Midrash sur Jérémie 2:24
פֶּ֣רֶה ׀ לִמֻּ֣ד מִדְבָּ֗ר בְּאַוַּ֤ת נפשו [נַפְשָׁהּ֙] שָׁאֲפָ֣ה ר֔וּחַ תַּאֲנָתָ֖הּ מִ֣י יְשִׁיבֶ֑נָּה כָּל־מְבַקְשֶׁ֙יהָ֙ לֹ֣א יִיעָ֔פוּ בְּחָדְשָׁ֖הּ יִמְצָאֽוּנְהָ׃
Anesse sauvage, habituée au désert, aspirant le vent dans la fougue de ses désirs, qui pourra refréner son ardeur? Ceux qui lia recherchent n’ont pas à se fatiguer, ils la trouvent dans le mois [de ses amours]?
Devarim Rabbah
(Deuteronomy 17:14) "When you enter the land..." - Halacha: A king who has a business dealing, can he be judged before a Bet Din? Thus teaches our sages: A king does not judge, nor is judged. He does not testify, nor is testified about. Our rabbis learned: Why can he not be judged? Rabbi Yirmiya said: For it is written by King David, (Psalms 17:2) "Let my sentence come forth from before You..." This means no living thing may judge the king, except for the Holy One, blessed be He. Our rabbis say: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, "My children! I have thought to let you free from kingship." How do we know? For it is stated, (Jeremiah 2:24), "A wild donkey that is used to the wilderness [sniffing the wind in its desire]..." Just like a wild donkey grows up in the wilderness and doesn't fear man, so have I thought that you should not have the fear of kingship upon you. But you did not want that, but rather "sniffing the wind in its desire...", and "wind" refers only to kingship. How do we know? For it is stated, (Daniel 7:2) "...the four winds of heaven stirred up the great sea." Said the Holy One, blessed be He: And if you say that I don't know that you will end up abandoning Me, I have already warned you through Moses, and I said to him: Since they will end up requesting a human king, from their own shall they crown a king, not from the nations. How do we know this? From that which we read on the subject, (Deuteronomy 17:14) - "And you will say, 'I will appoint for myself a king.'"
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy