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In the Torah section on the laws of the king, there are a few prohibitions for the king – having too many wives or horses, or accumulating too much money. It also provides a less defined imperative – “so that his heart not be raised above those of his brethren” (Devarim 17:14-20). Our parasha opens (ibid. 21:10-21) with three mitzvot that are historically linked to the king, as we will see. One is the laws of taking a beautiful woman from the enemy captives; another is the halachot of dealing with the children of two wives; the third is the laws of the rebellious son. King David was tremendously righteous and spiritual, and he merited to be the founder of the eternal dynasty of the kings of Israel. Under his leadership, all of Am Yisrael was united and during the reign of his son Shlomo, the Beit Hamikdash was built in Jerusalem. David was careful about the laws of the king – he did not have too many horses, or money, or wives. He also was careful about remaining humble, and the Rabbis view him as the right type of leader, like Avraham and Moshe. Despite this, one of his sons, Avshalom, was the epitome of the rebellious son. Avshalom was the son of Maacha, the daughter of the King of Talmai, whom he took from the captives of battle (see Shmuel II, 3:2-3; Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Teitzei 1). The midrash tells that David had a desire for Maacha, and this explains how it came that Avshalom became a rebellious son, who wanted to kill David, openly slept with his concubines, was responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, and caused dispute in Israel. We can continue this connection between Avshalom and the rebellious son. The Torah says that the rebellious son is killed by stoning, and the rule is that those who are executed by stoning are to be hung (Mishna, Sanhedrin 6:4). Avshalom experienced these two indignities, albeit not as carried out by the judicial system – his long hair was caught in the trees (Shmuel II, 18:10) and after his death he was covered by a big mound of stones (ibid. 17). What caused Avshalom to fail and reach such lows? The answer is from the end of the laws of the king – “lest his heart be raised …”; i.e., haughtiness. In order for someone to earn leadership, whether kingship or something else, he must be humble. Avshalom spent much energy, as his leadership started, working on his own honor. He assembled a special chariot, horsemen, and 50 runners in front of him (ibid. 15:1). His brother Adoniyahu used a similar formula when he tried to position himself as the next king (Melachim I, 1:5-6). These demonstrations of haughtiness only hastened their fall. After the Torah warns – “lest his heart be raised,” no one can claim, “How was I too know?” Let us pray for brave leaders, who are bright, talented … and humble!
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Rabbi Yossef Carmel

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