For Monarchy Jr

Monarchy project (For Monarchy) Jessica Reznik October 20, 2009

I believe that monarchy is good for the Jews because, in sefer shoftim it says: without a king, B’nei Yisroel did whatever they wanted. B’nei Yisroel needed to be told what to do, or else they will make up their own laws and etc. B’nei Yisroel themselves, asked in sefer Shamuel for a king because they believed that they needed one. Hashem felt rejected because Hashem is supposed to be their king. But B’nei Yisroel wanted a person to be their king because he will be physically there. But, in Devarim it states that appointing a king is a Mitzvah, so that means Hashem wanted B’nei Yisroel to be based on a Monarchy ruling. King David was a pretty good king. He was a fighter, so he never gave up on what he wanted. He was also really good with building up the strength of B’nei Yisroel as a nation, which they needed. David aspired to build the temple for Hashem except he killed too many people including a man he killed to get his wife. David also built up the strength of the city of Jerusalem and centralized the government. He also started to tax the Jews heavily, which is a negative, but I believe that B’nei Yisroel deserved it. They wanted a king so badly, that means they have to listen to whatever he says and t, that means they have to listen to whatever he says and they have to do whatever he tells them to do. David had a lot of mistakes but that doesn’t mean He should be the one to determine whether or monarchy is good.

King Solomon was a very progressive king. He did a lot during his reign as king of B’nei Yisroel. He moved the capital of Israel to Jerusalem and built the first temple there. Solomon did not listen to all of the restrictions that Hashem gave to Shamuel, he married non-Jewish women, and he had thousands of horses. But Solomon also built very rich and glamorous buildings made out of gold, copper and cedar. These items were really expensive, so Solomon highly taxed B’nei Yisroel, just like David did. Shamuel warned B’nei Yisroel that these kings will do something like this. I don’t believe the kings that were chosen for B’nei Yisroel were good for them. But I do believe Monarchy is good for B’nei Yisroel. My reason: those kings had a weak soul, they wanted to achieve whatever they wanted too, but they didn’t really care about B’nei Yisroel or Hashem. They only wanted what’s best for them. But if B’nei Yisroel had a king that cared about them and Hashem then monarchy will work perfectly.