Make Me Your King
Now, what happens when a nation knows that Hashem is the King? So He is the King! He acts like a King; He takes care of his subjects. That’s a klal gadol, an important principle – the more you make Him your King, the more He will be your King.
That’s what it means when it says in Mesechta Rosh Hashanah (16a), אִמְרוּ לְפָנַי מַלְכִיּוֹת – Say before Me on Rosh Hashanah, malchiyos; proclaim Me your King, כְּדֵי שֶׁתַּמְלִיכוּנִי עֲלֵיכֶם – in order that you should make Me a King over you.
It means a reward. ‘Say before Me pessukim of malchiyos, statements in which you declare Me to be your King, and I’ll be your King. I’ll take over and show you that I’m your King. You’ll feel that it’s so.
It’s a principle not only for Rosh Hashanah – all the time; on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon remind yourself, ה' מֶלֶךְ ה' מָלָךְ ה' יִמְלֹךְ לְעֹלָם וָעֶד. Say the words out loud: “Hashem is King! Hashem always was King! And He’ll be my King forever and ever!” You accomplished something big right now. כְּדֵי שֶׁתַּמְלִיכוּנִי עֲלֵיכֶם – He’ll become your King now.
Ideals and Rewards
It’s one of the big principles by which Hakadosh Baruch Hu conducts the affairs of men; that’s how this world is managed – the more you trust in Hashem, the more your trust is requited. That’s what the Navi Yirmiyah says. בָּרוּךְ הַגֶּבֶר אֲשֶׁר יִבְטַח בַּה' וְהָיָה ה' מִבְטַחוֹ – “Fortunate is the one who trusts in Hashem and Hashem becomes his trust” (17:7).
Because the possuk has a reisha and a seifa, two parts, and each part is telling us something. The beginning states, ‘Fortunate is the one who trusts in Hashem.’ He’ll be more happy, more content. Absolutely, he’s fortunate.
But that’s not all. Because what is his reward going to be? וְהָיָה ה' מִבְטַחוֹ – Hashem turns out to be his trust. Which means that the more one has faith, a confidence, that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is conducting His affairs, the more it actually turns out so!
And that’s why the earlier generations, before they said אָשִׂימָה עָלַי מֶלֶךְ and asked for a human king, they lived b’derech pele; they lived in ways that were beyond natural.
An Exceptional Era
You remember when the Bnei Yisroel thought they were finally free from Pharaoh's oppression and then they saw Mitzrayim chasing them? So Moshe Rabbeinu told the people ה' יִלָּחֵם לָכֶם – Hashem is going to fight for you. That’s how he encouraged them.
So we make a mistake and we think that it was a one time event at Kriyas Yam Suf. “Look now at what Hashem does to the Mitzrim in the sea.” Oh no; it was only the beginning. Moshe Rabbeinu was saying, “Today we’re going to proclaim Hashem our King” – at the Yam Suf, that’s when they all together cried out ‘Hashem yimloch l’olam va’ed’ – “and therefore from now on, Hashem your King, יִלָּחֵם לָכֶם – He’s going to wage all your battles for you.” If you make Him your King, He’s going to be your אִישׁ מִלְחָמָה, your Man of War. He’s going to be your General, and your Captain and your Lieutenant.
And that’s how it was from the time of Moshe and Aharon down through the time of Shmuel. It was an era when Hashem answered whenever He was called upon. If you study all the incidents of the Tanach, from that moment of Kriyas Yam Suf up until the days of Shmuel Hanavi, you will see that their battles were won b’derech pele. It was a mysteriously wonderful way that they overcame their enemies: קֹרִאים אֶל ה' – They cried out to Hashem, וְהוּא יַעֲנֵם – and He answered them.
Feeling His Presence
Now, you have to understand that it wasn’t for nothing that Hashem fought their battles. It means these generations from Moshe and Aharon through the days of Shmuel were a special kind of people. And in what way were they special? The answer is that קֹרִאים אֶל ה' – they called out only to Hashem because they all recognized that Hashem Melech! And that’s why, in their battles, וְהוּא יַעֲנֵם – Hashem fought for them.
“If you know that I’m your King,” said Hashem, “then I’ll be your King!”
That’s why when the Plishtim came to attack, what did the Bnei Yisroel do? You remember, they didn’t even have any metal weapons and now suddenly they’re confronted by a sakanah. So the people said to Shmuel, “Cry out to Hashem for us! He should rescue us from the Plishtim!”
Fighting With Miracles
What did Shmuel do? He took and offered up a korban olah. That’s all he did, a korban olah; a korban olah is a prayer. And then he cried out to Hashem, “Please Hashem help Your people.” And Hashem answered him.
How did He answer? As the Plishtim approached to make milchamah, all of a sudden great blasts of thunder came from the sky and the Plishtim were frightened to the roots of their hearts. The roots of their hearts! A tremendous thunder! And a great confusion fell upon the Plishtim!
