“Restore Our Judges As at First”

by HaRav Dov Begon
Rosh HaYeshiva, Machon Meir

In Pirkei Avot (4:21) we read: “Envy, lust, and a craving for honor shorten a man’s life”. Korach craved honor, and as is well known, “Craving honor is what drives the heart of man more than all the other passions and desires on earth… it is one of man’s greatest stumbling blocks” (Mesillat Yesharim, Nekiyut). Indeed, Korach sinned and he led those around him to sin, bringing a serious calamity upon them and upon himself.

Yerav’am ben Nevat likewise sinned and led others to sin... Even though he was learned in Torah, he still fell prey to the pursuit of honor. As our sages teach, G-d took hold of his cloak and said to him, “Retract your plan of dividing the kingdom in two, and you and I and David will stroll together in Eden!” Yet he replied, “And who will walk in front?” to which G-d answered, “Dovid will!” Yerav’am ben Nevat responded, “If so, I do not wish to retract” (Sanhedrin 102a).

The outcome is well known: for hundreds of years during the First Beit HaMikdash, the Jewish People was split into two countries, such that instead of there being “one nation in the Land”, there were two.

Not only in the past, did the pursuit of honor by some of the leaders of Israel cause a crisis of the land and people being torn apart, but in our own day as well. Today, the moral deterioration of some of those running the country, and of others who long to attain the reins of leadership, has led us to mistaken, illusory thinking and plans, like the wretched, dangerous Oslo accords. The purpose of that accord was to split up Eretz Yisrael and to establish for the Arabs a state, whose entire purpose would be to destroy the State of Israel, as we can see with our own eyes.

We must pray and seek mercy from G-d that He should place at the head of our government idealistic, pure-hearted men who have no ulterior motives and no craving for money or for honor. They must be men whose entire goal is to strengthen the State of Israel, and to strengthen our hold on Eretz Yisrael. We need leaders who will unify the Jewish People, who are likened to a tree with many branches. And just as a tree is united through its roots, so, too are the Jewish People united through their roots.

The roots of the Jewish People, from which they have been drawing strength for thousands of years, are Jewish tradition and the study of our holy Torah in fear, love and faith. By such means we shall become the living fulfillment of the prayer: “Restore our judges as at first, and our counselors as at the beginning. Remove from us sorrow and sighing” (Shemonah Esrei)

Besorot Tovot, Chodesh Tov, and Shabbat Shalom,
Looking forward to complete salvation,
With the Love of Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael.