02 September 2025
Remembering Amalek.....
Ki Seitzei: Remembering Amalek in the End of the Year to Have a Good "Reishis"
IDF Brigadier General Blows Whistle on Legal Deep State Sabotaging the War
A decorated IDF officer who fought on October 7th alongside his son and later battled in Gaza is now breaking his silence. Brigadier General (res.) Oren Solomon has gone on record exposing how Israel’s legal establishment is paralyzing the army, sabotaging victory, and costing Jewish lives, something the mainstream media refuses to report.
The Yahrtzeit of Dan ben Yaakov and Bilhah – the 9th of Elul HaYOM
Anything about the Avos and their children, the “Tribal ancestors” who were real Israelites with real personalities, and real worries from childhood, growing up into the roles they were destined to be, is close to my heart. So it is with immense gratitude that myrtlerising wrote the following:
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The Yahrtzeit of Dan ben Yaakov and Bilhah falls on the 9th of Elul.
Dan was Yaakov Avinu's fifth son and Bilhah's first son, born 3591 years ago in the Hebrew year of 2195.
You can read more about Dan here:
12 Tribes of Israel: Dan - The Judge
Dan ben Yaakov is buried just outside of Beit Shemesh within the territory of the Tribe of Dan, close to wear the boundary meets the territory of the Tribe of Yehudah.
If you can manage it, it's possible to drive there to daven and learn Torah.
You can see a photo of his tomb here:
images.findagrave.com/photos/2023/110/CEM2620499_87208977-ca88-4a08-bf89-f782607f1379.jpg
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Soon with Rosh Hashanah we will begin anew with Sefer Bereshis, and into the lives of our dear descendants.
Each Ben Yaakov had a particular personality and middos, and this filtered down through the generations to who we are today.
Understanding the Afghanistan Earthquake – Hashkafa
At least 800 people have been killed and more than 1,300 others injured in Afghanistan after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck the country, Taliban officials confirmed Monday. The earthquake hit 17 miles from the eastern city of Jalalabad, near the border with Pakistan, at around midnight local time (3:30 p.m. ET Sunday), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Because the earthquake struck a remote mountainous area, “it will take time to get the exact information about human losses and damage to the infrastructure,” said Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for the Afghan Public Health Ministry. “We have launched a massive rescue operation and mobilized hundreds of people to help people in the affected areas,” Zaman added.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the death toll had risen to 800 people. Earlier, Afghan interior ministry spokesperson Mufti Abdul Matin Qani had reported 622 people confirmed dead and more than 1,300 injured in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar, which includes Jalalabad, and Kunar. The ministry reported that 1,000 injured people had been evacuated and admitted to hospitals, with Taliban security personnel carrying earthquake victims evacuated by military helicopter from the affected districts.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres mobilized a U.N. team in Afghanistan, with several organizations including the Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the International Organization for Migration providing emergency assistance to the devastated region.
HOW SHOULD WE VIEW IT?
Many people view earthquakes as the energy released from the random and meaningless movement of earth’s tectonic plates. They see it as layers of crust and brittle upper mantle moving over the asthenosphere randomly colliding with each other, pulling apart, and rubbing against each other. The elastic energy that was stored is simply released. Randomly. They see it as nature at work. Nothing more. True, there is a massive release of energy and movement called an earthquake. But, they say, it is devoid of any meaning.
https://vinnews.com/2025/09/01/understanding-the-afghanistan-earthquake-hashkafa/
HASHEM’s WAKEUP CALL: To me this means any Jews living anywhere near should WAKE UP and get on the move out of there and toward Eretz Yisrael! Think Pashtun Tribes.
One Man’s Interpretation of Gaza History YOU Didn't Know!
SIMCHA: Everyone talks about Gaza, but very few people know its real history. What is Gaza, who lives there, and why is it so central to world events? In this video, we condense 4,000 years of history into a few minutes, revealing Gaza's true story from the Bronze Age to the modern day.
01 September 2025
Reb Sones: Totalitarian Israeli Democracy.......
Totalitarian Israeli Democracy in the Age of Reason
Diagnosing the disease that cripples the Jewish State: A system where law becomes plunder and the popular will, a tool of tyranny
Imagine transporting two thinkers from the past to the corridors of the Israeli Knesset.
One is Frédéric Bastiat, a 19th-century French economist, whose treatise, The Law, reads like a contemporary critique of the proceedings. The other is J.L. Talmon, an Israeli historian from the 1960’s, whose life’s work charted the path from messianic idealism to political coercion.
They are unlikely companions, separated by a century and circumstance. Yet, were they to observe the Knesset today, they would find their intellectual warnings playing out in real-time. They would watch as parties purporting to represent the highest moral ideals of the Jewish people engage in frantic horse-trading, their principles becoming currency in a bazaar of political survival.
