[Melachim 1 2:1-12]
Before
his death our great King David delivered final instructions to his successor,
the future King Shlomo: eliminate King David's two loyal friends: Yoav ben
Tzeruyah and Shimi ben Gera (Melachim 1 2:5-9).
It
is impossible not to be shocked by these words.
True, King David had some conflicts with these two figures, but at this
moment he is almost standing at the entrance to the supreme world: shouldn't he
be striving to forgive everyone? And
Yoav ben Tzeruyah faithfully served him over the course of many years! Shouldn’t King David view his sins in a more
proper perspective? Is this really the best
advice to give to the young future King who is about to fill his role: to kill
the great hero of the Nation? One who carried all of the Nation's battles for
independence on his back?
We
must first understand the sins of Yoav: "You also know what Yoav ben
Tzeruya did to me and what he did to the two leaders of the armies of Israel,
Avner ben Ner and Amasa ben Yeter, whom he killed; and shedding the blood of
war in peacetime, and putting the blood of war on the girdle that was on his
loins and on the shoes that were on his feet" (ibid. v. 5). What is this all about? In the first section, which is found at the
completion of the ongoing civil war: "And there was a lengthy war between
the house of Shaul and the house of David" (2 Shmuel 3:1) regarding the
inheritance of the kingship. Avner ben
Ner, the leading personality in Shaul's house, reached the conclusion that
continuing this dispute would not be profitable, and therefore worked to unify
all of the Nation of Israel around David.
After this, he approached David, who was then living in Hevron, and
informed him that he was now accepted by everyone. David honored him and sent him on his
way. At that exact moment, Yoav, the
leading personality in David's house, returned from a military operation and
harshly attacked his King: "What have you done?...You know that Avner ben
Ner came to deceive you" (Shmuel 2 3:24-25). You are naïve, you do not understand anything
about political ruses! Yoav immediately
went after Avner, "Yoav took him aside in the gate to speak with him
quietly and struck him there in the stomach and he died" (ibid. 27).
This
is the exact model of political murder.
Yoav thought he was acting for the good of the kingdom, and thought that
he understood better than David what was for the best. In his Machiavellian zeal, the ends justified
the means. In this sense, he was the
anti-thesis of David: a person of pure conduct even under the most difficult
circumstances. Do not be mistaken: Yoav
was not a lowly adventurist. He was a
person of stature, a spiritual giant and a national hero. But his national zeal
created a context for depravity.
There
is a second incident, with similar circumstances, that is connected to a new
civil war. Sheva ben Bichri organized a
revolt against King David. He succeeded
in assembling almost all of the Nation of Israel under his flag other than the
Tribe of Yehudah who remained loyal to its king. David appointed Amsa, his Chief of Staff, to
quickly gather the men of the Tribe of Yehudah as a last hope to save his
dynasty. "Amsa went to muster the
men of Yehudah, but he was later than the set time which he had assigned to
him" (Shmuel 2 49:1). The reason
for the delay was that the soldiers were immersed in learning Torah and could
not be drafted. It is true that it is
permissible to cease learning Torah for an obligatory war, such as a war of
independence or a defensive war, but not for a civil war, regardless of its
importance. Amsa decided to nullify the
King's order, considering it illegal (Sanhedrin 49a), which ignited the fury of
Yoav. Yoav approached Amsa and tried to
calm his suspicions by saying: "Are you well, my brother?" (Shmuel 2
20:9). Yoav held Amsa's beard with his
right hand, as if he was going to kiss him, and then killed him with his sword
(ibid. 10). Much later, in the time of
King Shlomo, Yoav was tried by the Sanhedrin in a special session on these two
count of political murder (Sanhedrin ibid.).
Nonetheless,
one question still remains: Why did David, who was justifiably shocked by these
two transgressions of Yoav, keep him as the head of his army? Furthermore, why pass on the unfavorable task
of punishing the guilty to the young King Shlomo – something that would endanger
his standing in the eyes of the Nation, who saw Yoav as one of its greatest
heroes?
Rabbi
Shlomo ben Aderet, known as the Rashba and one of the most important Rishonim
(early authorities), answered this question.
The background of his halachic answer is a reality of sinners who have
had much power and endangered the community.
In order to completely eradicate the "sharks," the Rashba
suggests cooperating with the "little fish," whose transgressions are
less severe. It is always possible to
judge those sinners later if they do not repent in the meantime. The Rashba requests that we follow the path
of King David, who ignored the sins of Yoav in order for him to aid in the war
against enemies of the state, those who placed immeasurable fear upon and
endangered the young kingship (Shut Ha-Rashba 2:238).
Imagine
a downtrodden town in the Wild West, in which a group of bandits instilled fear
into the residents with the help of their pistols. The concerned federal government decided to
send a sheriff from one of the best law schools, a dynamo in jurisprudence, who
wore a fancy suit, stylish tie and elegant glasses. He walked into the local tavern with a pile
of law books under his arm and his diploma in his pocket. He approached one of the bandits and pointed
out which section of the law he was transgressing this time. The bandit let lose his anger and emptied the
chamber of his gun into the sheriff, ending his short career. The federal government learned its lesson and
decided this time to send the fastest pistol in the West. He did not complicate the situation by
politely citing the sections of law - instead he shot the gangsters without
warning. His strategy was more
convincing. This sheriff brought quiet
to the town and rode around on his white horse to ensure security for its
residents. Years past and the mentality
changed. Industry and technology spread,
a modern city sprouted, but our sheriff continued to fulfill his role by riding
on his horse between the cars and train tracks, shooting occasionally to keep
the order. The central government therefore
once again appointed a more elegant officer with a suit, tie, etc. who would
use polite phrases such as "My dear friend," "You are the hero
of my youth" and "I respect you." But now, he says: "I am the sheriff,
therefore please hand in your weapon and you will receive in its place a book
of tickets, a traffic whistle and a nametag.
And – oy-va-voy - if you shoot another bullet since as brave as you are,
I'll throw you in jail. Be forewarned.”
During
the time of King Shlomo, the situation had changed. All of the governors and generals had been
replaced by civilian clerks. Yoav was
now superfluous and dangerous, since the period of the gunmen with their finger
on the trigger had past. The Nation was
obviously more sympathetic to a shining soldier than a civil
administrator. This is obviously not
enough of a reason to eliminate Yoav. It
would have been preferable for him to make himself and his deeds forgotten
instead of participating in the continuing revolt of Adoniyah. He did not learn to take advantage of the
longevity which he was given by improving his conduct and there was therefore
no way to commute his sentence. In fact,
this revolt reminded David of all of Yoav's deeds and led to his uncompromising
decision to eradicate him (Melachim 1 2:28-34).
The
great national hero did not understand that the time of warriors had passed,
and now Shlomo, the man of peace, was finally King.
