Motives Matter: Choosing Leaders Well

Shof'tim, Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9

D'Var Torah By: Rabbi Sari Laufer

Parashat Shof'tim deals with both the challenges and opportunities of leadership. Like much of Deuteronomy, the text imagines a world the Israelites do not yet inhabit; one where they are sovereign, settled, and agrarian. Different from both the slavery of Egypt and the uncertainty of the desert, it is a world for which they need to prepare. Here, Moses is setting the groundwork, offering different models of leadership and setting expectations for rules of war. In the midst of these scenarios, Moses offers the following possibility:

​​"If, after you have entered the land that the Eternal your God has assigned to you, and taken possession of it and settled in it, you decide, 'I will set a king over me, as do all the nations about me,' you shall be free to set a king over yourself, one chosen by the Eternal your God. Be sure to set as king over yourself one of your own people; you must not set a foreigner over you, one who is not your kin. Moreover, he shall not keep many horses or send people back to Egypt to add to his horses, since the Eternal has warned you, 'You must not go back that way again.' And he shall not have many wives, lest his heart go astray; nor shall he amass silver and gold to excess." (Deuteronomy 17:14-17)

Now, taken on its own, this passage-especially in its historical context-- seems like reasonable advice. Find a king who cares about the people and provides sound leadership, one who is not interested in leading only for their own personal gain. But an intertextual reading suggests that this passage serves as a Chekhov's gun, foreshadowing the fall of the Northern Kingdom and destruction of the First Temple.

Attributed to Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, "Chekhov's gun" is a narrative principle which suggests that if the audience's attention is drawn to something-an object, a character, a backstory, etc.-that element should be somehow necessary to the overall story.

So, back to the king.

In I Samuel, we enter a world in which Samuel--a judge, prophet, and priest--is the Israelite leader. This is the model set forth in Judges, and it seems to be working well enough. That is, until the elders tell Samuel: "You have grown old, and your sons have not followed your ways. Therefore, appoint a king for us to govern us like all other nations" (I Samuel 8:6).

Despite the words of Deuteronomy, which Samuel would certainly have known, he is not pleased with this request. God calms him down, reassures him that the Israelites are rejecting God's leadership (not Samuel's), and tells him to fulfill their request.

While sages and commentators over the centuries have debated whether appointing a king is a positive commandment or an acceptable option, I am far more fascinated by the refrain of "so we can be like everyone else."

Because....we are not meant to be like everyone else. Whether you understand "chosen-ness" as an exclusive or inclusive condition, our sacred texts, starting with Torah itself, make it clear that Israel is not meant to be just like all the other nations. The rabbis of the Talmud wrestled with this contradiction, imagining in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 20b) that there were two different conversations; different sectors of the community wanted different things:

"It is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: The elders of Samuel's generation asked appropriately, as it is stated: 'Give us a king to judge us' (I Samuel 8:6), since they wanted a steady leader in place of Samuel."

In this reading, the elders of the community simply wanted a stable ruler--a king, a judge, anyone who would be an appropriate replacement for Samuel. But the populace wanted to be like everyone else.

"But the ignoramuses among them ruined it, as it is stated: 'But the people refused to heed the voice of Samuel; and they said: No, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and emerge before us, and fight our battles'" (I Samuel 8:19-20).

For the rabbis, it is clear which is the correct choice; "ignoramus" is not a neutral term! 

Today, we live in a world beyond that which our Biblical ancestors could have imagined. We have sovereignty in our own land and are subject to foreign powers at the same time. While every one of us has a role in choosing our leaders, our text is there to remind us that we are still set apart.

From the Book of Exodus, which declares Israel "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation," (Exodus 19:6) to Isaiah declaring Israel "a light unto the nations" (Isaiah 42:6), the Tanakh is exceedingly clear that Israel -- in its rules, behaviors, theology, and leadership -- is not supposed to be like all of the other nations. That is our blessing, our curse, and our mission.

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