Bastiat would turn to Talmon and observe that the law here is no longer a protector of rights, but a tool for what he called “legal plunder.” Talmon would nod grimly, adding that this is the inevitable result of what he called “totalitarian democracy”—a system that pursues an absolute, collective good at the expense of individual liberty and authentic tradition.
This is not a fantasy. This is the political reality of modern Israel, a nation born from a dream of sovereignty and self-determination, yet now trapped in a paradoxical system that seems to embody the most dire warnings of these two thinkers.
Israel is called a Jewish democracy, but its political engine runs on a fuel that corrupts the very ideals it claims to represent. Nowhere is this paradox more painfully visible than in the plight of its Haredi parties. Tasked with being the guardians of the Torah, they have been rendered mere wheeler-dealers in a system that forces them to plunder the public trough to ensure the survival of their institutions. In doing so, they must often compromise the very Torah principles they exist to defend.
To understand how this happened is to understand the profound intellectual and spiritual crisis at the heart of the Zionist project—a crisis rooted in an Enlightenment error that has torn the nation apart.
The Foundational Flaw: Law as Plunder
Frédéric Bastiat’s argument in The Law is devastatingly simple. The law, he wrote, is the collective organization of the individual’s right to self-defense. Its sole purpose is to protect life, liberty, and property. But the law can be perverted. It can be turned against its purpose and used not to protect, but to violate.
When the law takes from some persons what belongs to them and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong, it has become an instrument of plunder. This “legal plunder,” Bastiat warned, is more insidious than the illegal kind, for it is committed without remorse and with the full force of the state, eroding the very distinction between justice and injustice in the minds of the people.
Israel’s system of proportional representation is a near-perfect engine for institutionalizing legal plunder. With a low electoral threshold, the Knesset is a fractured mosaic of narrow interest groups, making majority coalitions almost impossible to form without buying the loyalty of smaller parties.
This is where the tragedy of the Haredi parties begins. To secure funding for their yeshivas, schools, and community stipends—the lifeblood of a world dedicated to Torah study—they must join secular-led coalitions. Their price of entry is their vote. In exchange, the government allocates a portion of the state budget, funded by all taxpayers, to their specific constituency. This is the very definition of legal plunder: the law is used to transfer wealth from the general public to a specific group.
The result is a spiritual catastrophe. Haredi leaders, who should be the nation’s moral compass, are forced into a Machiavellian game. They must remain silent or even lend support when the government enacts policies that contradict Jewish law, whether on matters of ceding territory, gender disorientation, or the definition of Jewish identity. The alternative is to be cast into the opposition, where their institutions would face financial ruin.
This constant compromise breeds cynicism. The broader Israeli public, seeing religious leaders engaged in transactional politics, comes to despise the very parties meant to represent Jewish morality. The Haredim, in turn, view the state not as a sacred enterprise but as an ATM—a hostile entity from which one must extract as much as possible.
Bastiat saw it all coming: “As long as it is admitted that the law may be diverted from its true purpose—that it may violate property instead of protecting it—then everyone will want to participate in making the law, either to protect himself against plunder or to use it for plunder.”
Zion’s Secular Will: The Rise of Totalitarian Democracy
If Bastiat explains the mechanism of Israel’s political corruption, J.L. Talmon explains its ideology. In The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy, Talmon drew a crucial distinction between two forms of democracy that emerged from the Enlightenment. The first is liberal democracy, which sees politics as a matter of trial and error and prioritizes individual freedom.
The second, and more dangerous, is totalitarian democracy. This form is messianic and ideological. It believes it possesses the sole and exclusive truth of a pre-ordained, harmonious social order. It posits a “general will” as the ultimate good, and any individual or group that deviates from this will is seen not as a legitimate dissenter, but as an obstacle to be re-educated or liquidated.
Zionism, particularly in its secular, socialist form, was a classic example of this messianic impulse. It was not merely a political movement but a “replacement theology” for Judaism itself, seeking to create a “New Jew” defined not by covenant and Torah, but by land and state sovereignty. This new national identity became the “general will.” The state, as the embodiment of this will, became the ultimate arbiter of morality and purpose. This created a system that, as Talmon warned, is inherently hostile to any source of authority—like divine law (Halacha)—that it does not control.
This is the source of Israel’s tyranny of tolerance. The state is infinitely tolerant of external enemies, forever seeking rational negotiations and peace processes with those sworn to its destruction. This is the logic of the secular Enlightenment, which believes all conflicts can be resolved through reason.
Internally, however, the system is mercilessly intolerant of those who challenge its core secular dogmas. Religious Jews who insist on the primacy of Torah law, or residents of Judea and Samaria who embody the divine deed to the land, are treated as irrational fanatics standing in the way of the state’s “enlightened” path. The Supreme Court, populated by secular jurists, frequently strikes down Knesset laws that reflect Jewish values, imposing its own vision of a liberal-progressive state in the name of abstract democratic principles—a perfect manifestation of the “general will” overriding tradition and particularity.
