What is The Torah's Form of Government?

(14) When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein; and shalt say: ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me’; (15) thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose;

(4) Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah. (5) And they said unto him: ‘Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways; now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.’ (6) But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said: ‘Give us a king to judge us.’ And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. (7) And the LORD said unto Samuel: ‘Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not be king over them. (8) According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, in that they have forsaken Me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. (9) Now therefore hearken unto their voice; howbeit thou shalt earnestly forewarn them, and shalt declare unto them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.’ (10) And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. (11) And he said: ‘This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them unto him, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots. (12) And he will appoint them unto him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots. (13) And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. ... (18) And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king whom ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not answer you in that day.’ (19) But the people refused to hearken unto the voice of Samuel; and they said: ‘Nay; but there shall be a king over us; (20) that we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.’ (21) And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he spoke them in the ears of the LORD. (22) And the LORD said to Samuel: ‘Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king.’ And Samuel said unto the men of Israel: ‘Go ye every man unto his city.’

(13) And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. (14) And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them

. (18) And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for it repented the LORD because of their groaning by reason of them that oppressed them and crushed them. (19) But it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to worship them; they left nothing undone of their practices, nor of their stubborn way.

(22) Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon: ‘Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also; for thou hast saved us out of the hand of Midian.’ (23) And Gideon said unto them: ‘I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.’

(25) In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

(1) Three mitzvot were commanded to Israel at the hour of their entry into the land: to appoint for themselves a king, as it is said, "You shall surely appoint a king over you(Deuteronomy 17:15);" to wipe out the descendants of Amalek, as it is said, "Erase the memory of Amalek (Deuteronomy 25:19):" and to build the chosen house [Temple], as it is said, "Seek His Presence and go there(Deuteronomy 12:5)."

(2) Rabbi Chanina, the Deputy High Priest, said: Pray for the welfare of the government, For were it not for the fear of it, One person would eat the other alive. Rabbi Chanania ben Tradyon said: [When] two sit together and there are no words of Torah [spoken] between them, This is a session of scorners, As it is said (in Psalm 1:1): “[Happy is the man who has] not . . . sat in the seat of the scornful.” But [when] two sit together and there are words of Torah [spoken] between them, The Divine Presence rests with them, As it is said (in Malachi 3:16): “Then they who feared the Lord spoke one with another, and the Lord hearkened and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him, for them who feared the Lord and who thought upon His Name.” [The Mishnah asks:] I have no [Scriptural support for the proposition that the Divine Presence rests with them] except [with] two. From where [is there proof that] even [when there is only] one [person studying Torah], The Holy One, Blessed be He, determines a reward for him? As it is said (in Lamentations 3:28): “Though he sits alone and [meditates] in silence, yet he takes [a reward] to himself.”