The Nation Requests a King

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1. Give us a King I

   Chapter 8 (Part I)

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   Chapter 8 describes one of the most dramatic events in the bible: the nation's request for a king. Despite the fact that the laws of the king are discussed in the Torah, God and Shmuel are both negative about the request. This lesson will analyze the reason for the negative reactions to the nation's request, and discuss whether monarchy is positive or negative.

2. Give us a King II

   Chapter 8 (Part II)

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   After the nation requested a king, Shmuel is sent to explain the dangers of monarchy. Shmuel's outlook on the future of the nation is grim. Does his description express a legitimate reality? What does Shmuel wish to achieve with this description? Which rhetorical elements does he use to get his point across?

3. Requesting a King

   Haftarot: Korah

   Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein

   Why does the nation ask for a king? When is a judge preferable to a king, and when is a king the better option? The nation requests a king when Shmuel is the leader, and he believes his leadership is preferable to the leadership of a king. Shmuel presents the spiritual dangers of monarchy and a world that is less sensitive to God's intervention.

4. The Victory Over Midyan

   Rabbi Michael Hattin

   Gideon's brief but disturbing exchanges with the people of Sukkot and Pnuel highlights an ongoing problem in the book of Judges: The feeling among certain tribes or even towns within tribes that unless direct and immediate benefit was to accrue to them for their participation in the larger conflicts, they would much prefer to sit it out and leave the fighting to someone else, namely, their compatriots that were more directly threatened by the oppressor. The tribes still had a very long way to go in forging a national identity that could transcend narrow partisan concerns to address the greater issues and threats of the day.

   The Midianites raise the possibility of Gideon being a king, a possibility that the people subsequently raise, but Gideon refuses because he feels that such innovations will have the effect of shifting communal and national focus away from serving God to instead concentrate it upon man.

   The end of Gideon's life is marred by the episode of the golden Ephod, but his victories are remembered and referred to throughout Tanakh.

5. Gideon and Saul: The Search for the Ideal King

   Dr. Yael Ziegler

   תאריך פרסום: תש"ע | |

   Is having a king a positive or negative situation? What type of person is fit to be a king? By exploring the characters of Gideon and Shaul we can learn an important message as to the crucial qualities of a successful king of the Jewish nation, and the reasons why they did not succeed as ideal leaders, but rather laid the groundwork for the successful kings that followed them. 

6. Rav Amital on the Unnatural Jewish Monarchy

   Rabbi David Silverberg

7. Shoftim 7-8

   Matan Al Haperek

   Matan Al HaPerek - Neta Shapira

   These perakim describe Gidon’s war against the Midianites, the participation of the various tribes in the war, and the relationship Gidon has with them. The brilliant victory in battle removes what had been a national threat to Israel for many years. In addition, Gidon’s leadership causes the people of Israel to express, for the first time, their desire for a king. 

8. I Shmuel 7-8

   Matan Al Haperek

   Matan Al HaPerek - Neta Shapira

   Under Shmuel’s leadership, the nation triumphs over the Philistines, and a sense of normalcy is restored. However, Shmuel’s sons do not follow in his ways, leading to even stronger demands for a monarchy.