This class has been dedicated in memory of Faigel Bas Dovid.
Today we have yet another observation from the Hovot HaLevavot’s Shaar HaBechina, where he points out creations of G-d in the runnings of the world. Today we will discuss the concept of government, or better yet, as the Hovot HaLevavot explains, “the agreement of mankind to choose one leader to rule over them.”
This is an interesting phenomenon. Nobody likes to be bossed around, and yet we naturally choose a leader. That’s the way of the world, and it’s a very timely topic. People were fighting for Trump or Biden. Why would anyone fight to have someone to put in charge of them? Because G-d put into mankind the need, and want, to appoint a leader. Without one leader leading the country, there would be anarchy and chaos. Nothing would happen. The street lights wouldn’t work, no one would clean up the garbage.... We need government; we need a running civil system. Therefore, we need governors, we need mayors, and we need presidents. And as much as we may not necessarily like their policies, government is very important. As the Mishnah in Pirkei Avot says, “If not for the fear of government, a man and his fellow, would swallow him up alive.”
They point out that it says “swallow him up alive,” meaning they wouldn’t even wait for the person to die. They would swallow the friend up alive. That is what we need government for. G-d put that into us. Sometimes we hear of a government being toppled, like in Iraq or Afghanistan. But history shows, time and time again, that sometimes people are better off with the government of a dictator than no government at all, or a vacuum in government. We want a leader, G-d put that into us, even though it seemingly doesn’t make any sense. And we put ourselves at risk for our leader, even though we aren’t going to be the leader ourselves.
In the story of Korach, there was a man named Ohn Ben Pelet who was on Korach’s side, against Moshe Rabbenu. At the time, nobody knew who would win. Ohn Ben Pelet’s wife told him, “Why are you risking your life? Why are you endangering yourself? If Moshe is the leader, you won’t be the leader, and if Korach is the leader, you still won’t be the leader. So what are you doing?”
That lady made sense. What was he doing?
He was doing what G-d put into him to do, for the betterment of humanity. It is better for humanity at large to have a running government, and therefore, we bow our heads to them. We need the government. That is the rule of דינא דמלכותא דינא
The law of the government is the law.
Because once we start breaking that law down, there is no life. We have seen what happens when the police force steps aside for even just a moment. Stores get looted, and the whole system breaks down.
Government is not just something that’s here by chance, although it seems counterintuitive. Who made that happen? The Hovot HaLevavot points out that it’s one of G-d’s great creations- the natural need for government.
And we can go back to the same point we made yesterday- whenever we are nervous about something, we have to ask ourselves, “Who created that something? “That “something” was created by G-d.
And, לב מלכים ביד ה-Once we choose that leader, he is in the hands of G-d. Once he becomes the leader, he is powerless. He no longer has freedom of choice. He is now being controlled by G-d. Those are comforting and soothing words. We have to understand that G-d is the One behind government. G-d is the One that sets up social systems. Therefore, we have to just go along and rely on Hashem, because He knows what He is doing. He set up the system, and He set it up very well. Have no fear. Just like we have no fear about the economy, we have no fear about the government. Because G-d created the economy, G-d created the government, and G-d continues to rule and control it, whether we understand what he is doing or not.
Have a wonderful day.