Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy.
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“Lest his heart become haughty from his brothers, and lest he veer from the commandments right or left...” (Devarim 17:20)
A Jewish King was not intended to be like the monarchs of any other nation. Far from considering themselves godlike, as did Pharaoh, or even more privileged, the Jewish King was not above the law. In fact, in order to keep him in check, he had guidelines that no other kings had.
A Jewish king was limited in how many women he could marry, how many horses he could acquire, and how much wealth he could amass. He also had to have two special Torahs written for himself, one of which had to accompany him always. The Torah sums up the restrictions by informing us that they are intended to prevent him from becoming haughty over his bretheren, so he might lead a long, successful career as monarch, and that if they were worthy, his children could ascend the throne after him.
Some commentaries say it was specifically the prohibition of amassing undue wealth which would lead to his feeling superior to his brethren. If that is the case, why interpolate the verses about writing the Sefer Torah from which he was to learn?
The Ramban suggests that if the king was warned not to become haughty, certainly commoners must avoid this. Others, though, say that we know any sort of arrogance is an abomination to Hashem, and we don’t need to learn it from here. What then is the message of the Jewish king being warned not to lord over his brethren?
It would seem that, indeed, having money can cause one to see himself as better than others. This is a severe mistake, since money is given to people by Hashem to achieve certain things with it. They are not wealthy because of anything they did, as the Navi tells us, (Yirmiyahu 9:22) “...let not the rich glory in his riches.” Why then does the Torah speak of the Sefer Torah the king must have?
As the navi continues, (Yirmiyahu 9:23), “Only in this can one take glory, in being focused and working to know Me, for I do kindness, justice, and charity in the world, for this is what I desire, says Hashem.” If one learns Torah properly, he will understand that money is not a reason to feel he is better than anyone else. On the contrary, it obligates him to care for them and see them as important, and to be kind and guide them in serving Hashem.
While a king may be “arrogant” to a non-Jew, this is only insofar as to remind himself that he is held to a higher standard. To his fellow Jews, though, he is a servant of Hashem just as they are, and he has a role to play, as do they. Therefore, to be haughty and feel superior to his brothers is to miss the point of why he was chosen as king. That message applies to all of us, who must rule over ourselves and remember why we’re here.
R’ Isser Zalman Meltzer z”l, the great Rosh Yeshiva and sage, was on his way to deliver a lecture in Yeshiva when he was stopped by a beggar asking for alms. R’ Isser Zalman gave him a generous amount but the fellow complained that it wasn’t enough.
The rabbi gave him more, but the man still had the audacity to ask for more. Once again, R’ Isser Zalman gave him another coin. The student walking with R’ Isser Zalman was aghast at how the beggar treated the great man, and stunned at the sage’s response.
“Why are you shocked?” asked R’ Isser Zalman. “Do you think I’m better than him because I’ve learned a lot of Torah and I give shiurim? The circumstances of life have led me to be a Rosh Yeshiva and him to be a beggar. I do not feel superior to him so I felt obligated to grant his request, regardless of how he made it.”
©2025 – J. Gewirtz
