Deut. 16:18-21:9
Précis: The parasha Shoftim (literally, “judges”) is devoted primarily to various themes of justice, and includes warnings against false testimony, idol worship, and the dangers posed by mortal kings. The parasha also warns the people against false prophets, magicians, soothsayers and witches. It establishes requirements for cities of refuge in the Promised Land. In short, the parasha is devoted to ways to create a just society in the Land of Israel.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (z’l) has written about the kinds of leadership found in this parasha (Covenant and Conversation, 8/11/21) These are the “three crowns” of Judaism: the priesthood, the kingship and Torah. He notes that this informed the American Founders of the need to separate powers, an issue which we continue to argue about. In biblical times, leadership was distributed among the king, the priests, and the prophets. Each had a specific role to play in societal governance. Kings were secular rulers, the Priests were the religious leaders, and the prophets were there to remind the other leaders (and the people) of the correct path ahead. Prophets were mandated by God to be critical of the corruptions of power and to remind the people of their religious vocation whenever they drifted from it.
The text tells us that God is permitting a king for the Israelites so that they can be like other nations. This is unusual, because the Israelites are usually commanded to be different. This leads to a rabbinical suspicion of a monarchy altogether. The text also reminds what the king cannot do, rather than what he is permitted to do. The king is instructed to keep a scroll of the law next to him. Finally, the king is commanded to be humble. These statements indicate with certainty that the king is not above the law.
Sacks concludes that “To be a Jewish leader means spending time to study both Torah and chochmah (wisdom): chochmah to understand the world as it is, Torah to understand the world as it ought to be. Leaders should never stop learning. That is how they grow and teach others to grow with them.”