A Nation at War With Itself
When Bastiat’s legal plunder combines with Talmon’s totalitarian democracy, the result is what can be called a Zionist autoimmune disorder: a nation whose own defense mechanisms have turned against it. The state, in its pursuit of a secular, universalist morality, adopts rules of engagement that endanger its own soldiers to protect enemy civilians, a moral inversion that would be unthinkable for a nation truly committed to its own survival. This obsession with appearing virtuous in the eyes of a hostile world—the hallmark of a ghetto mentality—is a symptom of a state that has lost its own authentic moral compass, having traded the certainty of Torah for the fickle judgment of “the family of nations.”
This internal conflict produces what we termed “political thalidomide”—policies that are presented as safe and beneficial but end up deforming the body politic. The Oslo Accords, for example, were prescribed by the secular left as a cure for conflict but instead unleashed a wave of murder that killed thousands. The 2005 Gaza Expulsion was sold as a painful but necessary surgery to improve security, but it created an Islamic state on Israel’s border. In each case, the “general will” of a messianic, secular peace ideology overrode the practical warnings of those who were dismissed as extremists. The state demanded conformity, and dissent was treated as heresy.
This forces a terrible choice upon the religious citizen: serving two masters, G-d or the State. The state-sponsored Chief Rabbinate, a relic of the British Mandate, is perpetually caught in this bind, often compelled to issue rulings that align with government policy rather than honest Halacha. The spiritual authority of state-employed rabbis is compromised, as the public sees them as little more than civil servants. This is the end-game of Talmon’s totalitarian democracy: the co-opting and eventual neutralization of any independent moral authority.
Orwell’s Shadow in Jerusalem
To sustain such a contradictory system requires a level of willful blindness that would make George Orwell blush. After the catastrophic intelligence and military failures of October 7th, 2023, the nation’s leadership and much of its populace have engaged in a remarkable act of cognitive dissonance. To admit that the state’s foundational secular-liberal assumptions about its enemies were catastrophically wrong would be to admit that the entire ideological edifice is built on sand. It is easier to blame individuals than to question the system, easier to call for unity than to engage in a painful national reckoning.
This is the self-preservation instinct of a totalitarian democracy. The “general will” must be maintained at all costs, even if it means ignoring the glaring truth. Bastiat understood this phenomenon in the economic sphere, noting how people who benefit from legal plunder—or even those who merely suffer from it—will often rise to defend the very system that harms them because they cannot imagine an alternative. In Israel, the entire society is caught in this trap, clinging to a broken political model because the alternative—a genuine Jewish constitutional democracy that subordinates the state to enduring Jewish principles—is too radical to contemplate.
For now, the warnings of Bastiat and Talmon continue their vigil. They watch a nation blessed with immense creativity, courage, and emunah, yet shackled by a political system that perverts its laws and tyrannizes its spirit.
The frantic deal-making in the Knesset is not just politics; it is a symptom of a deep and unresolved battle for Israel’s soul.
It is the sound of a nation founded on a promise of return, still struggling to decide what, exactly, it has returned to: the transient power of a secular state, or the eternal covenant that defined it for millennia.
Continue reading on Jewish Home News by Mordechai Sones
Hamas presents: 'Slimtifada'
After stealing ALL THAT NOURISHING AID the guys on the ground are looking pretty zoftik!
Where are they storing away ALL that food being POURED into Gaza? Tons and Tons of food and supplies must also be filling up some of those tunnels for another feast after killing our boys…….or maybe it really is getting to th3 masses.
But let’s not quibble, we hav3 to keep up the narrative to fuel the world’s hatred.
Rabbi Weissman: On Measles and Vaccines ..........
........... with Dr. Yael Tusk
Straight Torah, health information, and plain common sense
Last night was a special Amalek and Erev Rav program with guest Dr. Yael Tusk. Zoom’s meeting summary is pretty good, with some edits. I’ve included that below. First, here are some very important links:
The recording is available above and on Rumble here.
Extremely important information from Brucha Weisberger and Mordechai Sones, respectively, that we referenced in the program:
The Manufactured Measles Crisis: How Vaccine Campaigns Ignite Outbreaks from Texas to Tel Aviv
Torah perspective referenced in the program:
We Have to Follow the Sanhedrin...Right?
When must one listen to a rabbi? (A really important class I gave packed with actual Torah sources, not rhetoric)
Please don’t submit to scare tactics or social pressure, take the time to educate yourself, trust your ability to become educated, and please educate and strengthen others!
