Reflections on Parashat Shoftim

Israel is heading toward another election. In the coming weeks and months, we will hear many arguments about security, the economy, education, the courts and the future of the country.

All of these questions are important. But Parashat Shoftim invites us to ask a deeper question: What are we really electing for? The parashah commands us regarding the appointment of a king:

“שׂוֹם תָּשִׂים עָלֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ” — “You shall surely set a king over yourself.”

Yet this raises a well-known question. When the Jewish people came to the prophet Shmuel and asked, “שִׂימָה לָּנוּ מֶלֶךְ לְשָׁפְטֵנוּ” — “Appoint for us a king to judge us,” Shmuel was displeased.

But what was wrong with their request? The Torah itself speaks about appointing a king. The K’tav Sofer, Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Sofer, explains that the problem was not the desire for a king itself, but the reason given for the request. The people said:

“וְהָיִינוּ גַם אֲנַחְנוּ כְּכָל הַגּוֹיִם” — “So that we too may be like all the nations.”

That was the problem. There is nothing wrong with learning from the world around us. We can adopt useful ideas, benefit from new developments and make good use of the wisdom and technology that the world has produced. But there is a great difference between learning from others and wanting to become like them.

The Jewish people were never meant to be a copy of another nation. We have our own history, our own values, our own mission and our own way of life. And Jewish history itself gives us a powerful reminder of why this matters. For thousands of years, Jews have faced the same basic question: How can a small people survive among the nations?

Again and again, there were Jews who believed that the answer was to become more like the societies around them — to adopt their culture, their values and their way of life. The temptation is understandable. If we become like everyone else, perhaps we will be accepted like everyone else. But........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)