The Torah is to keep all within due bounds, from the most powerful in society to the least. Otherwise, there would be no society.
Now for a quick devar Torah.
As we know, Thursday night and Friday we celebrate Shavuot, the anniversary of receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. The importance of this event in human history—not just Jewish history—cannot be overstated.
One of the great struggles throughout history has always been the struggle between rulers and the ruled. In many societies, the king made the rules. As the saying goes, “It’s good to be king.” The ruler decided what was right and wrong, and often placed himself above the law.
The Torah comes along and says something revolutionary: the king does not make the rules.
That is one of the reasons dictators throughout history have often opposed religion—at least religions that place morality and law above the ruler. Ancient idol worship was different. In many pagan societies, the king himself was considered divine. And if the king is a god, then the king can do whatever he wants.
The Torah rejects that idea completely.
The king is not above the law. In fact, the Torah places even greater obligations on kings, judges, and priests because leaders set the moral tone for society. If the leadership is corrupt, society becomes corrupt. And once people believe their leaders are corrupt, they lose trust in the entire system.
This idea appears in the opening of the Book of Ruth, which we read on Shavuot. The book begins, “In the days when the judges judged.” But the phrase can also be understood as “in the days when the judges were judged.” In other words, the people no longer respected the judges because they believed they themselves were corrupt.
You see this throughout the First and Second Temple periods as well. At certain points, the priesthood lost the respect of the people because of corruption. The same happened with judges and political leaders.
The Torah in Sefer Devarim makes the responsibility of judges very clear: a judge must not favor rich or poor, powerful or weak. The only thing that matters is justice and the facts of the case.
That is one of the Torah’s great contributions to civilization: everyone, including the ruler, is subject to a higher law.
Interestingly, even modern constitutional systems preserve echoes of this idea. At the coronation of King Charles III, one of the central moments was when he was presented with a Bible and reminded that it represents the foundation of the law and moral order of the kingdom.
The Torah goes even further. It commands that the king write his own Sefer Torah and carry it with him at all times, so that he constantly remembers that he too has limits.
Imagine if every political leader carried a constitution with them everywhere they went.
But the lesson is not only for leaders. It is also for the people. Freedom does not mean doing whatever we want. A just society exists only when everyone understands there are moral limits, responsibilities, and laws that apply equally to all.
That is one of the enduring messages of Sinai—and one of the reasons the giving of the Torah changed the world.
Something to think about.
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