Quick recap
The meeting focused on discussing the measles crisis in Israel, with participants exploring media coverage, vaccine-related concerns, and the role of religious authorities in vaccine requirements. The discussion covered medical treatment approaches, including Chinese medicine and vitamin A therapy, while examining the current outbreak's severity and the effectiveness of various prevention methods. Participants shared perspectives on vaccination practices, historical Jewish attitudes toward vaccines, and the importance of critical thinking in medical advice, concluding with a call for transparency and information sharing regarding health issues.
Summary
Measles Crisis Media and Vaccines
The meeting focused on discussing the measles crisis in Israel, with Chananya and Dr. Yael Tusk exploring media coverage and vaccine-related concerns. Dr. Tusk highlighted the lack of scientific basis in media narratives, noting that without full medical histories, stories of measles-related deaths are misleading and manipulative. They discussed the rapid expansion of the measles vaccine schedule, questioning the safety and necessity of administering it at six months, and criticized the media's portrayal of vaccines as a solution without addressing underlying questions about vaccine safety and efficacy.
Vaccine Trust and Government Skepticism
The discussion focused on concerns about government trustworthiness and vaccine safety, particularly regarding measles vaccinations. Chananya expressed skepticism about government priorities, sharing personal experiences of long ER wait times while vaccines receive immediate attention, and questioned the motives behind the recent measles vaccination push, especially given the lack of transparency from religious authorities who issued a ruling about vaccine requirements. Dr. Tusk confirmed the measles outbreak's reality but criticized the lack of useful information provided by authorities, while both agreed that the forged signatures on rabbinical endorsements of vaccines further eroded trust in official communications.
Measles Treatment and Vaccine Trust
The discussion focused on concerns about measles cases and vaccine trust. Dr. Tusk shared her experience treating measles patients and noted that recent cases seemed more severe than historical accounts, leading to questions about the nature of the disease. The conversation included practical advice about vitamin A treatment for measles, with the doctor recommending a single high-dose (200,000-400,000 IU) administration rather than daily dosing, and specifically advising against cod liver oil due to digestive issues. Participants discussed where to find vitamin A drops, with one participant mentioning the Teva store on Strauss 34 as a location where they were available.
Measles Outbreak and Treatment Insights
Dr. Tusk discussed the current measles outbreak, noting that cases are more severe than in the past, with symptoms including fever, respiratory issues, and gastrointestinal problems. She suggested that the severity could be related to gain-of-function research, and emphasized that Chinese medicine is an effective treatment for measles. Dr. Tusk also expressed concern about the overdiagnosis of pneumonia in measles cases and the potential dangers of hospitalization. Chananya raised questions about protecting children from measles shedding, and Dr. Tusk recommended boosting immunity with vitamins like vitamin A, C, and zinc. They also suggested that the outbreak might be caused by the vaccine itself, rather than unvaccinated children.
Opposing School Vaccine Mandates
The discussion focused on vaccine requirements in schools and the risks of vaccination. Chananya expressed strong opposition to schools requiring vaccines, comparing it to child abuse and calling for parents to protect their children by avoiding schools that mandate vaccinations. Dr. Tusk shared statistics about the dangers of the MMR vaccine, including its potential to cause autism and brain damage, while noting that measles itself is treatable and generally not fatal. The conversation concluded with Dr. Tusk mentioning that certain adult diseases may be linked to both measles vaccination and lack of measles exposure in childhood.
Measles Treatment and Medical Advice
Dr. Tusk discussed treating measles, emphasizing the effectiveness of Chinese medicine for severe cases and the importance of seeking professional help when needed. She advised against DIY treatments and homeopathy for measles prevention, and shared a personal story about a child who suffered unnecessarily due to exposure to chickenpox. Dr. Tusk stressed the need for parents to know when to seek medical help, particularly for severe symptoms like difficulty breathing or cognitive changes, and warned against relying solely on home remedies.
Rabbis and Medical Advice
The meeting focused on the topic of medical advice and the role of rabbis in providing guidance on vaccines. Chananya emphasized that taking bribes, even in the form of honoraria, clouds judgment and renders medical professionals unable to make proper decisions. Dr. Tusk highlighted the societal reverence for doctors and the lack of critical thinking in medical education, noting that doctors are often not taught to research or write papers. The discussion also touched on the issue of rabbis giving medical advice without proper expertise, with Dr. Tusk stressing the importance of humility and acknowledging when one is not qualified to provide certain advice.
Rabbinical Authority in Medical Guidance
The discussion focused on the role and authority of rabbis in providing medical guidance, particularly regarding vaccines. Chananya emphasized that rabbis should educate and make people smarter rather than simply issuing orders, and argued that rabbis cannot obligate people (especially healthy people) to take medical treatments without personal authority or expertise. Dr. Tusk shared a story about a rabbinic authority who took months to research and issue a ruling on energy medicine, demonstrating the importance of thorough research and due diligence.
