[Melachim
1 1:1-31]
"And King David was
elderly, advanced in years, and they covered him with clothes, but he could not
become warm" (Melachim 1 1:1).
Amazing! Was this a king's palace
or an elderly home in such poor financial state that the heating system was not
working properly? Did King David reach a
state of senility so that it was necessary to cover him? Wasn't he able to dress himself? The words of his servants which follow are
even more startling: "Let a young virgin be sought for my master the king,
and let her stand before the king and be his attendant, and let her lie on his
chest so that my master the king becomes warm" (ibid. 2). What a strange way to warm a holy king, whose
life was filled with trials, and who climbed to the highest spiritual peaks. As
the Psalms of David testify, his was an incomparable soul burning for
Hashem.
A parallel historical
document tells us about the tireless efforts of this honored king, at precisely
the same time in his life. "When
David was elderly and full of days, he made his son Shlomo king over
Israel" (Divrei Hayamim 1 23:1). It
is extremely wise to be concerned about appointing one’s successor. "David provided abundant materials
before his death. He called for Shlomo,
his son, and charged him to build a house for Hashem, G-d of Israel"
(ibid. 22:5-6). These were not only
political but also spiritual preparations: he gave the plans of the Temple to
his son (ibid. 28:11), and arranged a list of tens of thousands of Levi'im,
designating each of them for specific roles (chapters 23-27). What is happening here? What exactly is the
mental state of our holy King David?
Rashi, our great commentator,
revealed the answer to this riddle through the words of our Sages (Pirkei
De-Rebbe Eliezer, chapter 43): "When David saw the angel standing in
Jerusalem with a sword in his hand, his blood chilled from fear" (Rashi to
Melachim 1 1:1). There is no issue of
senility here – there is only a question of inner spiritual concern. What led to the incident of the angel with
the sword? The Tanach relates that King
David instructed Yoav, the commander of the army, to take a census. Yoav tried to convince him that it was not
necessary, and was in fact improper, "And Hashem, your G-d, will add many
more to this Nation, a hundredfold, and the eyes of the king see. Why then does my master the king desire this
thing?" (Shmuel 2 24:3). But the king
gave in to his evil inclination and held fast to his command. Yoav, as the commander of the army, obeyed
and conducted the census. "And
there were eight hundred thousand soldiers who drew the sword in Israel and
five hundred thousand men of Yehudah" (ibid. 9). Blessed is Hashem, this is a good-standing
army, but "David's heart was struck after he had counted the people. And David said to Hashem: I have sinned
greatly in what I have done" (10).
What was this fateful sin? If this
census had been necessary for a military purpose, it would have been
permissible according to the Halachah.
But since the military did not see a need for it, it was clearly motivated
by absent-minded militarism. One must
recognize the great merit of King David in establishing for us an army worth
its name, and the fact that he transformed a tortured Nation into a great
power, but "a man does not live by bread alone" and also not by an
infantry alone. There was a misplaced
sense of priorities here which was dangerous.
"And Hashem sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning until
the appointed time, and seventy thousand men died from Dan to Beersheva. When the angel stretched his hand over
Jerusalem to destroy it, Hashem relented of the evil, and said to the angel who
destroyed the people: Hold back your hand…and David said to Hashem when he saw
the angel striking the Nation and said:" Behold, I have sinned and I have
transgressed, but what have these sheep done?" (ibid. 15-17). And then, as our Sages graphically describe,
the angel took his avenging sword, dripping with blood, and wiped it on David's
clothing. This act caused him to be plagued by trembling for the rest of his
life (Pirkei De-Rebbe Eliezer, chapter 43).
This explains why the king was distressed and immobilized.
At the end of his life, David
completed all of his great activities: independence, a military, conquests, a
strong national economy – almost everything that makes a strong nation. But it
was still lacking a soul! When the
members of the court, which included some fools, saw their king worried and
bothered, they concluded that he was simply cold, and if he married an amicable
and exciting young woman, he would be revived him. As is related in the Tanach, King David did
not even bother to respond to them. He
floated high above these small politicians.
Nonetheless, he agreed that the young woman would serve the role of a
new secretary - but nothing more: "And the young woman was very fair and
she attended the king and served him, but the king had no intimacy with
her" (Melachim 1 1:4). Our Sages
also reveal to us that this young woman much later became one of King Shlomo's
wives (Sanhedrin 22a).
In any event, King David had
concerns on a completely different level, and he dedicated his final days to
activities important beyond measure, particularly to filling the Nation’s
spiritual hole: choosing a successor, preparing for the building of the Temple,
organizing the Levi'im, the law enforcers and the judges (Divrei Hayamim 1
23:4). And, of course, delivering his
great spiritual message to the Nation, in a major speech to "all of the
princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, the captains of the companies who
served the king by divisions, the captains over the thousands, the captains
over the hundreds, the stewards over all of the property…and with the officers,
the mighty men and with all of the mighty soldiers…" (ibid. 28:1). The great king, rich with life experience of
closeness to Hashem, made a declaration which can be heard to this very day:
"Observe and seek out all the commandments of Hashem, your G-d, so that
you may possess this good Land and leave it as an inheritance to your children
after you for eternity" (8).
He then turned to the entire
assembly (ibid. 29:10) in order to bless Hashem and strengthen the faith of the
Nation. This is the section which we
recite each morning in our prayers while standing, and with proper intention.
It begins: "And David blessed Hashem in front of the entire
assembly."
