It is incumbent upon us today to rectify the State of Israel following the path of King David. Even before we merit the actual revelation of the King Mashiach, we must strive to place the son of Yishai in the lead. This is an allusion to a passage from the Talmud that states that God said to Yerovam ben Nevat. Yerovam was a dissenter from the House of David, who was originally tasked by the prophet Achiyah with founding the Northern Kingdom of Israel that included 10 of the 12 tribes. However, to cement his sovereignty and sever the people’s dependence on the unifying Holy Temple in Jerusalem, Yerovam built centers of idolatrous worship in his territory. As a result, the sages describe the following interaction between God and Yerovam:
“Repent, and I, you, and the son of Yishai will stroll in the Garden of Eden.” He said to Him [Yerovam to God], “Who is at the head?” “The son of Yishai is at the head!” “If so,” he responded, “I do not want [it].”
Yerovam had good qualifications for leading the Northern Kingdom of Israel; he could be a successful administrator—but only on the condition that “the son of Yishai is at the head.” Today too, the rectification of the “State of the Jews” in the Land of Israel can only happen through a shift in mindset leading to the appointment of leadership (the head) with a rectified consciousness (head, thought, and worldview). By correcting the head, the entire people and the entire state are rectified, as the Talmud states, “the whole body follows the head.”
What is the path of “the son of Yishai”? What are the primary traits of the desired leader? He is filled with utter faith in God and in His Torah. As King David says, “I have chosen the way of faith; I have set Your judgments [before me]” (הָנּמוֱ אְךֶרֶּדיִּוִׁשָיךֶטָּפְׁשִימִּתְרָחָב). He “contemplates the Torah and performs its commandments” with all his heart and always prays for God’s salvation: “For I am prayer” (יִנֲאַוהָּלִפְת). He is full of trust in God alone: “I have placed my trust in Your kindness” (יִּתְחַטָ בָךְּדְסַחְי בִנֲאַו), and from all these he is filled with self-sacrifice for his people seeking to meet all their needs, physical and spiritual. He unifies and binds the entire nation together: “When there was a king in Yeshurun, when the heads of the people gathered, the tribes of Israel unified together” (ףֵּסַאְתִהְּ בְךֶלֶן מּרוֻׁישִי בִהְיַולֵאָרְׂשִי יֵטְבִׁד שַחַם יָי עֵׁאשָר), where the initials of the words “the tribes of Israel unified together” spell “Yishai” (יַׁשִי). He is the king referred to as “one of the people” (םָעָד הַחַא) who makes the people one. Of course, he is not immune to mistakes, but he is a master of teshuvah and knows how to confess his sin and repent by openly stating “I have sinned before God” (הַי לִאתָטָח') as dictated by the Torah’s description of the expected conduct “When a king sins” (רֶׁשֲאאָטֱחֶיא יִׂשָנ). Happy is the generation whose leader confesses his sins and repents, with humility and lowliness that finds favor in the eyes of all: “And I will be lowly in my own eyes” (יַינֵעְּל בָפָׁי שִיתִיָהְו).
The rectification of the State cannot be achieved only through changes in the systems of government; it must start
