This short session is devoted to the second mishnah of the third chapter of Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers): that of Rabbi Chanina, deputy of the priests, who taught that one should pray for the welfare of the kingdom, for were it not for the fear it inspires, men would swallow one another alive. Rav Raphaël Benizri approaches the mishnah first through its author — a man whom the authorities kept, all his life, from the office to which he could lay claim — and then through its political reach. The question he raises is one of limits: how far must we bless the authority in place?
The lecture starts from the principle that G-d is not only the master of creation but the master of the history of that creation, and that we have a part in it, in its successes as in its failures. From there the Rav explains the custom, in every community, of the blessing for the State; the image of the big fish that devour the small ones; and the parallel with the thesis of Thomas Hobbes, formulated some fifteen centuries later.
He then turns to what can be abusive in power, to the kings of Israel themselves, and to the meaning of exile as both sanction and rehabilitation. The session closes on the law of the king as the Torah lays it down, on the three obligations awaiting the people upon its entry into the land, and on the reason why a government, whatever it may be, remains a delegated expression of the heavenly kingship.
What this lecture teaches
The one who teaches us to pray for the authorities is the one the authorities pushed aside. Rabbi Chanina is called the deputy of the priests. In principle, the High Priest has only one deputy, and it is this deputy who takes up the office when it falls vacant. Yet Rabbi Chanina, who lived at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple, never received that promotion: he remained a deputy, while other kohanim (priests) were appointed High Priest by the ruling power. Perhaps his personality was too strong and put people off, and it was preferred to keep him where he was. And yet it is he who came to terms with this situation and said: I will not rise up against the established authority.
Blessing the state in which one lives is a rabbinic institution. Every community does it: in France for the Republic and those who lead it, in Spain, in England likewise. The State of Israel is blessed as well. It is therefore not a matter of preference or political opinion, but of a prescription that commands us to pray for the well-being of the state in which we live and for its government. The mishnah provides its foundation.
Without the fear that authority inspires, man devours his neighbor alive. This is what the mishnah says, and our Sages explain it with an image: just as the big fish swallow the small ones and feed on them, a society with no government to run it, with no institutions, would have given way to anarchy, and the law of the strongest would always prevail. If we lock our houses at night, it is precisely because we are reassured that a governing power exists. This is the theory that an English thinker, Thomas Hobbes, would later develop in the seventeenth century: a bad state is better than no state at all, and the state in place deserves respect because it is the one that protects us from abuse.
But the state also conditions minds. What Hobbes developed was complemented by the observation that in reality, whatever we do, we are conditioned. Today the media contribute to this; in the past it was writings and public speeches, and every state has had men whose task was to shape the mind of society and bring it into step with the government’s policy. In this connection the Rav recalls the idea that we sin less through an absence of light than through an excess of light, and that the society so described is not black but white. Little by little, minds are won over to these ways of thinking, to the point that one can no longer escape them.
The King of kings exercises His will through kings. The Book of Kings shows clearly enough how many of them behaved, and how many abused their power. Kingship reached its peak with Shlomo, precisely because he built the Sanctuary, and it is said of his reign that he sat on the throne of Hashem. This is the idea that G-d directs history: He is the King of kings, but He carries out His will through other kings. A power in place therefore bears witness to a deficiency when it acts against the moral order, the social order, the spiritual order.
Exile follows the same logic. What is exile for the Jewish people? A great deficiency in the management of its state: the people is no longer worthy of governing its homeland, and so it must be exiled in order to mend its ways. But this sojourn among the nations carries a meaning of redemption and rehabilitation. Hence the duty to pray that these nations show compassion and ensure us the protection we need, so that we may mend our ways and rebuild our land. It is in this sense that the blessing is worded: that in his days and in ours Yehudah be saved — and by this one must understand the Jewish people.
There is, however, a limit, and it is clear-cut. To what point must one bless the authority in place on the grounds that it is the will of Heaven? If dictators are in power, if they are the inquisitors of the Jewish people, will we go on reciting a blessing for them? No. This is what leads us to understand Rabbi Chanina’s words differently: they refer not only to the authority in place, they refer also to the heavenly kingdom. We must pray that this kingdom favor a state more favorable to our sojourn in its land, one that allows us to rise again to the point of regaining our own soil.
