The Difference Between Jewish and Gentile Kings
When we discuss the idea of Malchus, there is a great difference between Jewish kings and their goyishe counterparts. One of the fundamental differences is as follows:
Ask any person whether a king is generally more connected to the attribute of haughtiness or to humility, and he will tell you that a king is the epitome of ga’avah. After all, a king is a king! Nothing can stop him! He rules the entire land, and everyone must adhere to his wishes.
At the same time, David HaMelech, the great king of the Jewish People proclaimed, עם ובזוי אדם חרפת ,איש ולא תולעת ואנכי, But I am a worm and not a man, scorn of humanity despised of people (Tehillim 22:7). David HaMelech is using some of the greatest expressions of modesty and humility! It seems incongruent and counterintuitive: The middah of humility would seemingly not have any connection to kingship!
True Kingship Means Recognizing: “I Am Nothing”
But the truth is precisely the opposite. This is a fundamental error in understanding Malchus.
In Sifrei Kabbalah, we learn that that the middah of Malchus is referred to as כלום מגרמה לה לית, it has nothing from itself. During Kiddush Levanah we proclaim, וקיים חי ישראל מלך דוד—because, just like the moon that doesn’t have any of its own light but takes all its light from the sun, David HaMelech knew that true Malchus means knowing that we have nothing on our own!
But why is this? Isn’t kingship indeed diametrically different from the moon?! Doesn’t kingship connote power and hubris?!
But this is precisely the difference between the Yiddishe concept of kingship and the goyish one!
