Sanhedrin 040

2:
The last clause of this part of our mishnah is concerned with the duty of the king to possess a personal Sefer Torah. The Torah [Deuteronomy 31:19] commands all Jews to "write out this song". While the peshat [obvious surface meaning] of the word 'song' clearly refers to the song known as Ha'azinu [Deuteronomy 32:1-43], the sages amplified the term, and took it to refer to the whole Torah. There certainly is some justification for their assumption that Moses wants the Torah to be copied out and studied by every individual. In Deuteronomy 31:24-26 we find Moses making a fair copy of the Torah before his imminent death and depositing it inside the Ark of the Covenant "as a witness" – a copy against which all other copies can be checked. The Gemara [Eruvin 54b] gives a colourful description of Moses teaching methods. Aaron would study the written text with Moses who would also give him the unwritten explanation that goes with it; Aaron's sons would then be given the same lesson, with their father "sitting in" on the session; Aaron and his sons would then listen as Moses gave the same lesson to the members of the Sanhedrin; and all of them would then listen in as Moses gave the same lesson to the general population. "Thus Aaron heard Moses teach the lesson four times, his sons three times, the members of the Sanhedrin twice and the whole of Israel once. Moses would then vacate the classroom and Aaron would teach the same lesson to everybody present; his sons would repeat the exercise after their father had left; the members of the Sanhedrin would then teach it to the people. Thus everybody learned the same lesson four times" [Rambam, Mishnah Commentary, Introduction to Seder Zera'im].

3:
It is a mitzvah for every Jew to possess his own Sefer Torah – either one that he has written himself, or one that he has commissioned from a scribe, or one that he has inherited from his forebears. While, today, the cost of commissioning a Torah is prohibitive, it is still a great mitzvah to participate – both financially and physically – in the writing of a Sefer Torah, even if the contribution is but one word or even but one letter.

4:
The king, also, is required to possess a personal Sefer Torah; but unlike any other Jew he may not make do with one that he has inherited. He must commission his own Sefer Torah (if he cannot write one himself) and it must accompany him at all times. Thus he will constantly be reminded that the laws of God take precedence over any law or regulation that he might enact.

On June 7th we had occasion to mention the Passage in 1Samuel 8:11-17 in which the prophets Samuel tries to dissuade the people from their demand that he appoint them a king. Albert Ringer asks:

Could it be that one should read the text in Devarim as a paraphrase to Shmuel 8, where the people ask for a king and are warned against that. In that case 'if' should be the right translation.

I respond:

I don't see how the text in Devarim can be a paraphrase of the text in Samuel: they are not saying the same thing. However we understand the first sentence of the passage in Deuteronomy – command or concession – it accepts the monarchy as an institution that can obtain Divine approval. This is certainly not the case in Samuel, where the demand for a king is depicted as ingratitude at best and as a rejection of God's sovereignty at worst. The text in Samuel is trying to prevent the establishment of a monarchy; the text in Deuteronomy recognizes it as an acceptable institution and only seeks to set the necessary parameters around it. How can the text in the Torah be a paraphrase of the text in Samuel? If Samuel would have written the Torah he would have framed a completely different law: "You may not set up a monarchy since God is your King" – or something to that effect.

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On June 17th I mentioned Don Yitzĥak Abrabanel ardently championing a republican form of government, and suggested that this may be because of his too close acquaintance of the Spanish monarchs who were his contemporaries. Juan-Carlos Kiel writes:

I believe Abrabanel knew Fernando and Isabel too well – he was a part of the Court and a banker – if my memory is still true.

I respond:

Your memory does not serve you false! Abrabanel was Minister of Finances to Ferdinand and Isabella. That did not prevent his expulsion from Spain with the last shipload of his brethren: Sunday August 2nd 1492. (By one of those strange twists of fate that seem to permeate Jewish history, that day was Tish'ah b'Av! However, let's not get too carried away: Thursday July 4th 1776 was also a fast day: 17th Tammuz!)

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The response to my "offer" to expatiate on Conservative Judaism and Biblical Criticism has been quite overwhelming. I shall conclude this chapter, and before we continue with Chapter Three, I shall add an excursus on the subject that seems necessary to so many people.