 | In a few short weeks, Jews worldwide will gather to proclaim Avinu Malkeinu – Our Parent, Our Sovereign. The Jewish notion of a "sovereign," whether divine (God) or mortal (king or queen), hails from this week's Torah portion that is laser-focused on the interplay of justice and humility. Because too often the two don't go together. |
By Rabbi David Evan Markus
Shoftim 5784 (2024)
Click here for last year's Dvar Torah on this portion, "Chasing Justice Outside and In"
Each year when we reach this week's Torah portion, two reactions touch my core. First comes a deep sense that this portion speaks to me personally because it's about judges, judging and justice – my secular commitment and profession. This portion gifts us our timeless call, צֶ֥דֶק צֶ֖דֶק תִּרְדֹּ֑ף / tzedek tzedek tirdof – "Justice, justice you must pursue" (Deut. 16:20).
My second annual reaction to this Torah portion follows quickly on the heels of the first: Rosh Hashanah is coming, so I'd better hop to! The sacred month of Elul begins: the time of shofar blasts and teshuvah has arrived. Soon folks worldwide will gather to celebrate, pray, yearn, hope, confess, promise, grieve, soar and sink and soar again on the wings of timeless words and tunes made new again. Together we'll invoke a God whom we'll call Malkeinu – our Sovereign. The meaning of those words may vary among us, yet they are core to the High Holy Days worldwide: Avinu Malkeinu – Our Parent, Our Sovereign!
This year, both reactions hit home for me because of what's at stake this year.
Alongside my personal soul-searching and rabbinic preparations, I've been glued to Mideast news more than at any time in my adult life. What will these waning days of 5784 bring to the Mideast – peace, war or vexingly neither? What is the future of the State of Israel and her neighbors, friend and foe alike? What is the future of Zionism and antisemitism, and their impacts on us individually and collectively?
These questions weigh on me during these precious final weeks of 5784 – and I suspect they weigh on you, too. Nowadays I spend a lot of time with Avinu Malkeinu on my heart, on my mind, on my lips.
Meanwhile, on the justice side of this week's Torah portion, our nation stands at a crossroads. A pivotal election is just two months away. So much about our national and planetary future hangs in the balance, and much could depend on what judges do. What is the future of our constitutional democracy? pluralism? rights and responsibilities? the rule of law? our nation's civic space and our values as a country?
These questions also weigh on me – and I suspect they weigh on you, too. Whatever one's politics (or none at all), now's the time to get involved and make our voices heard.
These two sets of influences – justice and teshuvah on the one hand, national and global leadership on the other – weave together in a third part critical of this week's Torah portion. Torah records Moses to tell the people that someday their descendants will want a king – a secular Malkeinu – to rule over them. What Torah instructs about this king speaks volumes about Jewish values in leadership (Deut. 17:14-19):
Shoftim 5784 (2024)
Click here for last year's Dvar Torah on this portion, "Chasing Justice Outside and In"
Each year when we reach this week's Torah portion, two reactions touch my core. First comes a deep sense that this portion speaks to me personally because it's about judges, judging and justice – my secular commitment and profession. This portion gifts us our timeless call, צֶ֥דֶק צֶ֖דֶק תִּרְדֹּ֑ף / tzedek tzedek tirdof – "Justice, justice you must pursue" (Deut. 16:20).
My second annual reaction to this Torah portion follows quickly on the heels of the first: Rosh Hashanah is coming, so I'd better hop to! The sacred month of Elul begins: the time of shofar blasts and teshuvah has arrived. Soon folks worldwide will gather to celebrate, pray, yearn, hope, confess, promise, grieve, soar and sink and soar again on the wings of timeless words and tunes made new again. Together we'll invoke a God whom we'll call Malkeinu – our Sovereign. The meaning of those words may vary among us, yet they are core to the High Holy Days worldwide: Avinu Malkeinu – Our Parent, Our Sovereign!
This year, both reactions hit home for me because of what's at stake this year.
Alongside my personal soul-searching and rabbinic preparations, I've been glued to Mideast news more than at any time in my adult life. What will these waning days of 5784 bring to the Mideast – peace, war or vexingly neither? What is the future of the State of Israel and her neighbors, friend and foe alike? What is the future of Zionism and antisemitism, and their impacts on us individually and collectively?
These questions weigh on me during these precious final weeks of 5784 – and I suspect they weigh on you, too. Nowadays I spend a lot of time with Avinu Malkeinu on my heart, on my mind, on my lips.
Meanwhile, on the justice side of this week's Torah portion, our nation stands at a crossroads. A pivotal election is just two months away. So much about our national and planetary future hangs in the balance, and much could depend on what judges do. What is the future of our constitutional democracy? pluralism? rights and responsibilities? the rule of law? our nation's civic space and our values as a country?
These questions also weigh on me – and I suspect they weigh on you, too. Whatever one's politics (or none at all), now's the time to get involved and make our voices heard.