Now the Bnei Yisroel were not prepared for physical battle. They did nothing – they were only spectators and they saw all of a sudden that the Plishtim were muddling around in confusion. When they saw that, they gathered courage and picked up sticks and stones and clubs and ran after them and they began killing the Plishtim. And they pursued them for a long distance and killed them as they were running away.
That’s how they lived during those hundreds of years when there was ein melech b’Yisroel, when there was no king in Yisroel except for Hashem. The Am Yisroel did battle by turning to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It was the great era of ה' יִלָּחֵם לָכֶם – Hashem will fight for you. The job of the Am Yisroel was only to demonstrate that they were aware of Hashem Melech, that He’s our King.
But after very many years, that great era came to an end. When Shmuel was already advancing in age an undercurrent of fear began to set in among some of the people. “Shmuel Hanavi is getting old. What's going to happen when he passes away?”
Modern Attitudes Seep In
And the Torah nation remembered the mitzvah in our parsha, ‘And if you will say, ‘Let us put a king over us,’ then שִׂים תָּ – a king you shall appoint.’ And so, they approached Shmuel Hanavi and said נָשִׂימָה לָנוּ מֶלֶךְ – “Please give us a king” (Shmuel I 8:5).
Now, was Shmuel satisfied with the request of the people? After all, it’s a mitzvah – שִׂים תָּ. Not at all; he was outraged! וַיֵּרַע הַדָּבָר בְּעֵינֵי שְׁמוּאֵל – It was wicked in the eyes of Shmuel. “What's this?!” he said. “What do you mean ‘Give us a king!’ You’re rejecting Hashem! Hashem is your King!”
Shmuel was talking the language of the ancient people, the nation who understood that there was a King sitting on the Throne guiding their affairs. But the styles had begun to change now. Some of that awareness of Hashem Melech had begun to dissipate and the people had begun to descend from their old greatness.
A New Era Dawns
Now don’t make any mistake about it; they still said Hashem Melech. But at that time, a tremendous change set in; the era of ה' יִלָּחֵם לָכֶם came to an end. No more would Hashem fight on our behalf like He did in those days. “You want a king?” says Hashem. “So let him fight for you!”
And now, once they asked for it, it became a mitzvah. Because when your old-time trust in Hakadosh Baruch Hu is not as vibrant as it used to be and you begin to think k’chol hagoyim, like all the gentiles, it’s a big change. You want now to live a more natural life? So live naturally, with a natural king. When you sink to that level, v’amarta, and you'll say, “I need a king,”; now it’s a mitzvah.
Once you already have put your head into the halter, you have to keep on pulling away. Once you open your mouth and you make yourself a victim who is subject to naturalism then you have to live naturally. It’s not a sin; it's a tragedy.
Living Off Of Nothing
It's like a kollel man. A kollel man gets married and he lives off the air. He and his wife are idealists; he has to study Torah and she realizes it, and so they live off of nothing. Even nothing costs something but it comes from somewhere. As long as they're very strong in the quality of bitachon, it keeps on coming.
And the tzaddikim lived that way all their lives. Rav Simcha Zissel zichrono livracha, for example. It was erev yomtov and they hadn't shopped at all. There was no money in the house. He had a family. The wife was also very pious, but she was looking at him. And he was looking at Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He was walking back and forth in the house and humming a niggun. I'm sure the words were something like this: Ashrei adam oz lo bach – Happy is the man whose strength is in You. He was walking back and forth and humming those words. If his wife was humming, I don't know – that’s not mentioned in the story – but I'm sure that she had confidence too. And then all of a sudden, a letter comes from America just before yomtov with a big banknote and it was enough to cover everything.
Forced Out of Kollel
But let’s imagine now this kollel man. After a while, his uncles and his aunts have dinned into his ears – and his wife's ears especially – they’ve preached to him for so long, “Ad masai? How long can you keep on with this business already?” And so after a while, he's influenced and he's no longer what he used to be. He begins to think k’chol hagoyim, like all of his aunts and uncles. And then finally the day comes when he has to walk out of the kollel and look for a job.
He must look for a job now because there's nothing to rely on. He has no bitachon anymore so hurry up and get a job! Now that he has descended from that madreigah, so Hashem is not his Melech in the same degree as before. And so he has to leave the kollel; now it's a mitzvah to work.
What does that mean? It means that as long as a man achieves a high madreigah of trust, or genuine bitachon, then Hakadosh Baruch Hu requites his trust. Now, how exactly it’ll happen I can’t tell you – I’m not Him. But Hashem has His ways of managing the world and managing your life. That’s what it means ‘Melech’ - He’s the Manager – and so you can be sure that He’ll requite your trust one way or another. As long as you make Him your King – it means that you’re not relying on the kollel check or the gevir who supports the kollel – then He’ll make Himself a King over you.
