11 Aug PARSHAS SHOFTIM: WORDS OF EXHORTATION

The Following Words
of Exhortation Apply
to YOU!
In this week’s Parsha
we learn of the
Command to appoint
a King [Devarim
14:15-20]. This is one of 3 mitzvos that
became incumbent upon the Jewish people
when they entered the Land of Israel. The
pasukim state: “You shall surely appoint
upon yourself a King whom the L-rd your
G-d will choose… only he should not
accumulate a multitude of horses …and he
should not have too many wives in order
that they not cause his heart to go astray;
and he should not have too much silver and
gold…”
The Medrash in Shemos Rabbah states that
Shlomo HaMelech rationalized regarding
these laws. He tried to “outsmart” G-d, so to
speak, in the application of these laws.
Shlomo HaMelech asked himself, “Why did
G-d command that a King should not have
too many wives? Is it not because the Torah
is concerned that they might cause his heart
to go astray?” (After all, this is one of the

few times where the Torah explicitly states
the reason for a command.) “For me,
however, this will not be a problem. I can
marry many wives, without being affected. I
can handle it!” Shlomo HaMelech, in fact,
married 1000 wives.
The Medrash says that at that moment, the
letter yud (which is the first letter in the
word Yarbeh) came before G-d and asked,
“Is it not true that You said that not even one
letter of the Torah will ever be nullified, and
here Shlomo has voided an entire verse!”
(“Lo Yarbeh” is the phrase that means that
the king should not marry too many wives.
The word “lo” merely means no or not.)
G-d responded to the letter yud as follows:
“Shlomo and a thousand others like him
will become null and void but even the
small point in your shape I will not allow to
become nullified. You, letter Yud, and all of
Torah is Eternal; the great King Shlomo and
a thousand like him will be nullified.”
In fact, Shlomo’s wives did lead him astray.
They did end up having a detrimental effect
upon him.
Regarding this Medrash, one might ask why

the letter ‘Yud’ raised the issue.
Why not the ‘Reish’? Why not
the whole word ‘Yarbeh’? Why
just the ‘Yud’?
Rav Shimon Schwab zt”l (1980-
1995) offers a beautiful insight
into this Medrash. The
grammatical translation of the
expression “Lo Yarbeh lo
nashim” is “HE should not have
too many wives”. Had the pasuk
been written in the second person
it would have said “Lo Sarbeh
lecha nahsim” (YOU should not
have too many wives).
Shlomo jumped at the fact that
the pasuk was written in third person, and
argued, “Yes. HE should not have too many
wives. The other fellow – Dovid, Rechavam,
etc. But ME? Shlomo argued that the pasuk
did not apply to him. So specifically, the
Yud (indicating third person) came and
complained that Shlomo’s rationalization
was a personal attack. By manipulating this
‘Yud’, so to speak, Shlomo twisted the
simple meaning of the pasuk that applied to
all Kings and claimed that it only applied to

OTHER kings.
As we enter the Elul season and the entire
period of the Yamim Noraim, we will be
hearing words of moral chastisement from
our Rabbis. We will be hearing about how to
improve OUR lives. We must recognize that
the Rabbis are talking to us as well, not only
to others. There was once a billboard that
read “This Means YOU!” That is what
mussar is all about. It means YOU and ME
and everyone else.