The king is not merely the emanation of the people. The Torah foresaw that upon entering the land, the people would say they wished to set a king over themselves, and at the same time it foresaw the problems inherent in such power. Hence the obligation laid upon the king to have a second Torah scroll, which accompanies him wherever he goes. For he is not king only because the people chose him: he is also charged by the King of kings with managing the future of the people of Israel. The scroll that never leaves him is the constant reminder of this second charge.
This law applies only after settlement, and settlement takes time. It took three hundred years from the people’s entry onto its soil for the principle of kingship to be established. The texts were, moreover, very clear: there will be deviations. One cannot run a country without some form of politics, and politics is a politics of interests, in which people’s egos, their power and their favors all come into play. The Torah warned against these possible abuses, which does not prevent us from continuing to aspire to the kingship of David.
Three obligations await the people upon its entry into the land. To appoint a king, to wage war against Amalek, who is the incarnation of evil, and to build the Sanctuary. These three laws are indispensable to a healthy life for the Jewish people on this land. It is from here that the mishnah can be understood: to pray for the propriety, the health, the economy and the success of the state in which one lives, because this government too is an expression of the heavenly kingship, delegated to human beings. Without this fear of Heaven, and without taking in that even those who persecute us are a hand that corrects the Jewish people, all that remains is the law of the strongest.
Full transcript of the lecture
[…] He is not only the master of creation; He is also the master of the history of that creation, and we have a part in that history — in its successes, and in its failures as well […]. So what does this second mishnah of perek shlishi, the third chapter, tell us? Rabbi Chanina, segan ha-kohanim — Rabbi Chanina, the deputy of the priests — omer, that is, “says”: he says it constantly, he never stops saying it. Pray always for the peace of the kingdom, of the state in which you live. You know that there is a blessing recited every Shabbat. For the French, it is of course for the French Republic and those who lead it. For Spain, the same. For England, the same. The State of Israel, too — we bless it: every Shabbat there is the blessing for the State. This, then, is the rabbinic institution that commands us to pray for the well-being of the state in which we live and of its government. Now, he is called the deputy of the priests. In principle, the High Priest had a single deputy; one cannot be the deputy of several priests. To be the deputy means that when the High Priest leaves office, it is the deputy who is appointed High Priest in his place.
But it so happens that Rabbi Chanina, who lived at the time of the destruction of the Temple — of the Second Temple — never received this promotion to Kohen Gadol (High Priest). He always remained segan, always the deputy, so that others were promoted ahead of him: other kohanim were appointed High Priest by the ruling power, while he remained deputy. Perhaps he had a very strong personality that people feared, and so he was kept permanently in the position of segan. That is why he is called segan ha-kohanim. And he, precisely, came to terms with these circumstances. He said: I will not rise up against the established authority. And so: hevei mitpallel bishlomah shel malchut — pray always for the authority in place, she-ilmalei mora’ah, ish et re’ehu chayim bela’o — for were it not for its fear, the fear that it inspires, were it not for its authority, a man would swallow, would devour his brother alive.
And our Sages explain: just as the big fish swallow the little fish and feed on the little fish, so too society, without the government that runs it, without the ruling authority, without institutions, would have given way to anarchy, and the law of the strongest would always prevail. This is a theory later developed by an English thinker, Thomas Hobbes, in the seventeenth century: that a bad state is better than the absence of a state, and that the state in place must be worthy of our respect, worthy of our blessing, because it is the one that protects us against other abuses. If we find ourselves locking our houses at night, it is out of necessity — and we are somewhat reassured that there is a power maintaining order. This holds true for every government.
What Thomas Hobbes developed in his book Leviathan was complemented, if you like, by a Portuguese writer — I believe it is José Saramago — who wrote a book, Blindness, saying that in reality we are conditioned, we are blinded. Today the media contribute to this, but in earlier times too there were writings and public speeches; the state had its men whose task was, in a sense, to shape the mind of society and bring it into step with the government’s policy. This has always existed. Indeed, this author, who was awarded the Nobel Prize, showed clearly that we sin not so much through an absence of light as through an excess of light — and in fact he speaks not of a black blindness but of a white blindness. Little by little, minds are won over to these ways of thinking, to the point that we can no longer escape this content. So must one rise up only when one’s life is in danger? That is what Thomas Hobbes says. But long before him, Rabbi Chanina segan ha-kohanim accepted the principle that within Israel itself there have been kings who abused their rights.
