The Jewish monarchy, Rav Amital explained, cannot occur naturally, because it is not natural. Its origins are shadowy because it itself is fraught with complexities. As we firmly believe that all human beings are servants of the one King, it is no simple matter to appoint a human monarch who would exert his authority over the rest of the nation.
The Torah in Parashat Vayeshev tells the puzzling story of Yehuda and his daughter-in-law, Tamar. Yehuda’s oldest son, Er, died soon after his marriage with Tamar, who then married the deceased’s brother, Onan, in accordance with the rules of yibum (levirate marriage) which appear to have been observed even in those times. When Onan also died without children, Yehuda refused to allow Tamar to marry his third son, and so Tamar disguised as a harlot and stood along the road as Yehuda returned from shearing his sheep. Yehuda solicited her services, and Tamar became pregnant with twins.
Much has been said about the fact that the older twin, Peretz, became the ancestor of King David and thus, by extension, of the Davidic dynasty that will ultimately produce the Mashiach. Oddly enough, the eternal Jewish dynasty has its origins in the problematic union between Yehuda and his daughter-in-law, which occurred when the latter disguised as a prostitute. Moreover, Peretz’ descendant, Boaz, married the Moavite convert Rut, a marriage which, according to Midrashic tradition, was fraught with controversy, and this marriage produced Oveid, David’s grandfather. This is yet another “problematic” union that forms the roots and origins of the Davidic dynasty.
In addressing this enigma, Rav Yehuda Amital zt”l cited a comment by the Kotzker Rebbe concerning King David’s Moavite ancestry. The Rebbe remarked that the notion of kingship had to be “imported” from a foreign nation. The very concept of a human monarch exerting authority over the rest of the nation does not, in principle, have a place in Jewish life. As Gidon said to Benei Yisrael when they requested that he become their king after leading them to victory over Midyan, “ I shall not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you – the Lord shall rule over you” (Shofetim 8:23). Similarly, God told the prophet Shemuel after the people approached him and demanded a king, “It is not you they have rejected; but it is Me whom they have rejected from ruling over them.” As we are all subjects of the Almighty, the King of the universe, we do not fundamentally accept the validity of one person ruling another. Practically, of course, a governmental system is necessary, and thus the Torah allowed (or perhaps even required) Benei Yisrael to set up a monarchy. But even in so doing, the Torah foresaw the time when the people would express the desire to establish a monarchy “like all the nations around me” (Devarim 17:14). Kingship, even though it is a necessity, is not “natural” for Benei Yisrael. It is a foreign import, if you will, that had to be brought in from the surrounding nations, and from Moav, in the form of Rut.
Rav Amital explains in this vein the famous comment in the Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni 41) that King David was supposed to die shortly after his birth, but Adam “donated” seventy years of his life to David. The idea expressed in this Midrash is that the Israelite monarchy has no “right” to exist on its own, and requires outside intervention, so-to-speak, to bring it into existence and sustain it.
And this might also explain the unusual and problematic circumstances that gave rise to the Davidic dynasty. The Jewish monarchy, Rav Amital explained, cannot occur naturally, because it is not natural. Its origins are shadowy because it itself is fraught with complexities. As we firmly believe that all human beings are servants of the one King, it is no simple matter to appoint a human monarch who would exert his authority over the rest of the nation. And thus even when the Jewish monarchy was produced, this processed occurred in a problematic, unusual and peculiar fashion, demonstrating just how unnatural and complex the notion of malkhut Yisrael is.