The conversation concluded with Chananya explaining that Jews only follow the majority opinion in cases of doubt where there are two valid opinions, but not when rabbis are clearly wrong, making things up, or compromised. He warned people that a ruling from rabbis will not turn poison into vitamins.
Vaccination Ethics and Jewish Perspectives
The discussion focused on vaccination practices and attitudes, particularly regarding measles vaccines. Chananya shared historical Jewish perspectives on vaccination from Sefer Habris, noting that rabbis only approved vaccines that were proven 100% safe. Dr. Tusk discussed the current measles situation, emphasizing that unvaccinated individuals are bearing the brunt of cases but argued that individuals should not intentionally expose themselves to vaccines.
Chananya also likened giving dangerous treatments to healthy people for the sake of potentially saving more lives than they are sacrificing to Molech worship.
The conversation concluded with a discussion about whether parents can lie about their children's vaccination status, with Dr. Tusk asserting that while lying is generally discouraged, there are specific situations where parents have the right to protect their children's health information.
Measles Treatment and Outbreak Discussion
Dr. Tusk shared her experience treating measles with Chinese medicine, emphasizing that each case requires individualized treatment. She recommended giving vitamin A as a preventive measure, with a dosage of 200,000 IU. Chananya shared his father's recovery from COVID-19 using Dr. Zelenko's protocol, emphasizing the importance of not living in fear of illness.
The group discussed the recent "psak" from the Badatz regarding measles, with Chananya reacting harshly to a participant who attempted to whitewash their behavior. The conversation ended with a call for sharing information and not being afraid to speak the truth about health issues.
Aftermath of the Wildfires in Israel – Latrun Area.
Today I was on my way to Jerusalem to film a video for you and show what’s happening in the city. On the way, I stopped in the Latrun area to capture the aftermath of the recent wildfires. What I saw was devastating — vast areas of forest completely burned, with nothing left but ashes and smoke in the air. The damage to nature and wildlife is truly heartbreaking. But I believe that over time, the land will heal, the trees will grow back, and life will return. Latrun is a place rich in history and meaning, located on the road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Its name comes from the French “Le toron des chevaliers” (The Castle of the Knights), dating back to the Crusader period. Over the centuries, Latrun has seen battles, prayers, and moments of peace. In modern history, it became a key strategic point during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Because of its location overlooking the road to Jerusalem, fierce battles took place here. Today, Latrun is home to the famous Trappist Monastery, the Armored Corps Memorial and Museum, and beautiful nature parks — or at least, it was, before the recent wildfires. Despite the scars left by time and fire, Latrun remains a place of reflection, memory, and hope. Spring: 10AM, 25°C (77°F)
31 August 2025
Esser Agaroth: Danger to Jews.........
Guess again.
Esser Agaroth (2¢):
So, what you do think? Unbelievable?
But it is believable. You must believe it.
You've probably already seen this. Not late to the party. Just believe you cannot see enough of this, and we Jews have short memories. Seen it before? Watch it again.
Just a one off? It will eventually be taken down, and condemned?
This is from July 24. When do you suppose this will happen?
Those of you who insist that I am fear mongering, seriously? All I am doing is reposting a video, and stating the facts.
Now, if I mention the additional fact that many German Jews of the 1940s told themselves that they were good Germans, and would be safe, then I suppose that would be fear mongering.
Many of these Jews were not bothered by intermarriage, nor Torah, and even attended "Sabbath services" on Sundays.
But, that's not you. Right?
Now replace the above "German" with "American." (or "British," etc.)
Take a Look at this Video
Reb Ginsbourg: Shoftim – 'He shall write..two copies of this Torah...'
Reb Ginsbourg's parasha only arrives and appears on Arutz Sheva in the afternoon before Shabbos (if then), and if I'm able I can copy it prior to Shabbat; but most times it arrives too late for me to copy/proof.
The two Sifrei Torah represent the two ways of serving Hashem.
We read in the ‘Parasha of the King’, that (17:18-20):’he shall not have too many horses..so that he will not return the people to Egypt..and he shall not have too many wives, so that his heart not turn astray; and he shall not greatly increase silver and gold for himself.
‘It shall be that when he sits on the throne.. he shall write for himself two copies of this Torah..before the Kohanim, the Leviim. It shall be with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life, so that he will learn to fear Hashem..to observe all the words of the Torah.. to perform them, so that his heart does not become haughty over his brethren..so that he will prolong years over his kingdom, he and his sons amid Israel.’
Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch comments:’Immediately on his accession to the throne, his first act is to:’write for himself two copies of this Torah.’
