Meir Soloveichik on King David
The Tikvah Podcast
Tikvah
4.8 • 658 Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2017
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 2010, the theologian Michael Wyschograd published "A King in Israel," a provocative essay in which he argues for defining the Jewish State as a democratic, constitutional monarchy. Wyschograd proposes that, without changing anything about the functioning of the Israeli government, the president of the state be given the title, "Regent of the Throne of David"—reconstituting the third Jewish commonwealth as a Davidic monarchy without a reigning king.
This idea may seem fantastical, and it was given very little attention at the time. But in this podcast, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik joins Tikvah Executive Director Eric Cohen to explore the theology behind Wyschograd's argument, precedents from modern constitutional history, and the political ramifications of monarchy. Using Soloveichik's essay on "King David" as a starting point, Cohen and Soloveichik explore Judaism's complex approach to kingship, the meaning of the Davidic dynasty, and the spiritual power that resides in a properly constituted Jewish polity.
Courtesy of Pro Musica Hebraica, musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim, and performed by the ARC Ensemble.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Tikva podcast on Great Jewish Essays and Ideas. |
| 0:11.6 | I'm your host, Eric Cohen. |
| 0:13.2 | It's my great pleasure to be joined today by my friend Rabbi Mayors Soloveitch, the senior rabbi at the Spanish Portuguese synagogue in New York, and the director of the |
| 0:21.8 | Strauss Center on Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University. |
| 0:25.1 | Rabbi, thanks for being here. |
| 0:26.4 | Great to be here. |
| 0:27.4 | So let's cut right to the chase. |
| 0:29.1 | Is this essay really your campaign to be the new monarch of Israel? |
| 0:32.7 | No, it is a bit of a campaign to make Israel into a constitutional monarchy, but as a Levite, I am religiously precluded from this position. |
| 0:43.1 | That's how you know I'm disinterested in making this case. |
| 0:45.7 | That must be very hard for you, you know, not having this chance to... |
| 0:49.3 | I would feel Bill satisfied just to be a member of the courts. |
| 0:53.1 | But of course, we're joking because as we'll argue, the argument is to make a monarchy without a king. |
| 1:01.5 | So let's get into it. |
| 1:02.9 | Our subject today is an excellent and fascinating essay that you wrote called King David in the January 2017 issue of first things, and where you begin |
| 1:12.8 | with this rather strange and provocative proposal from the theologian Michael Wichagrad |
| 1:17.9 | that modern Israel should define itself as a constitutional monarchy without a king |
| 1:23.1 | and redefine its president as, quote, the regent of the throne of David. |
| 1:27.8 | So what's this idea all about and why did you find it so fascinating? |
| 1:31.5 | All right, so it's important, first and foremost, to state very clearly what is being proposed by the theologian Michael Wichagrad, |
| 1:39.9 | and this was actually a piece that he wrote for first things as well. And it is, I believe, the last essay that he published before he passed away. |
| 1:51.0 | And we have to explain very clearly what is being proposed and what is not being proposed. |
... |
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