These two sets of influences – justice and teshuvah on the one hand, national and global leadership on the other – weave together in a third part critical of this week's Torah portion. Torah records Moses to tell the people that someday their descendants will want a king – a secular Malkeinu – to rule over them. What Torah instructs about this king speaks volumes about Jewish values in leadership (Deut. 17:14-19):
| אָמַרְתָּ֗ אָשִׂ֤ימָה עָלַי֙ מֶ֔לֶךְ כְּכָל־הַגּוֹיִ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר סְבִיבֹתָֽי׃ שׂ֣וֹם תָּשִׂ֤ים עָלֶ֙יךָ֙ מֶ֔לֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִבְחַ֛ר יהו׳׳ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ בּ֑וֹ .... רַק֮ לֹא־יַרְבֶּה־לּ֣וֹ סוּסִים֒ וְלֹֽא־יָשִׁ֤יב אֶת־הָעָם֙ מִצְרַ֔יְמָה לְמַ֖עַן הַרְבּ֣וֹת ס֑וּס וַיהו׳׳ה֙ אָמַ֣ר לָכֶ֔ם לֹ֣א תֹסִפ֗וּן לָשׁ֛וּב בַּדֶּ֥רֶךְ הַזֶּ֖ה עֽוֹד׃ וְלֹ֤א יַרְבֶּה־לּוֹ֙ נָשִׁ֔ים וְלֹ֥א יָס֖וּר לְבָב֑וֹ וְכֶ֣סֶף וְזָהָ֔ב לֹ֥א יַרְבֶּה־לּ֖וֹ מְאֹֽד׃ וְהָיָ֣ה כְשִׁבְתּ֔וֹ עַ֖ל כִּסֵּ֣א מַמְלַכְתּ֑וֹ וְכָ֨תַב ל֜וֹ אֶת־מִשְׁנֵ֨ה הַתּוֹרָ֤ה הַזֹּאת֙ עַל־סֵ֔פֶר מִלִּפְנֵ֖י הַכֹּהֲנִ֥ים הַלְוִיִּֽם׃ וְהָיְתָ֣ה עִמּ֔וֹ וְקָ֥רָא ב֖וֹ כָּל־יְמֵ֣י חַיָּ֑יו לְמַ֣עַן יִלְמַ֗ד לְיִרְאָה֙ אֶת־יהו׳׳ה אֱלֹהָ֔יו לִ֠שְׁמֹ֠ר אֶֽת־כָּל־דִּבְרֵ֞י הַתּוֹרָ֥ה הַזֹּ֛את וְאֶת־הַחֻקִּ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה לַעֲשֹׂתָֽם׃ לְבִלְתִּ֤י רוּם־לְבָבוֹ֙ מֵֽאֶחָ֔יו וּלְבִלְתִּ֛י ס֥וּר מִן־הַמִּצְוָ֖ה יָמִ֣ין וּשְׂמֹ֑אול לְמַ֩עַן֩ יַאֲרִ֨יךְ יָמִ֧ים עַל־מַמְלַכְתּ֛וֹ ה֥וּא וּבָנָ֖יו בְּקֶ֥רֶב יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | When you say [as a nation], “I will set a king over me, as do all the nations about me,” you will be free to set a king over yourself chosen by YHVH your God.... But he must not keep many horses or send people back to Egypt to add to his horses, since YHVH warned you, “You must not go back that way again.” He must not have many wives lest his heart go astray; nor may he amass great silver and gold. While seated on his royal throne, he must have a copy of this Torah written for him on a scroll by the kohanim. Let it be with him to read all the days of his life, so he may learn to revere YHVH his God, to observe faithfully every word of this Torah and these laws. Thus he will not elevate his heart above others or depart from Torah to the right or left, so he and his successors may reign long amidst Israel. |
Jewishly speaking, secular leadership must not self-aggrandize or be too elevated in power, status or wealth. The leader must serve from core values set not by expediency or one's ego but by a scroll mandated as daily reading. The leader's heart must not be above the people, or apart from the people: leaders are to serve "amidst" them.
In Jewish history, our spiritual ancestors got this plenty wrong. The first king, Saul, went nuts. The second king, David, sent his love interest's husband to be killed in war so David could take her as his wife. David's son Solomon built the First Temple but did so by amassing great wealth and functionally enslaving the people. We've been wrestling the how-to ever since.
We learn that justice, teshuvah and leadership are inherently linked. Avinu Malkeinu teaches us to seek in our leaders the humility and humanity to be amidst us and serve from values, so that the fount of justice can flow as a true source of rightness and righteousness. Today perhaps the secular leader's "scroll" is the Bible, and perhaps the Constitution: both ask humility to set one's heart and mind to values sometimes inconvenient and demanding.
Avinu Malkeinu, teach us all this kind of servant leadership in all our ways – because justice, teshuvah, our nation and our world all need it.
In Jewish history, our spiritual ancestors got this plenty wrong. The first king, Saul, went nuts. The second king, David, sent his love interest's husband to be killed in war so David could take her as his wife. David's son Solomon built the First Temple but did so by amassing great wealth and functionally enslaving the people. We've been wrestling the how-to ever since.
We learn that justice, teshuvah and leadership are inherently linked. Avinu Malkeinu teaches us to seek in our leaders the humility and humanity to be amidst us and serve from values, so that the fount of justice can flow as a true source of rightness and righteousness. Today perhaps the secular leader's "scroll" is the Bible, and perhaps the Constitution: both ask humility to set one's heart and mind to values sometimes inconvenient and demanding.
Avinu Malkeinu, teach us all this kind of servant leadership in all our ways – because justice, teshuvah, our nation and our world all need it.
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