‘By writing the Torah himself, he expresses that the Torah is, in his eyes, first and foremost, that he is not above it, and that it shall guide his whole life, and his entire role as king, is to see to its observance by his subjects.
‘In performing this role faithfully, he is the first ‘ben torah’ in the nation, and in his deeds, he is to be an example to the nation.
‘The expression משנה תורה: a doubling of ‘Torah’, is like (Miketz 53:15)משנה כסף: ‘double the money’ - as the gemara (Sanhedrin 21:)expounds: two sifrei Torah, one of which is placed in his treasury, and the second which goes out and comes in with him, at all times.
‘To observe all the words of this Torah’: This expression does not encompass only the mitzvot of the Torah - as this is said in the ensuing words:’and these decrees’ - but alludes to the whole of the historical context and the educational lesson of the Torah.
‘The king of Israel will learn from the Torah, the standing and the destiny of the nation, and the role of the individual in this.
‘He will understand all of this with full clarity.
‘’These decrees’: all of the mitzvot of the Torah are called here חוקים: ‘decrees’, as they stand before the king as immutable laws, which govern and are the frame that binds all that the king may do.
‘In the next passuk, the Torah is called ‘the mitzvot’, as there it describes the standing of the king in relation to the nation- he is to view them not as ‘subjects’, but as brethren - ‘that he ‘not become haughty over his brethren’- and the whole of the Torah is to be to him ‘mitzvah' - which establishes him in his role - Hashem has given him his role, and he is His first servant.’
Rav Moshe Sternbuch adds:’There is a singular additional mitzvah given to the king alone: though there is an obligation on every Jew to write a sefer Torah - even if he already has one - the king is commanded additionally, ‘when he sits on the throne of his kingdom..(to) write for himself two copies of’ the ‘Torah’.
‘The reason for this appears to be, to teach him, on his coronation, that he has additional obligations as to his behavior with his subjects.
‘Further, because of his high office - his elevation to the throne —he is to sanctify Hashem in his conduct and ways, that they should be meticulous and מתוך שורת הדין: beyond what strict justice demands.
‘This is a lesson to anyone who is elevated - be it to the rabbinate, or the like - that he is no longer to conduct himself in his previous way - when he was a layman - but that his ways are now to be meticulous, and to sanctify himself even in permitted activities, to sanctify the name of Hashem, that it should be beloved by the people.
‘This obligation is imposed immediately ‘he sits on the throne’, as on occasions when one is elevated to be king, he becomes lax in performance of his duties, and disparaging in heeding the needs and will of his subjects
‘He is therefore adjured that, as soon as he is elevated to ‘sit on his throne’, he is to fulfill his obligations faithfully, ‘all the days of his reign.’
The Netivot Shalom comments:’In our parsha, the Torah first lists that which the king is to avoid - in the way of סור מרע: ‘turn away from bad’ - not to have too many horses, so as not to put his trust in physical forces, but to only put his trust in Hashem
‘Further, not to have too many wives, so as not to be preoccupied with desire, nor to greatly increase his silver and gold, as this will cause him to become haughty over his brethren.
‘After this, the Torah turns to עשה טוב: ‘doing good’: by, as soon as ‘he sits on his throne, to write for himself two copies of this Torah, from before the Kohanim, the Leviites. It shall be with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life, so that he will learn to fear Hashem, his G-d’.
‘The matter of the two copies of the Torah, is that ‘one is placed in his treasury, and the other goes out and comes in with him’, alludes to two ways of leadership - between him and himself, and, when he goes out and comes in, from amongst people.
‘The Sefer Torah in his treasury alludes to the opening words of the Ra’ma, at the beginning of the Shulchan Aruch: even when alone in his house, he shall place on his heart, that the Great King, Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu, whose honor fills the world and all in it, stands and sees his deeds.
The second Sefer Torah - that goes out and comes in with him - is to adjure him in all his conduct and activities - in eating, drinking, speaking to others, and in all his mundane activities, to conduct his affairs faithfully.
‘This is the allusion of the second Sefer, that goes out and comes in with him - that the Name of Heaven, is sanctified in all that he does.’
The Kli Yakar brings the comment of Rashi, on our subject:’And it will be, when he sits on his throne’:’If he does this’ - that which is imposed on him in the immediately preceding passage. - ‘he merits that his kingdom will remain established’.
‘There is an allusion to this in the word כסא: throne’: the initials of כסא סוס אשה: throne, horse, wife.
‘We learn from what happened with Shlomo Hamelech, that a king needs to beware of things which will divert his heart from Hashem: the over-abundance of silver and gold, will cause him to- as the Torah adjures (Eikev 8:13-14) Your silver and gold..increases, and your heart grows haughty, and you forget the Lord, your G-d’.
‘So, too, an over abundance of horses, as it causes one to reduce his reliance on Hashem, and to put his trust in horse and rider.
