Musar su I Samuele 18:35

What caused Shaul to begin to ambush David? Only honor as written: "And the women sang to one another as they celebrated: 'Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his tens of thousands'... And Saul eyed David from that day on" (Shmuel 18:7-9).

The beginning of the פרשה speaks about the gift of the land of Israel which is a patently "good" gift both in its manifest and in its hidden aspects. The land is situated "opposite" a corresponding ארץ ישראל in the Celestial Regions. Both the terrestrial land of Israel and the Celestial land of Israel has areas of varying degrees of sanctity. We have learned (Keilim 1,6) about the ten respective layers of sanctity of terrestrial ארץ ישראל culminating in the Holy of Holies. Moses thought that the lands of the kings Sichon and Og, i.e. the East Bank of the Jordan, already contained some level of the sanctity common to the whole of ארץ ישראל. We will explain why he thought so later on. A leader who leads the people to take possession of the Holy Land acquires great spiritual advantages. The authority of Jewish leaders is not of the same caliber as that of the Gentile kings or rulers. While the Gentiles derive their authority from physical power and material attributes, this is not so in the case of leaders of the Jewish people. Their authority is rather of the caliber of Heavenly authority. To be more specific: Leaders are appointed according to superior intellectual qualities, according to the ability of the individual in question to lead the people in Torah observance. As soon as the first Jewish king, Saul, was anointed king by the prophet Samuel he was granted Holy Spirit, as we know from Samuel I 10,11-12: הגם שאול בנביאים, "Saul too has joined the ranks of the prophets." One of the reasons the kingdom was transferred to David was that there was no one as qualified as David as far as Torah scholarship was concerned. G–d was with him to such an extent that any religious rulings pronounced by David were always accepted by his colleagues as binding. In addition, no one excelled like David in singing the praises of the Lord. These are the considerations that made Moses so desirous of remaining the leader who would bring the Jewish people into the Holy Land. He knew that if he were to be granted this request he would further perfect his personality, would be granted even greater insights by G–d. He wanted to fulfill those commandments which can only be fulfilled on the soil of the land of Israel, and he was certain that by doing so he would ascend still higher spiritually (Sotah 14a).

Another way of explaining our Psalm may be that David felt the need to apologize for taking credit for his humility, i.e. he apologized שלא גבה לבו, for having his humility become common knowledge. This in itself would rate as a form of boastfulness. He apologized, for not having remained silent, i.e. אם לא שויתי ודממתי נפשי. Whichever may be the case, the subject of this Psalm is the extreme importance of practicing humility.

I have already explained how all the attachment to G–d is achieved by means of Torah, and how all the "crowns" have as their purpose to further that attachment. The "crown" of Royalty may therefore be viewed as conferred due to the Torah. The tribe of Levi, which represents the "crown" of Priesthood, is described in Deuteronomy 33,10 as performing the function: יורו משפטיך ליעקב ותורתך לישראל, "They will instruct Jacob in Your laws and Israel in Your Torah." Clearly, this "crown" too is conferred thanks to the Torah. Concerning the Kingdom of the house of David, we find that our sages comment on the verse in Samuel I 16, 18: וה' עמו "G–d was with him," by remarking that the שכינה accompanied David wherever he went. The "crown" of Royalty is part of the "crown" of the Priesthood since the Kingdom of the seed of Yehudah was rooted in Tamar the daughter of Shem, who had been a High Priest already in the days of Abraham (an alternate name for Malki Tzedek mentioned in Genesis 14,18, as per Nedarim 32). When Israel later on sent spies to the land of Canaan prior to conquering it under the leadership of Joshua, the latter sent out Pinchas and Caleb. Caleb was from the tribe of Yehudah who represented Royalty, whereas Pinchas represented the Priesthood. (Cf. Bamidbar Rabbah 16, 4 commenting on Joshua 2, 1) Something of a similar nature will occur in the future when the prophet Elijah will represent the Priesthood before the arrival of the Messiah, and the Messiah will be Royalty incarnate. Pinchas is identified with the prophet Elijah.

Yehudah is an example of the first aspect of the pillar Torah that we have cited. Our sages say that during all the forty years that the Israelites wandered in the desert the bones of Yehudah kept turning over within his coffin, and that Moses prayed to G–d שמע ה' קול יהודה ואל עמו תביאנו, "please G–d listen to the voice of Yehudah and restore him to his people" (Deut.33,7). The Talmud Sotah 7 explains that during all these years Yehudah had not been assigned a seat in the celestial academy, had not made proper progress in his studies, and had not succeeded in reconciling what he studied with the halachic decisions. Moses prayed that this should change. In the case of David, however, we find that since his learning matched the halachic decisions it is rated extremely high, and that is why it is said of him וה' עמו, "that G–d was with him, i.e. approved of David's halachic pronouncements. (compare Samuel I 18,14, and Shabbat 56 on that verse.) Yissachar is an example of the second criterion that is required for Torah to be a true pillar supporting the world, i.e. his full time dedication to Torah study. Zevulun is an example of the third criterion, that of supporting Torah scholars financially. To underline the esteem the Torah has for that kind of Torah support, we find that tribe referred to as מטה זבולון, i.e. not ומטה זבולון, to show that he was in a class by himself (compare Baal Haturim on Bamidbar 2,7). He is shown the same deference in Deut. 33,18, when he is mentioned before Issachar, who was his senior.

The four requirements listed by Yitro in that verse, apply to the other four qualifications judges must possess. The term אנשי חיל, is meant in the sense that we find in Samuel I 18,17 when Saul told David to be brave, courageous. A different order of these four qualities. The words אשר תשים לפניהם at the beginning of our Parshah, are meant to tell the judges that it is not sufficient to hand down a verdict, but one must first explain the reason for such a verdict.