“It’s Good to be the King?”

(Insights from this week’s Portion: Shoftim)

· This Week’s RRR (Relevant Religious Reference): “(A king) shall write for himself two copies of this Torah...it shall be with him...so that his heart DOES NOT BECOME HAUGHTY...” – Deuteronomy, 17:18- 20

· This Week’s SSC (Suitable Secular Citation): “It’s good to be the King!” – Mel Brooks in his classic film “History of the World, Part 1”

IT’S GOOD TO BE THE KING

Would you like to be the king? Mel Brooks (in “History of the Word, Part I”) certainly made it look like the ultimate job of cushiness, with all imaginable perks and precious little exertion required! Now let’s co- direct the scenes he starred in using a slightly different “Bizzaro World” scenario: “Director’s notes for the king – you must carry around a small Torah Scroll with you at all times that you appear in the movie”. Given this particular monarch’s love for his privileged, undemanding job description, it’s likely that he would make a beeline for his local medieval employment office.

And yet, the requirement to carry around a Torah Scroll at all times is precisely what the “Grand Director in the Sky” instructed for those playing the parts of Jewish kings in His “Master Screenplay” (let’s call it “History of the World, the Original”, which He incidentally wrote and produced as well). Is this constant Scroll-schlepping really necessary for a king, all for the seemingly minor benefit of ensuring that his “heart will not become haughty”? (See this week’s RRR above).

THE SECRET TO GOOD LOOKS?

Surprisingly enough, our sources tell us that for all people (i.e. not only kings), this crazy little trait called arrogance – as widespread, popular, and ostensibly harmless as it may be – is not only the most dangerous human trait itself, but is also the root of all other negative attributes. And the opposite is also true: there is no positive trait so desirable to strengthen, so fundamental to our essence, as the virtue of humility. In fact, we are even told that there is no human ornament as attractive as humility (did you ever expect to find that as the key to good looks? Admittedly, these are not the kinds of beauty secrets you’d normally find in “Vanity Fair” – perhaps a “Humility Fair” should be published!).

An illustration of humility’s disarming beauty: the Torah tells us to “love your neighbor like yourself”. But there are various ways to read these words. One approach involves placing the pause in this command at an unexpected point in the phrase: i.e. it can be read “Love your neighbor – like yourself”. Reading the phrase with a pause in the middle serves to answer an implied question: “which neighbor must you work extra hard to love? The neighbor who is like yourself”! The one who excels in the very same area in which you take pride in being an expert! It’s especially difficult to love this person because of the natural competition we feel when someone is threatening the prestige that we base our identity around.

SUPERCONDUCTOR OF DIVINE ENERGY

But here’s something amazing: when a person who excels in our realm of expertise is also someone who is truly humble about it, we feel far less competition with that person. And the reason seems to be as follows: humility is said to be like a superconductor of Divine energy. Just as a superconductor has no impurities – and thereby allows electricity to flow smoothly through a metal without obstacles – humility allows Divine energy to flow smoothly through a human being, since there are no impure obstacles of arrogance clogging up the flow of Divine energy. Thus, once a person is no longer “caught up with himself” but becomes “caught up with Divine energy”, why should we feel jealous of him? He is only channeling G-d’s energy, and most people aren’t so presumptuous as to feel competitive with G-d Himself!

Bottom line: if any of you become the king, don’t forget the crucial “stage-direction” of schlepping around the Scroll. And for the rest of us, may we all be blessed as the High Holidays approach to strengthen our clarity on how essential it is to carry around the most attractive human ornament known as humility!

Have a Wonderful Shabbos! Love, Jon & The Chevra

Text Copyright © 2008 by Jon Erlbaum and Torah.org