‘An increase in the number of wives, likewise, causes one to turn his heart from Hashem, as happened with Shlomo.
‘It therefore said:’he shall write for himself two copies of this Torah..’, so that he shall read in it, and know to beware of these three perils.
‘In regard to the abundance of silver and gold, it says:’so that his heart does not become haughty over his brethren’ - as a lot of money brings haughtiness; as against too many wives, it says:’not turn from the commandment right or left’, and as against an abundance of horses, it says:’so that he will prolong years over his kingdom’ - meaning: that if he puts his trust in them, he is likely to die in battle.’
The Alshich Hakadosh elucidates:’After warning against these three things that are likely to lead to transgression, the Torah comes to teach how to be adorned in three crowns, through the Torah, and also acquire the crown of a good name - not only that he will distance himself from these harmful things, but will also draw near to the thing which gives him real good both in this world, and in the world-to-come.
‘That is, by ‘when he sits on his throne..’- to understand the matter, we need to recall the midrash, in which Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said that there were three crowns: the crown of Torah, the crown of Kehuna, and the crown of kingship. We learn from the Torah, that, whoever earns the crown of Torah, merits all three crowns, as it is written (Mishlei 8:15):’By the Torah, kings will rule’ - so too, the crown of Kehuna, as Hashem is the lot of the Kohen, and this is greater than Kehuna.
‘We can now turn to our matter, the Torah saying:’When he sits on his throne..’, meaning that it is worthy that, when he acquires with the crown of kingship, he acquires the other crowns as well, and the crown of a good name, which is above them all - this, by the Torah.
‘This is the meaning of:’When he sits on his throne..’, when he has the crown of kingship, so too, he will have the other crowns as well- at the head of them, the crown of Torah, this by:’when he sits on his throne..he shall write for himself two copies of this Torah::, as by this he also acquires the crown of Kehuna, as we brought - from Rabban Shimon bar Yochai - that one who has the crown of Torah, is deemed as if he had all the crowns, the proof of this being that (Horyiot 13:1), even a illegitimate talmid chacham, takes precedence over a Kohen Gadol who is a boor.
‘This is why, the king is to write his books ‘before the Kohanim Leviim’, as the merit of the Torah that he is to write, is above - and greater - than the Kehuna.
‘We therefore have learned, that the king has acquired all three crowns, but all are as nothing, if the crown of a good name - which is above them all - is not with them.
It therefore then says:’It shall be with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life..- meaning: when I said that he should have the crown of Torah, it is not that he should have the Sefer, and read from it when he has leisure time - then he does not have the crown of Torah - but that he should learn its wisdom, till it is within him - this is the meaning of ‘it shall be with him’ - actually, ‘with him’, as well as ‘he shall read from it.’
‘When the Torah says:’it shall be with him’, the reason for this is two-fold: First, as if this is not the case, he will not ‘learn to fear Hashem’, as (Avot 2:6):’A boor , does not have fear of sin.’
‘Second: knowing brings to doing - this is the meaning of:’to observe..to perform’ - as the Sages say: (Meg’ 27.)’ learning brings to doing.’
‘Thereby he will acquire a good name, and merit - together with the crown of kingship - to all the crowns, including ‘the crown of a good name’, which is above them all.’
Rav Shlomo Kluger adds:’’For two reasons, Hashem desires that the king reads the sefer Torah at all times: First, so that he understands what is required of a talmid chacham, from the written Torah, as thereby ‘his heart does not become haughty over his brethren’, meaning: that he does not move his heart from the needs of his brethren, and will see to their livelihood.
‘Second, for the benefit of the king himself, that ‘he not turn from the commandment right or left’, from all that he is told by talmidei chachamim, as we are adjured in our parsha:(17:11)’ According to the law they instruct you.. you shall do, you shall not divert from the word they tell you, either right or left’ - which our Sages expound as: ‘Even if they tell you on right, that it is left.’
‘We find therefore that this language applies, to doing that which they instruct.’
The Ktav Sofer asks:’Why is it specified that the king ‘write ..two copies of the Torah in a book, before the Kohanim, the Leviim’, and on what is written ‘and he shall read from it all the days of his life’?
‘Our Sages expound that ‘one goes out with him, and comes in with him’ - we need to understand why it does not simply say:’is with him always’ - why does it add ‘going out.. coming in..’.
‘It appears to me, that the reason is the exposition of our Sages (Brachot 35:), on the words of the Torah:’You shall gather in your crop’, whilst as well are also commanded:’The book of the Torah will not move, from your mouth’ - is this to be understood literally? No, do so in the way of the world, plough at the time of ploughing.. - we need to understand the exposition: why should it not be understood literally, that which is written plainly:’The Torah will not move from your mouth’?
