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The “dvar Torah” (listed in quotes as it can hardly be considered something that comes from Torah) at issue here was about King David. The presenter began first by suggesting that King David was not Jewish and he went on to accuse King David of being a philanderer and a murderer. The conclusion of the talk was that given that King David was evil, we Jews should not honor and emulate King David as we emulate Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
There are many problems with the thesis of this presenter, but we will address the following points: 1. The character of the Jewish patriarchs, 2. the source of proper Jewish behavior, 3. the lessons we learn from the lives of the patriarchs and King David, and 4. the historic evidence for the righteousness of King David’s lesson to the Jewish people.
1. Character of the patriarchs – The presenter suggested that we should compare King David to our patriarchs and we should not honor King David because he sinned. The presenter thus implied that we honor the patriarchs because they did not sin. However, of course the patriarchs did sin. Abraham went along with Sarah and threw Ishmael out of the house into the dessert to die. Both Abraham and Isaac denied that their wives were their wives in order to save their own lives. Jacob tricked his brother and his father to steal honors and blessings that were not his, and he did not respect his brothers. And while King David’s actions led to the death of someone, Moses killed a man with his own hands.
The point here is that all of the characters of the Jewish bible, just like reality and unlike the Christian and Moslem bibles, were human, and as humans they made mistakes, they erred, and they were not without sin.
Therefore with regard to sin, King David was no better or worse than any of the Jewish patriarchs.
2. The source of proper Jewish behavior – The presenter seemed to suggest that Jews do or should get their proper behavior by emulating the Patriarchs. This is not Judaism. It is true that in both Christianity and Islam the way the members of these religions learn how to act properly is by emulating their honored patriarchs, i.e. Jesus and Mohammed. However, in Judaism we get our proper behavior directly from G-d in the form of the 613 mitzvot. We are instructed by G-d to obey the mitzvoth, not our patriarchs. That is not to say that we cannot and should not learn from the Patriarchs. They do have much to teach us, but they were flawed human beings. While each had his own particular roles and main message that we can learn from (see the next section), none did it all or encompassed all we should strive for. That is encompassed and listed in the instructions directly from G-d, i.e. the 613 mitzvot.
Therefore, contrary to the presenter, Jews should lead their lives by following
G-d’s commandments and should not just try to emulate the lives of our Patriarchs.
3. The lesson we learn from the patriarchs and King David – While Jews should get their instructions on how to lead their lives from the 613 mitvot of the Torah that came directly from G-d, the Patriarchs and King David provide us with concrete real life examples of how to follow G-d’s laws. Being human the Patriarchs and King David all sinned and none were perfect; but each had one or one set of specific human attributes that teach us how to apply G-d’s laws.
a. Abraham – Abraham was a very giving person who extended his love and care to all human beings around him. This trait is the basis of all goodness and humanity of human beings.
b. Isaac - Isaac was a very private person who did not reach out into the community but what he did was take his love of G-d and his father and taught his sons. He took the teachings of his father and made certain that it was carried through to the next generation. This trait is of course essential to Jewish life. Without teaching our children what our fathers taught us, Judaism will die. If Isaac had not been such a private person who concentrated his whole being on his family and on educating his children there would be no Judaism today. The loss of Esau is proof of this. If Isaac had not taught Jacob well he would have been like Esau.
c. Jacob – The next step in maintaining a culture and a religion is to establish a community. If all you have is your own family then it is highly likely that the tradition will die as it is very difficult for one family to carry the whole burden. If one generation falters the whole tradition dies. Therefore, Jacob’s contribution of creating the Chidren of Israel was also essential because without a community Judaism would have died. Without a community that Jacob formed, Judaism would not have survived the captivity in Egypt.
d. King David- In this world it is not enough to have a community. Thousands of communities: cultures, religions, nationalities, etc have died over the past 3500 years. History has taught us that every so many years a culture arises and grows to conquer and dominate a large part of the world. As a result smaller and weaker cultures, religions, and people get swallowed up and disappear forever. How many Hittites, Jebusites, Phillistines, Egyptions, Assyrians, Amorites, Romans, etc. do you know today? In spite of the fact that hundreds of cultures and religions have disappeared over the past 3500 years Judaism and Israel survive and are prospering. This is the lesson and legacy of King David.
Yes, we must be open and loving, we must teach our children and we must form communities; but if do not form nations and armies to protect all of this, it will disappear in a flash as so many other cultures and religions have done.
This is not just theory as history has proven this to us time and time again. The first proof came fairly early in our history. Whatever happened to the Lost Tribes of Israel? About 3000 year ago the Jews had everything the three Patriarchs had given to the Jews, but the Jews were threatened by surrounding communities, e.g. Phillistines. They knew that in order to survive they needed a king and kingdom and a unified army that that entailed. King David provided all of that and he fought off the Phillistines and created a kingdom and a nation. This Kingdom split into two: a northern Kingdom of Israel formed by the ten tribes and a southern Kingdom of Judah formed by the remaining tribes. About 200 years later the Assyrians from the north conquered the northern Kingdom of Israel and the ten tribes were lost forever. What would have happened if there had not been King David and if the Jews had not formed a powerful Kingdom and army of David? When the Assyrians had arisen in the 745 BCE and if the Jews had not had a powerful Kingdom created by David, the Assyrians would have conquered all of Israel and all of the tribes of Israel. If there had been no King David then all of the tribes of Israel would have been lost not just ten.
King David was as much a reason for the current survival of Judaism and Jewish ideals and principles as the Patriarchs and this deserves as much honor and respect. The wisdom and righteousness of the Patriacrhs would have been for naught if not for King David.
When the kingdom finally was conquered by the Babylonians and then the Romans, for 2000 years Jews were persecuted all over the world culminating in the Holocaust. That is, we have seen that if the Jews just have the principles of the Patriarchs then all can be lost. The Holocaust was filled with righteous Jews who honored and respected the Patriarchs, but it did not save them. Only the principles of King David could have saved them.
Interestingly, in the late 1940’s a state of Israel was created but it was not created by the emulators of the Patriarchs, it was founded primarily by atheist socialists. Modern Israel was founded by emulators of the principles of King David not those of the Patriarchs.
Therefore clearly, Jews and Judaism must respect and honor all aspects of our history that has formed us and allowed us to be here today when thousands of other cultures and religions have disappeared. Also, it is clear that we cannot survive without emulating the principles of King David as well as those of the Patriarchs.
CTJ | 
