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Friday, August 9, 2013

Insight 5773-42: The Structure of Government

For Shoftim
Not yet available on the Nishma website.

Study Question

1) We see from the case of Shlomo Hamelech with the two women arguing that the baby was her's, that it would seem that the the king's court must have had a pretty extensive schedule. How do you think it was determined if one when before this court or the regular court?
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2 comments:

  1. Eli AdlerAugust 22, 2013 at 11:12 AM

    It would seem, though, that the king also had a strong role in the
    Judiciary branch of government as well. Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot
    Melachim 3:10 points to the fact that a king could basically do whatever
    was necessary to maintain law and order. In this regard, he could level a
    death penalty even when a person, for legal reasons, could not be found
    guilty within the court system "

    Really? And here I thought a KING's power to execute only allows for cases
    where some person is "Mored Be'Matchus" . Because if not, why bother with
    this extra dictum - just say that a KING has carte blanch powers to
    execute/kill to maintain basic order?

    For example, the Mephorshim are bothered how could David Ha'melech put Urah
    Hachiti in the front lines, where he is surely likely to get killed.
    And they answer that he was Mored Bemalchus, by not wanting to go back home
    to his wife. Why not just say: 'he was put in the front lines, to fight
    and defend, and a King has this right, in order to 'maintain, defend, and
    protect' the nation at large? I see little difference between maintaining
    order ( or the need to maintain order ), whether it applies to the masses,
    or if it applies to an individual, if the KING deems it necessary for the
    protection and survival of the Nation at large.

    Eli

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  2. Rabbi Ben HechtAugust 22, 2013 at 11:14 AM

    I have been thinking about your question. If you look in the Rambam, there is no doubt that a melech has power to protect law and order and he also has power to create an army and thus send people to the front. This does leave a question of why the need to further explain what Dovid did with Uriah. It may be though that the problem was that Dovid singled him out. It is one thing to generically send soldiers to the front; it is another to single out one soldier for the task, especially for non-military reasons. In any event, if Uriah was a threat to law and order -- the case the Rambam defines is the murderer who gets off before beis din on a technicality -- it would have also been okay for Dovid to execute him.

    (The fact is that there may be another issue for moreid b'malchus may give a king more leeway in deciding to execute someone for this reason. Even though he has some power to protect law and order, it may be different than his right to respond to mereida.)

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