‘The answer can be found in the commentary of the Rambam, on the mishna (Avot 2:12):’All your deeds should be for the sake of Heaven’- all our mundane daily deeds should be for this objective - your eating and your sleeping should be, so that you are healthy and strong, fully able to engage in your Torah study.
‘One who engages in commerce or labor, so that he will be free to serve Hashem, and to learn His Torah, in his work, is also performing a mitzvah, as he is compelled to abstain from his learning because he is אנוס: compelled to do so , and is therefore credited as if he did learn
‘The king, who is required to be more sanctified, is therefore required to have as his objective, that all his deeds are for the sake of Heaven.
‘This is why he is commanded to write his sifrei Torah ‘before the Kohanim, the Leviim’, who have no inheritance in the Land, and therefore the Torah is their main concern, and their work, secondary to it - this is what is expected of a king.
‘To connote this, Hashem commanded that he write sifrei Torah ‘before the Kohanim, the Leviim. It shall be with him , and he shall read from it all the days of his life’ - that in all the days of his life, eating, drinking, sleeping and all his activities will be for the Torah, and thereby it will be as if he is always reading the Torah, fulfilling the commandment :’the sefer Torah will not leave your mouth’, as our Sages expound.
‘This is the answer to their query: how is it possible that he read it at all times - when he is required to be engaged in the needs of his subjects?
They therefore expound that his going out and his coming in, will all be with the Torah, meaning: with the objective of the Torah, to observe it and to safeguard it.’
A parting gem from Rav Pinchas Friedman:’Whilst the holy tomes teach that it is not possible today to observe the mitzvah, that a king write two sifrei Torah, as the mitzvah is only for a king of Israel, nevertheless each one of us is obligated to endeavor to fulfill the teaching that underlies the mitzvah, as the Torah is eternal and applicable to each person and to each time.
‘It is therefore incumbent on each of us, to study this mitzvah - especially the teaching of our Sages, as to these two sifrei Torah - that one to be placed in the treasury, and the other, to go out and comes in with with the king.
‘Rav Israel miTchortkov offers a nice explanation, as to this: it is a lesson in the two contradictory ways that a leader is to perform his role: on the one hand, he is to act in a way that casts fear of him on his subjects, this in his public actions - but, in private, he is to act with humility and submissiveness - especially between him and Hashem.
‘We find allusions to these two ways, in what is written in our parsha, as to them king - on the one hand, we read (17:4) that when you decide to appoint a king, you ‘set a king over’ yourself - on which our Sages (Ketuvot 17.) comment:’a king who forgives offence against his honor, his honor is not forgiven, as it says:’set over you a king’, that his fear should be on you.
‘On the other hand, we also read that the king is adjured:’that his heart does not become haughty over his brethren’ - meaning, that in private, between himself and Hashem, the king has to behave with humility, though in the public domain, with regard to his subjects, he has to cast his fear on them, so that they heed his voice.
‘We can now understand why Hashem imposed on the king this additional mitzvah - of the two Sifrei Torah: the one to be placed in his treasury.
‘This alludes to his conduct between himself and Hashem, where he has to take care ‘that he does not become haughty over his brethren’, but expresses before his Maker, his submissiveness - whilst the Sefer Torah that ‘goes out and comes in with him’, publicly, he has to cast his dread on his subjects.
‘We can learn this lesson, from Matan Torah, as our Sages (Sotah 5.) say there, that Hashem overlooked all the higher mountains and peaks, and chose to reside His shechina on the lowly Har Sinai.
‘Our Sages teach us a great principle, that humility is very good when our own honor is concerned - but, when it comes to the honor of Hashem, we need to be garbed in holy pride, as, were it not so, the yetser ha’ra would trap us in his net, to think that Hashem has no need for our unworthy deeds.
Against this, we need to answer him, that Hashem desires our service, and then ensure that we serve Hashem in joy, and with all our power.
‘The Ba’al haTanya elucidates-regarding the choice of Har Sinai on which the Torah was given - asking: Would it not have been a greater lesson in humility, if the Torah was given, not on a mountain, but in a valley, alluding more to humility? And answers: Hashem wanted to teach us, that together with humility, we also need a measure of holy pride - and therefore, the choice of the lowly mountain.
‘This is the lesson of the two Sifrei Torah, that represent the two ways of serving Hashem: the one ‘placed in the treasury’, meaning when one is alone with Hashem, to behave in utmost humility, in the manner of Avraham Avinu, who said before his Maker:’I am ashes and dirt’ - but, with this, the sefer that ‘goes out and comes in with him’, teaches that when we go about the performance of the mitzvot, we are to have in our mind, the greatness of our spirit, in the manner of:’For me the world was created’, so as not fall into the trap of the yetser ha’ra, of improper humility, that we are unworthy to perform the mitzvot of Hashem.’
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/414078
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