This has been a good week to be an American, and I’m enjoying it thoroughly. An American doesn’t get too many such weeks
these days. Since my arrival in
Australia four years ago, I’ve had to repeatedly explain why my country seems
so inept. It’s an ambassadorship, for
which I never intentionally signed on.
But this week has
been good. First, my favoured team won
the NFL Super Bowl. Decisively. I feel acquitted for routing for the Denver Broncos
in the Super Bowl two years ago. And
watching them get trounced by the Seattle Seahawks. On Monday I watched the Broncos bust the
Carolina Panthers, and it felt good.
(I should add here,
that I’m not much of a gridiron fan at all.
But after all, the Super Bowl is…the Super Bowl! To not watch the game, and care about its
outcome, would seem, well, un-patriotic.
And to not rout for Denver’s team when my last home in the ‘States was
in Colorado Springs, would seem…disloyal.)
The second event that
made it good to be an American, was the New Hampshire Primary Election. Each of the 50 states chooses through a
caucus or primary, its choices for the Democrat and Republican parties’
candidates for the nation’s highest office.
And then, in July and August, the parties will hold their conventions. They will either serve as a rubber stamp if
the voters have chosen decisively. Or as
an open-floor brokerage if none of the candidates has the required number of
delegates. Then, each party having
chosen its standard-bearer, the two will run for November and the General
Election. Occasionally, a Third Party of
Independent candidate enters the final race to stir things up. With the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire
Primary now past, they’re off and running.
The opening verses of this week’s
Torah reading, Terumah, tell Israel to bring forth gifts of various
materials for the construction of the Mishkan. Call that the preamble to the parashah of
three chapters, which gives in exacting detail the specifications for the
construction of the Mishkan and its furnishings. Then, in next week’s reading, Tetzaveh,
the text turns to the Priests, to their vestments and the preparations
necessary to purify them for their role.
And so forth.
All of this is
preparation for the governance of the People Israel. The rituals that will be conducted in the Mishkan
are not just divine theatre, something to satisfy and comfort the people
and make them feel that G-d is near them.
G-d’s constant presence is a necessity, because Israel is being
organised as what we would call a theocracy.
The tribes will be self-governing in routine matters, and major
questions of G-d’s will for the Nation will be addressed directly to the Deity
through His representatives, the sons of Aaron, the Kohanim.
But history, and our
Tanakh, tell us that this wasn’t good enough for the people in the end. After a period of autonomous tribes, rallied
together at times of danger by ad hoc Judges, the people demanded a
king. They wanted the same sort of
trappings that other nations had. Their
unseen King, Hashem, wasn’t enough. They
wanted an earthly king to represent their G-d and them, to engage in statecraft
among the nations. They wanted the pomp
and pageantry of a court and courtiers to make the Israelites feel themselves
the equal of other nations.
Later generations of
Israel would come to regret this demand.
The first King,
Saul, was a transitionary figure. The
second King, David, was amazing on many levels. He was a brave and mighty warrior,
strengthening the Nation. He was a
tireless builder, creating a capital city of great splendour. And he was an eloquent poet, writing songs to
G-d that are preserved today in the Book of Psalms. David was a flawed man, to be sure. At times he let his passions make him behave
in ways that were extremely unethical. But
at the end of the day, he was a great King. So much so, that later doctrine has held the
ultimate redeemer – the Messiah – will be from his direct bloodline.
The third King of
Israel, Solomon, David’s son, was more problematic. Don’t get me wrong, Solomon was in many ways
a wise and effective King. Three books
of the Tanakh are attributed to him:
Song of Songs; Proverbs; and Ecclesiastes. He was a man of peace and was thus merited to
build the Heichal, the Beit Mikdash, the permanent sanctuary in
Jerusalem which replaced the Mishkan. Instructions for building the Mishkan fill
our Torah reading this week, and those for the Heichal fill the Haftarah
reading, from First Kings. Today, Jews
tend to rhapsodise about Solomon’s Temple.
They joyfully predict that the Messiah’s coming will pave the way for
its re-establishment for eternity. They
flock to the Western Wall, the only remaining trace of the Temple that isn’t
subterranean. And there they cry genuine
tears for the sanctuary that is no longer, and utter sincere prayers that this
historical inequity will someday soon, be righted.
I get no joy from being
an iconoclast. But it is important to
remember that the opulence of Solomon’s court, and the wealth and corvee labour
spent on the construction of the Temple, broke the back of the United Kingdom. It caused the split into the Northern
Kingdom, Israel, and the Southern Kingdom, Judah, after Solomon’s death. This split, and the resulting conflict and wars
between the two kingdoms which had been one, led to their conquest. Of Israel by the Assyrians, 210 years after
Solomon’s death. Of Judah by the
Babylonians, 143 years after that. The
people got their royal trappings. But
they lost their way.
Many have said that
the American People, similarly, had lost their way. The Nation, founded 240 years ago as a complaint
against royal privilege, had been organised specifically to avoid this pitfall.
The US Constitution helped the young
nation avoid it by prescribing a series of checks and balances between the three
branches of government: Executive;
Legislative; and Judiciary.
But later
generations allowed the system to slip towards old patterns. By the 20th century, the Presidency
of the US was often being referred to as an ‘Imperial Presidency,’ a position
of unbridled power unimaginable to the Founding Fathers. This has led to the Obama Presidency which
many have called the least democratic ever.
And now, America begins the protracted process to elect its next leader. Early in the process, perhaps half a year
ago, pundits were predicting an ultimate contest between heirs to two political
dynasties: Hillary Clinton for the
Democrats; and Jeb Bush for the Republicans.
The next King of America would be from one of the two most powerful
political families of our age.
Tuesday’s New Hampshire
Primary has put that fear to rest. Hillary’s
candidacy is in danger of imploding. And
Jeb is looking more like an also-ran.
I’m not cheering the
possibility of a Bernie Sanders Presidency. For that, I’ll shrey gevalt! Nor am I enthused about the idea of a Trump
White House. There are other Republican candidates
I would much prefer. Although it is
early in the race, it is looking like The Donald has the Republican field. But I am heartened that the process that is
confounding all the so-called ‘experts.’
That the electorate is not in the mood to bless either party’s heir
apparent. It looks like a real contest. And maybe, just maybe, my countrymen will choose
well!
It is arguable that
the People Israel, in demanding a king, took a wrong turn. We Jews have influenced the course of history out
of proportion for our meager numbers. Much
of that influence has been for the good.
What if we’d stuck to the organising principles taught by Moses, recorded
in the Torah? How much more goodness
could Israel have brought to the world? The
whole vision of a Messianic Era is, in effect, a desire to right the wrongs of
history: more than the wrongs committed
against Israel, the wrongs that Israel has committed.
Maybe, just maybe,
the Americans will restore the glory of their republic’s promise. And maybe, just maybe, the People Israel will
stop their internal squabbling to begin to be a force for Good in the world
again. And maybe, just maybe, the
Messiah will come. Shabbat shalom.
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