them as straw men on whom we project all
our hopes, ideals, fears and prejudices?
BEWARE OF LEADERS
“Watch out now, take care / Beware of
greedy leaders / They’ll take you where you
should not go...” This may be a quote from
George Harrison’s “Beware of Darkness”,
but the quiet Beatle seems to be very much
on the same page as at least (l’havdil) some
of our greatest Sages. Much of the Tanach
is dedicated to exploring the lives and
times of dozens upon dozens of Jewish and
non-Jewish leaders and kings, but there’s
undoubtedly also a sense throughout all aspects of Jewish thought that those who
seek power should be approached with
great caution, as we are warned in the wellknown Ethics of the Fathers (Avot 2:3) by
Rabban Gamliel: “Be wary of those in authority, for they don’t let a man approach
them but for their own purposes...”
Aside for obvious paragons of virtue like
Abraham, Moses and King David, the Tanach – and the books of the Prophets, in particular – is strewn with the bloody, nasty,
and gruesome antics of various kings and
leaders. And even when dealing with a Moses or a King David, the Tanach goes to great
lengths to point out their failings, ensuring
that even our holiest of leaders are portrayed as less than perfect human beings.
What’s clear from all of this is that
stretching right back to the beginning, the
power of leadership has always been understood as something precarious, just as likely to create the worst people in human history, as it is the very best. And, frankly, any
study of history reveals that the truly awful
far, far outnumber even just the mostly
good, let alone the truly great.
Former Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan
Sacks explains in an article that he wrote
THERE’S UNDOUBTEDLY ALSO A SENSE
THROUGHOUT ALL ASPECTS OF JEWISH THOUGHT THAT
THOSE WHO SEEK POWER SHOULD BE APPROACHED
WITH GREAT CAUTION.
on the qualities of leadership as outlined
in the Torah portion of Shoftim: “ ...This
[the commandment to appoint a King
over the Jewish people] is the only command in the Torah to carry with it the explanation that this is what other people
do: ‘When you enter the land the Lord
your G-d is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say,
“Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us …”’ (Deut. 17: 14). Normally, in the Torah, the Israelites are commanded to be different. The fact that this
command is an exception was enough to
signal to commentators throughout the
ages that there is a certain ambivalence
about the idea of monarchy altogether.”
Rabbi Sacks further comments on just
how divisive the question of monarchy is
among our Sages: “Maimonides holds that
the appointment of a king is an obligation,
Ibn Ezra that it is a permission, Abarbanel
that it is a concession, and Rabbenu Bachya
that it is a punishment.” There’s obviously a
rather large chasm between a positive “obligation” and a “punishment”, but perhaps
this is just indicative of the world of difference that exists between experiencing the
best and worst leaders.
It’s probably not for nothing then that
when dealing with kings, the Torah primarily deals with things that kings are not allowed to do – eg, have too much wealth,
too many wives, and too many horses –
things that are specifically meant to prevent their power from corrupting them. In-
IT’S PROBABLY NOT FOR NOTHING THEN THAT WHEN
DEALING WITH KINGS, THE TORAH PRIMARILY DEALS
WITH THINGS THAT KINGS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DO
– EG, HAVE TOO MUCH WEALTH, TOO MANY WIVES, AND
TOO MANY HORSES.
42 JEWISH LIFE QISSUE 87
deed, Rabbi Sacks points out that literally
the only positive commandment the Torah
gives at that point to all future kings is for
these kings to be continuously busy with
learning and growing in wisdom – going so
far as to write their own copy of the Torah
and to carry it with them at all times.
FROM KINGS TO CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACIES
It may have taken the world some time to
move from a system of all-powerful kings
to the constitutional democracies that are
the norm worldwide today, where, other
than places like Iran (and even there,
there’s at least the illusion of democracy),
the idea of serving a supreme ruler is
more alien to us than litt HܙY[