Take the Book of Kings and you will see how many of the kings behaved. Of course, what we retain is that despite the failings of the monarchy, it was with Shlomo that kingship reached its peak, and that is precisely because Shlomo built the Sanctuary, and his reign was regarded as though he had occupied the throne of G-d: va-yeshev Shlomo al kisse Hashem — Shlomo sat on the throne of Hashem. And this expresses an idea: Hashem directs history. He is the King of kings, but the King of kings inspires kings; He carries out His will, or exercises His will, through other kings — kings who are, in a sense, […]. Consequently, the power in place attests to a deficiency if it is on a path contrary to the moral order, the social order, the spiritual order. Just like exile: what is exile for the Jewish people? Exile for the Jewish people is a great deficiency in the management of its state. It is no longer worthy of governing its homeland, its nation, and so it must be exiled in order to mend its ways.
Among the nations there is a meaning of redemption, a meaning of rehabilitation, always in the midst of the nations. It is a duty for you to pray that these nations have compassion for us, that they may indeed ensure us the protection we need, and that we may mend our ways so as to be able to rebuild our land. Indeed, it is in this sense that the blessing is worded: bi-yamav u-ve-yameinu tivasha Yehudah — in his days and in our days may Yehudah be saved — and by Yehudah one must understand the Jewish people. So, as for every authority in place, we know that it is the Holy One, blessed be He, the master of history, who makes use of other pawns in history in order to sanction the history of the Jewish people.
So what are we to do? We may go on blessing the authorities in place because it is the will of the Holy One, blessed be He. But up to what point? Imagine — imagine powers still in office that are dictators, the inquisitors of the Jewish people: will you go on reciting a blessing for them? No. That is what led our Sages to say that the words of Rabbi Chanina should not be applied [only] to the power in place, but rather: mitpallel bi-malchut shamayim — one must pray for the heavenly kingdom, that the heavenly kingdom favor a state far more favorable to our sojourn in its land, and one that allows us to mend our ways in such a way that we regain, at all costs, our native soil. For the principle of kingship was established three hundred years after the entry into the land, that is true — but the Torah had already foreseen it: ki tavo el ha-aretz… ve-amarta asimah alai melech — when you come into the land… and you say, “I will set a king over me.” And in granting a king, it provided for the problems inherent in that king and in his power: he is to have another sefer Torah, a second sefer Torah (Torah scroll), which accompanies him wherever he goes. Because he is not merely the emanation of the people; he is not king solely because he was chosen by the people. He is also king because he has been charged by the King of kings with managing the future of the people of Israel.
Now this law of appointing a king comes into force only when the people of Israel has settled on its land, and that takes time. It takes time: it took three hundred years from the Jewish people’s entry onto its soil. And unfortunately the texts were also very clear on this point: there will be deviations. That’s how it is — one cannot run a country without some form of politics; it is a politics of interests, and governing brings into play people’s egos, their power, their favors, and so on. So even among us these deviations have been brought to light; the Torah had nevertheless warned against these possible deviations. But this does not prevent us from continuing to aspire to the kingship, to the kingdom of David, since we have the duty, when we enter the Land of Israel, to undertake three things: to appoint a king; to wage war against Amalek — Amalek is the incarnation of evil; and to build the Beit ha-Mikdash, to build the Sanctuary. These three laws are indispensable to a healthy life for the Jewish people on this land.
So now we can understand this mishnah of Rabbi Chanina […] — of Rabbi Chanina segan ha-kohanim, Rabbi Chanina the deputy of the priests, who would always say: hevei mitpallel bishlomah shel malchut — pray for the propriety, the health, the economy, the success of the state in which you live. Why? Because this state, this government, is also an expression of the heavenly kingship: malchut Hashem, the kingship of Hashem, which also becomes a human kingship, delegated [to men]. She-ilmalei mora’ah — because without this fear of Heaven, without integrating the notion that even those who persecute us are a hand to correct the Jewish people, to allow the Jewish people to take back the…
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