going home ... to yerushalayim: THE CONCEPT OF MONARCHY

17 August 2018

THE CONCEPT OF MONARCHY – Parshas Shoftim

THE CONCEPT OF MONARCHY

By Roy S. Neuberger

Recently, my wife and I were privileged to travel to Russia for a brief but fascinating trip under the leadership of Rabbi Aryeh Katzin, a principal force behind Russian kiruv in the U. S. Rabbi Katzin heads RAJE (Russian-American Jewish Experience) and founded Sinai Academy. He grew up under Communism in Russia, learned Torah in Yerushalayim, and was recruited some thirty years ago by American godolim, principal among them Rabbi Elya Svei zt”l.

Our trip was fascinating for many reasons, but what came across intensely was the amazing fact that Jews in Russia, for the first time in centuries – perhaps since the Churban! – are unafraid. This impression comes not from propaganda, but from personal conversations with many people.

Despite intense controversy over Vladimir Putin in the Western World, there is no doubt that he is beloved by observant Jews in Russia. They walk in the street with yarmulkas and, by their own testimony, there is no evidence of anti-Semitism in Russia today. I am not saying that “esev sonai l’Yaakov …Esav hates Yaakov”has been repealed. What I do say is that government policy, from the top down, is strongly sympathetic to Torah life and Torah institutions.

I first heard the following story several years ago from a distinguished rosh yeshiva at a large yeshiva outside Moscow: Mr. Putin was a mediocre student in high school, but he had a teacher named Mina Yuditskaya Berliner who saw in him tremendous potential. She taught him to identify and strengthen his koach, and from this moment began his spectacular rise.

This teacher was a Jewish lady.

To Mr. Putin’s everlasting credit, he never forgot what he owed to her.

Because of this and other childhood experiences with kindly Jewish neighbors, Mr. Putin’s attitude toward Jews in general became extremely benevolent. When he achieved power, he remembered his beloved teacher, to the extent that he bought her an apartment in Israel and visited her there on official state trips as president. One Jewish lady changed the world!

Can you imagine: because of her, millions of Russian Jews benefited! Jewish communities in Russia have no problems with the government. Many large buildings and facilities housing Jewish institutions have been given to them gratis by the government. Amazingly, Mr. Putin himself contributed one month of his salary toward building the enormous and sophisticated Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow!

No matter what the Western media say, Vladimir Putin’s record toward Russian Jews and Jewish institutions cannot be equaled by most statesman around the world. From whom did I learn this? Among others, a rosh yeshiva; two observant businessmen who emigrated from New York to Moscow; a dayan, a businessman who runs a large Jewish publishing house, a law professor and distinguished rabbonim in St. Petersburg and Moscow. We met with Rabbi Alexander Boroda, president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia. Articulate even in English, Rabbi Boroda operates kiruv centers throughout Russia and is one of Mr. Putin’s close advisors.

At this season of teshuva, it is instructive to contemplate how one person can affect the lives of millions of our brethren. Mrs. Berliner’s innate goodness and desire for tikkun olam was part of her Yiddishe neshoma. She changed the world. We can all change the world by cultivating chessed and acting with dignity, living up to the example inherited from Avraham Avinu, who changed the entire world by demonstrating the nobility of the service of the Ribono shel Olam.

In our era, “politics,” which really should be the service of mankind, has become a term signifying corruption and obsession with power. Monarchy is archaic; there are very few, if any, real kings. The celebrated Queen of England, for example, is a powerless figurehead.

This week’s Parsha, lehavdil, reveals the Torah view regarding the head of government, a subject which I think it is vital to contemplate. “When you come to the Land that Hashem, your G-d, gives you, and possess it, and settle in it … you shall surely set over yourself a king whom Hashem, your G-d, shall choose. From among your brethren shall you set a king over yourself; you cannot place over yourself a foreign man, who is not your brother.” (Dvarim 17:14-15)

It is fascinating to examine the view of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on the role of the Jewish king: “The king, who is at the head of the nation, holds all its powers, and – with none above him but Hashem his G-d – directs his people in the way of G-d’s service.” (Hirsch Chumash Vayikra 4:22) Rabbi Hirsch indicates that the king is the prime teacher of the nation in the ways of serving Hashem, like a powerful mussar rebbe.

Rabbi Hirsch continues, quoting Chazal: “Fortunate is the generation whose ruler seeks atonement by making an offering for the wrong he has committed in error. How must the conscience of the ordinary citizen be stirred by the conscientious conduct of the king! And if he is so deeply affected by a transgression he has committed in error, how much more deeply will he be affected if he has been guilty of an intentional sin!” (Horayos 10b)

We live in a cynical world, but the Torah is not cynical; we believe in the perfect goodness of a world governed by Torah and we are awaiting ben Dovid, the Moshiach.

“The Chachamim and Noviim did not yearn for the Messianic Era in order to have dominion over the entire world, to rule over the gentiles … or to eat, drink and celebrate, but rather … to be free [to involve themselves] in Torah and wisdom without pressure or disturbance, so that they would merit the World to Come….” (Rambam, Hilchos Melachim)

May we see it soon in our days!