Jewish Royalty
A university professor once delivered a speech in front of a group of students, and he asked, “How many people in the room consider themselves leaders?”
Very few students raised their hands. The vast majority were reluctant to describe themselves as “leaders.”
The professor then said, “I’m afraid that you don’t understand what leadership is. I’m going now to tell you what it means to be a leader.”
He proceeded to tell them that several years earlier, he was approached by a woman who was in her senior year at that college. She told him she needed to tell him a story. The night before her first day in college, she was with her parents in a hotel near the university, as she lived far away. She was very nervous about starting college, and she was crying inconsolably, and even vomited out of anxiety. Her parents tried, in vain, to calm her nerves. Finally, they reached a deal. She would go to college the first day, look around and see what it’s like, and if she then decided she couldn’t go through with it, her parents would take her home.
When she arrived on the first day and started getting herself set up, she was overwhelmed. The campus was large and foreign, there were throngs of people she did not know, and she felt very intimidated. As she was waiting on line for something, she decided she would go home. She just couldn’t do it.
“Just then,” she said to the professor, “I saw you.” He was wearing a funny hat and was raising money for a certain cause. Anytime a student donated some money, the professor gave him a lollypop. The professor then walked over to the student standing in line ahead of this girl, have him a lollypop and said, “Hi, why don’t you give this lollypop to the wonderful young woman standing behind you?” And that boy did.
“That changed everything,” the girl told him. “Somehow, that cute little scene made me feel at ease, and I said to myself, ‘I can do it.’ I just wanted to thank you, because the only reason I stuck it out is because of you.” The girl then mentioned that she was dating that student who was standing ahead of her in line, and eventually, they got married.
The professor explained to his audience that leadership is not about exerting power, but about giving. And since everyone has what to give, everyone can and should strive to be a leader.
His point, to a large extent, reflects the Torah’s conception of royalty. From the Torah’s perspective, “royalty” means recognizing that everything one has is undeserved, and is given to him for a purpose, to help and to make a meaningful impact. And so everyone is capable of leadership. As long as we realize that our blessings have been given to us by G-d for a reason, for a purpose, in order to serve others, then we are all leaders.
The Mother of Royalty
The seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuot correspond to the seven qualities with which G-d created the world, and which we must work to develop within ourselves. The seventh and final quality is מלכות, “royalty.” Appropriately, at the conclusion of this final week, on Shavuot, we read the Book of Rut, which tells the story of the mother of Jewish royalty – Rut, the great-grandmother of King David.
Rut was born to royalty, and eventually produced royalty, but in between, she had nothing. She was a princess, the daughter of the king of Moav, but she left the wealth and prestige of her family to marry a foreigner, one of the sons of Elimelech, a Jew who had left Eretz Yisrael due to a dire famine, and settled in Moav. Soon after her marriage, her father-in-law, her husband, and her brother-in-law all died. Suddenly, the three women – Rut, her sister-in-law, Orpah, and her mother-in-law, Naomi – were penniless widows. Naomi decided to leave Moav and return to Eretz Yisrael, and she pleaded with Rut and Orpah to remain in Moav. She explained that they had no future with her – she could not bear more children, and she had no money with which to support herself. Orpah agreed, but Rut refused to abandon her mother-in-law. Even after Naomi explained to her the difficulties entailed in living as a Jew, Rut insisted on joining her.
Upon their arrival in Eretz Yisrael, Rut – a former princess – was forced to collect fallen barley stalks in the nearby fields during the harvest in order to have food to eat. In the end, as we know, she ended up marrying the fields’ owner – Boaz – and bore a son, who became the grandfather of King David.
Rut embodied the Jewish concept of royalty. She did not demand or expect anything. She was prepared to live as a pauper for the sake of joining the Jewish People. She said to herself, “I deserve nothing, and because of that, I can have everything.” Once a person recognizes that he is not entitled to anything, and everything he receives is a blessing from G-d, he is happy living with what he has, he enjoys all his blessings, and realizes that he must use them for a meaningful purpose. And once he realizes that, he has achieved royalty.
David’s Humble Beginnings
This definition of “royalty” is also embodied by the story of King David himself.
We read in the Book of Shemuel I (16) that G-d instructed the prophet Shemuel to travel to the home of Yishai, David’s father, and anoint one of his sons as king over Israel. Shemuel told Yishai to bring all his sons, and Yishai brought all but the youngest – David, who was shepherding the family’s herds in the fields. As Shemuel looked at each of Yishai’s sons, G-d told him that this son was not the chosen king. After Shemuel went through all seven, he asked Yishai if he had any more sons. Yishai replied that there was a young son out in the fields, and when this son – David – arrived – G-d told Shemuel to anoint him king.
Why did Yishai not initially bring David to meet Shemuel? Why was he left out in the fields?
The Rabbis explain that David was treated by his family as an illegitimate child. Before David was born, Yishai decided to have his non-Jewish maidservant convert and to then marry her. The maidservant informed Yishai’s wife of his plans, and they arranged that after dark, Yishai’s wife would come into the room instead of the maidservant. The result was that Yishai’s wife became pregnant – with David – and since Yishai did not expect her to be pregnant, he assumed that she had engaged in an illicit relationship, and her son was illegitimate. And thus throughout David’s childhood, he was treated as an illegitimate child, forced to spend his days and nights alone, outside with the cattle.
This is why Yishai did not think to include David in his meeting with Shemuel. David was never regarded as an actual son of Yishai, as a legitimate member of the family, and so he was excluded.
And this is precisely the reason why nobody was more suitable for kingship than David. Left out of the family, condemned to live in solitude and humiliation with the herds, David spent his time studying and singing songs of praise to Hashem. Like his great-grandmother, Rut, who decided to join the Jewish People expecting nothing in return, David similarly devoted himself to G-d without expecting anything. He felt he deserved nothing – and so he was the one chosen to receive the glory and grandeur of royalty. Only somebody who recognizes that he does not deserve anything can be trusted with the great blessings of royalty, as he is certain to use these blessings properly, as a means of helping, assisting and giving to others.
As mentioned, the quality of מלכות is associated with the number 7. For this reason, it is associated with the seventh day, Shabbat. Shabbat is the day when we suspend our professional and commercial activities in order to focus on the fact that everything we own, everything we’ve earned, has been given to us as a blessing and gift from the Almighty. This recognition is what Jewish royalty is all about. It’s a mindset whereby we recognize that everything we have has been given to us for a purpose, to do something meaningful and worthwhile with it. Shabbat is the day when we become “kings” – because on this day, we reinforce our awareness of the fact that everything we have is given to us by Hashem for a purpose, which is the precise definition of Jewish royalty.
We are all capable of being “kings.” We achieve royalty and leadership by appreciating and enjoying our blessings, while recognizing that we are to use them wisely and meaningfully, to help make the world a better place.