose restful days, is the story of Ruth. Indeed the agricultural life ofancient Israel appears peaceful and satisfying. When reading Megi//atRuth, we do not feel the horrors and fears of Seier Shoftim, eventhough they focus on the same era. Through a close reading of SeierShoftim, the years of quiet and peace overwhelmingly exceeded theyears of war and sorrow. Therefore, the institution of the Shoftimcould not have been as negative as initially appears. Indeed, it seemsthat the judgeswere very successful.Seier Shoftim does not concentrate on those years because itsauthor is not interested in teaching the history of the period. He israther attempting to convey a theological message: be faithful to God.As history demonstrates, when Israel was faithful to God it achievedsecurity and economic success; when it was unfaithful to God, i tsuffered occupation and poverty. Moreover, appointing a king will notsolve these problems. Indeed, the monarchy is i rrelevant to these

problems. Fidelity to God, as opposed to the system of government, isthe only issue of significance.The Monarchy in SeIerShoftimIndeed there is one case in Seier Shoftim where Israel toys with theestablishment ofa monarchy: -

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Then the men of Israel said to Gidon: 'Rule over us,. bo th you, you r son, and your son's son also; for youhave saved us from the hand ofMidian. Gidon said tothem: 'I will not rule over you, neither shall my son ruleover you; the Lord shall rule overyou.'Shoftim 8:22-23Even though Gidon flat ly rejects the monarchy, he takes onmany of it s characterist ics. He marries multiple wives (8:30), hebuilds a religious center in his hometown and cements his sons as

leaders, even calling one of them: "Avimelech" - "My father is king".And while he denies that he is a king, others, including his enemies,see him as such. When Gidon asks Zevach and Zalmunah, Midianiteprinces, of the fate of the men (i.e. his brothers) from a previous battleat Mount Tavor "They answered: 'As you are, so were they; like onewith the vestiges of royalty" (8:18).

Like a king, Gidon's children inherit the leadership, resultingin a bitter fight over the right of succession, with Avimelech executinghis seventy brothers. His rule continues to be brutal. Seier Shoftim,notably, does not give him the title of "judge" but instead, uses a royaltitle: "Avimelech was prince over Israel three years" (9:22), stressingonce again its anti-monarchy ideology and claiming that the monarchywould lead to an ugly dictatorship.


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196 HaMe/ucha VeHaMemsha/a Monarchy - Mach/oket Nevi'im 197Seier Shoftim can thus be viewed as taking an anti-monarchystance. It would then be consistent wi th the opinion that Shmuelhimself authored Seier Sholtim.5 as he too. appears to adopt such astance.

SeierShoftim - The AppendixNevertheless. the final five chapters of Seier Shoftim paint a differentstory. These chapters deal with two horrific episodes that took placeearly on in the era of the judges. The previous sixteen chapters ofSeier Shoftim follow a cycle of sin. oppression. repentance andsalvation. Indeed. the verse declares in chapter 2:11-19 that all theepisodes will follow this structure.Yet these two episodes of Pese/ Micha and the Pi/egeshB'Givah do not fit in with this model. Furthermore. no judge appearsin these episodes and the theological question of loyalty and disloyaltyto God does not feature prominently in the story. The episodes clearlyoccurred during the era of the Shoftim. but do not fit in with thegeneral style of Seier Shoftim. Furthermore. they are proudly promonarchy. It appears then. that rather than making these five chaptersinto a separate book in its own right. they were added to Seier Shoftimas an appendix. or as a counter:'argument to the anti-monarchyposition presented throughout the book.Early on in chapter 17. immediately after the evil is identified.and again in the very last words of Seier Shoftim, we find a crucialrefrain:

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SBaba Batra 14b.

A variation of this sentence appears twice more in these chapters. Theauthor is clearly making a statement. He is saying: howwas it possiblefor Israel to establish an idolatrous cult in Dan and how was itpossible for the Danites to so brazenly steal the idol from Micha. andhow could a Levite of noble ancestry act as priest for this obscenitysimply for money? The answer is very simple: there was no king.There was no authority. There was chaos. People worked only for thebenefit of their own self-interest.Furthermore. how was it possible for Israelites to want topublicly perform a homosexual rape on a visiting Israelite. and howcould they mercilessly rape his concubine until she was bereft of life.and how could the tribe of Binyamin defend the actions of that villageand how could Israel descend to civil war, nearly obliterating a fellowtribe? The answer is very simple: there was no king. There was noauthority. There was chaos. People worked only for the benef it oftheir own self-interest.These chapters set the stage for Seier Shmuel and act as aqefense for the establishment of the monarchy. The monarchy wouldbring authority and law and order and would end the chaos of the eraof the Judges.Seier Shoftim - The DebateIn conclusion. it appears that within Seier Shoftim there is a debate asto whether the mitzvah of establishing a king is obligatory or optional.The first part of Seier Shoftim sees the mitzvah as optional and ideallyto b avoided, while the second part sees i t as a crucial societalobligation.The Attitude of SeierShmuelShmuel reacts negatively when the elders approach him to establishthe monarchy:

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Monarchy Machloket Nevi'Im by Moshe Abelesz