Inauguration Day: How to Rule

“Word has reached the nations, and Geshem too says that you and the Jews are planning to rebel—for which reason you are building the wall—and that you are to be their king. Such is the word."

According to these three opinions of Cain, Abel and Seth, respectively, all mankind are divided into three classes. One class follow the opinion of Cain, and think that the most important human occupation is agriculture. They feel hostility toward political rulers and desire to kill them, as Cain killed Abel. A second class follow the opinion of Abel, thinking that politics is the most important pursuit, and risk their life for political activity like Abel, because they think that it leads to human perfection, as we are told concerning certain Roman rulers. So kings risk their lives for the sake of power, which is natural to them as it was to Abel, who was the first shepherd and ruler and lost his life on that account. The third class follow the opinion of Seth, thinking that the important thing is to worship God, and despise power and the other pleasures. As the opinion of Seth is not easily grasped at first sight, he was followed by only a few rare individuals. But the opinion of Cain was widely prevalent among his descendants, and hence the earth was filled with violence on their account, their belief being that man has no superiority over the animal, and might is right. Therefore they were corrupt and lived like animals. For this reason it was decreed that their name should be wiped out from the earth in the flood.

R. Yosi ben R. Hanina said: Rebuke leads to love, as it says, rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Such indeed is R. Yosi ben Hanina’s view, for he said: Love unaccompanied by rebuke is not love. Resh Lakish said: Rebuke leads to peace; hence, ‘And Abrhaman reproved Avimelech’. Such is his view, for he said: Peace unaccompanied by rebuke is not peace.

(8) If a case is too baffling for you to decide, be it a controversy over homicide, civil law, or assault—matters of dispute in your courts—you shall promptly repair to the place that the LORD your God will have chosen, (9) and appear before the levitical priests, or the magistrate in charge at the time, and present your problem. When they have announced to you the verdict in the case, (10) you shall carry out the verdict that is announced to you from that place that the LORD chose, observing scrupulously all their instructions to you. (11) You shall act in accordance with the instructions given you and the ruling handed down to you; you must not deviate from the verdict that they announce to you either to the right or to the left. (12) Should a man act presumptuously and disregard the priest charged with serving there the LORD your God, or the magistrate, that man shall die. Thus you will sweep out evil from Israel: (13) all the people will hear and be afraid and will not act presumptuously again.

(14) If, after you have entered the land that the LORD 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,” (15) you shall be free to set a king over yourself, one chosen by the LORD 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 kinsman. (16) Moreover, he shall not keep many horses or send people back to Egypt to add to his horses, since the LORD has warned you, “You must not go back that way again.” (17) And he shall not have many wives, lest his heart go astray; nor shall he amass silver and gold to excess. (18) When he is seated on his royal throne, he shall have a copy of this Teaching written for him on a scroll by the levitical priests. (19) Let it remain with him and let him read in it all his life, so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God, to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching as well as these laws. (20) Thus he will not act haughtily toward his fellows or deviate from the Instruction to the right or to the left, to the end that he and his descendants may reign long in the midst of Israel.

(1) Israel was enjoined with three Commandments upon entering the Land: to appoint a king, as it says, “you shall set a king over yourselves” (Deut. 17:15); to destroy the descendents of Amalek, as it says “erase the memory of Amalek” (Deut. 25:19); and build the Temple, as it says, “you shall seek His habitation, and there you will come” (Deut. 12:5).

(2) The appointment of the king comes before the war with Amalek, as it says, “G-d has sent me to anoint you king…Now, go and smite Amalek” (I Samuel 15:1-3). The eradication of Amalek precedes the construction of the Temple, as it says, “and it was so, when the king was settled in his home, and G-d allowed him respite from his enemies all around. And the king said to Nathan, the Prophet, ‘I am living in a house of cedar…’” (II Samuel 7:1-2). Now, since the appointment of a king is a Commandment, why did G-d not want (a king) when the people asked Samuel for one? Because their request was merely due to resentment, and not for the purpose of fulfilling a Commandment. They had rejected Samuel the Prophet, as it says, “as they have forsaken Me…so do they also with you” (I Samuel 8:7).

(3) At first, a king was not appointed other than by the Court of Seventy (Sanhedrin) and with consent of a Prophet. So was Joshua appointed by Moses our Teacher and his Court, and Saul and David by Samuel the Ramathite and his Court.

(4) A convert may not be appointed king, even after many generations, until one has a Jewish mother, as it says, “You cannot place over yourselves a foreign man, one who is not your brother” (Deut. 17:15). This rule is also applicable for any governing Position, and includes a commander in the Army and any officer in the Army¹Lit., officers of the fifties or tens., or even the one who is merely responsible for the reservoir which irrigates the fields. It goes without saying that a convert cannot be appointed Judge or President. All these Positions must be filled by (born) Jews, as it says, “place upon yourselves a king from those who are close to you” (ibid.). All official, governing Positions must be filled with those from among our brethren.

(5) A woman may not be appointed queen, as it says, “upon yourselves a king” (Deut. 17:15) - a “king” and not a “queen”. A woman may not be appointed to any Position²Lit., mission. in Israel. Only may a man.

(6) A butcher³Or, blood-letter., barber, bath-attendant or tanner may not be chosen either as a king or as a Kohen Godol (High Priest). Not because they are disqualified, but because these professions are degrading they are always viewed trivially in the eyes of the people. Even if he worked at one of these vocations for but one day, he is disqualified (from becoming king).

§ Rabbi Yoḥanan says: They place on the Great Sanhedrin only men of high stature, and of wisdom, and of pleasant appearance, and of suitable age so that they will be respected. And they must also be masters of sorcery, i.e., they know the nature of sorcery, so that they can judge sorcerers, and they must know all seventy languages in order that the Sanhedrin will not need to hear testimony from the mouth of a translator in a case where a witness speaks a different language. Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: They place on the Sanhedrin only one who knows how to render a carcass of a creeping animal pure by Torah law. The judges on the Sanhedrin must be so skilled at logical reasoning that they could even produce a convincing argument that creeping animals, which the Torah states explicitly are ritually impure, are actually pure. Rav said: I will discuss the halakha of the creeping animal and render it pure, i.e., I am able to demonstrate how it is possible to construct such a proof.