Mitzvah or Aveirah?

(9) And this was the sin of Israel in requesting a king, a matter which many of the earlier authorities find very perplexing, viz.: if they were commanded to appoint a king, as it is written (Deuteronomy 17:14): "And when you come to the land… and you will say: 'I will place a king over me…'", this being one of the three things they were commanded to do upon entering the land, according to our sages of blessed memory (Sanhedrin 20b) — then what was their sin in requesting a king?

(10) In my view it was this: they desired that the administration of justice between man and his neighbor be preponderantly in the hands of the king. This is the intent of the verse (I Samuel 8:4-5): "And all the elders of Israel gathered together and they came to Samuel to Ramah, and they said to him: 'You have grown old, and your sons have not gone in your ways; now place a king over us to judge us as all the nations.'" I understand this as follows: The Jews saw societal good as being better served by a king than by judges. Therefore, they said: "You are old and cannot judge anymore, and your sons are not worthy of investing us with the Divine Immanence, for they do not walk in your ways. Therefore, it is fit that we have a king and that we be judged through him." This is the intent of "Place a king over us to judge us as all the nations." And they were greatly mistaken in this. For the sons of Samuel, though they were not so saintly as their father, were still not perverters of judgment, as stated by our sages of blessed memory (Sabbath 55b): "R. Shmuel b. Nachmani said in the name of R. Yonathan: 'All who say that the sons of Samuel sinned are greatly mistaken, as it is written (I Samuel 9:1-3): "And it was when Samuel became old… and his sons did not walk in his ways" — they did not walk in his [exceptionally saintly] ways, but they did not sin. How then, am I to understand (Ibid 2): "And they turned aside after profit, and they took bribes, and they perverted judgment"? They did not emulate the example of their father. For Samuel, the righteous one, would make the circuit of all the places of the Jews and judge them in their cities, as it is written (Ibid 7:16): "And he made the circuit of Beth-El, Gilgal, and Mitzpeh, and he judged Israel." But his sons did not do thus, but sat in their cities in order to increase the income of their deputies and scribes.'" And since they did not, for all of this, pervert judgment [in the literal sense], their judging of the Jews in accordance with the Torah would still have resulted in Israel's being invested with the Divine Immanence, but the Jews at that time gave greater priority to governmental considerations. If they had simply asked "Place a king over us," or if they had specifically requested a king to lead them in their wars, there would be no sin in this, but, to the contrary, it would be a mitzvah. Their sin lay in asking: "Place a king over us to judge us as all of the nations," the judgment to come from the king and not from the judges of the Torah. This interpretation is substantiated by Samuel's reaction (Ibid 8:6): "And it was evil in Samuel's eyes when they said: 'Give us a king to judge us.'" It is not simply written "Give us a king," for if they had said only this, it would not be evil in his eyes. What disturbed him was "to judge us." and because of this G-d said to Samuel (Ibid 7): "It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected My rule over them." That is, they prefer natural government to Divine Immanence.'"

(11) And when Samuel reproved them, they did not abandon their original intent, but only slightly ameliorated their request, saying that they desired a king not for judgment alone but for leadership in war. This is the intent of (Ibid 20): "And we, too, will be as the other nations, and our king will judge us, and he will go out before us, and he will fight our wars." And, therefore, Samuel rebuked them afterwards, saying (Ibid 12:16-17): "Even now, stand and see the great thing that the L-rd will do before your eyes. It is the time of the wheat harvest today; yet I will call upon the L-rd and He will bring thunder and rain." That is, know that you have erred in choosing a king on the basis of the assumption that your natural needs will be better served thereby. For it is not so, but, to the contrary, one who cleaves to the L-rd can alter the natural order according to His will. For it is the time of the wheat harvest today, a time of no rain within the natural order; but, by means of the Divine Immanence that cleaves to me, I will alter the natural order and He will bring thunder and rain. Therefore, you should have chosen what would have been likely to invest you with the Divine Immanence — the justice of the judges, concerning which it is written: "and let them judge the people a righteous judgment" — more than the justice of the king, who judges according to his will. For this is the difference between the judge and the king, the judge being more subservient to the justice of the Torah than the king. It is for this reason that the king was exhorted and commanded to have a second Torah scroll with him (Deuteronomy 17:18-20): "And it shall be, when he sits upon his throne of kingdom, let him write for himself… and let it be with him… that his heart not raise itself above his brothers and that he not depart from the mitzvah…" That is, because the king sees that he is not so subservient to the laws of the Torah as the judge he requires additional exhortation not to depart from the mitzvah right or left and not to vaunt himself above his brothers because of the great powers given him by the Blessed One. But the judge does not need all of these exhortations because his powers are confined to the judgments of the Torah alone, as written: "and let him judge the people a righteous judgment," and he was already exhorted not to turn from these judgments in any way whatsoever, viz. (Ibid 16:19): "Do not pervert judgment."

(1) (Devarim 17:14) "When you come to the land": Do the mitzvah prescribed herein, in reward of which you will enter the land.

(2) "which the L-rd your G-d gives to you": in your merit.

(3) "and you inherit it and you inhabit it": As a reward for inheriting it, you will inhabit it.

(4) "and you say: I shall place over myself a king, as all the nations that are around me": R. Nehorai says: This verse speaks in denigration of Israel, as in (I Samuel 8:7) "For it is not you (Samuel) that they have rejected (in asking for a king), but it is Me whom they have rejected from reigning over them."

(5) R. Yehudah said: Is it not a mitzvah of the Torah to ask for a king? viz. (Ibid. 15) "Place shall you place over yourself a king, whom the L-rd your G-d shall choose"? Why, then, was Israel punished for this in the days of Samuel? — Because they (the "ignoramuses" of that generation) preempted them (the elders) by placing "like all the nations that are around us" (before "to judge us").

(6) R. Nehorai said: They sought a king only to lead them to idolatry, as it is written (I Samuel, Ibid. 20) "And we, too, will be like all the nations, and our king will judge us and go out before us, and fight our wars."

(1) (Devarim, Ibid. 14) "And it shall be, when you do not desire her": Scripture apprises you that you are destined to hate her.