He shall write for himself a copy of this Torah in a book…[2]
One might expect the king to enjoy certain privileges and exemptions. When it comes to the mitzvah of writing a sefer Torah, however, the opposite is true. The words in our pasuk “mishnei ha-Torah hazos” told Chazal[3] that the king must write two such scrolls, or double the requirement of ordinary Jews. One is to take out with him, the other to keep in his treasure-trove.
What purpose could there be to having two copies of the same Torah? An approach occurred to me, based on a thought I heard from my father. In the piyyutim of the Yamim Noraim, we find a peculiar phrase praising Hashem. “He is garbed with vengeance/nekamah; He is secreted in righteousness/yosher.” My father explained that vengeance is an activity readily understandable in human beings, but not really in HKBH. His vengeance, we must understand, is never vengeance for vengeance’s sake. He manifests nekamah for the purpose of eliciting reverence for Him and thereby guiding and straightening man’s ways. This, then, is the meaning of the piyyut: He manifests vengeance, but His secret goal is only yosher – guiding human beings to act properly.
I would add that human beings, once enraged, have a difficult (if not impossible) time constraining that rage. Not so HKBH. Even in the midst of His rogez, there is already limitation and restraint. His anger never overwhelms His larger purpose; He can hold competing needs in perfect balance. Human beings, far less so.
Kings constantly must deal with competing needs. The king must retain a regal aloofness from the people. His bearing must command respect and honor at all times. The Torah itself commands[4] that the people place the fear of their monarch upon themselves.
This could easily lead to pride and arrogance on the part of the king. His challenge is to merely display his regal stature outwardly, but not internalize any of its message. Even what he displays must be carefully considered and weighed: is this measure or action necessary for the function of the monarchy, or am I acting in a certain way because I enjoy it, or take myself too seriously?
The Torah prescribes a modus vivendi for his predicament. What he needs is two sifrei Torah, i.e. He needs one Torah that he takes with him wherever he goes. That Torah requires him to act in a way that inspires awe among the people. Additionally, he requires a second Torah that he keeps hidden, away from public display. That Torah prescribes that his innermost intentions be only to maintain respect for his authority, but have no effect on his ego.
The two scrolls therefore represent two dimensions of the king’s relationship with Torah: one governs what he must project to the nation; the other governs what must remain hidden within him.
The king is not so much burdened with an additional mitzvah as privileged to receive from Torah the two things his position demands: the ability to inspire awe without succumbing to pride, and the ability to wield power without allowing power to corrupt him.
- Adapted from Divrei Shaul by Rav Yosef Shaul Nathanson, the Shoel U-Meishiv ↑
- Devarim 17:18 ↑
- Sanhedrim 21b ↑
- Kesubos 17a ↑