The focus of Sefer Devarim is perhaps the manner in which Moses reminds the people of Israel that the covenant made at Mount Sinai was not just meant for a people wandering through the wilderness – it was intended as a blueprint for the life of the Jewish people in their own land.
Commentators have pointed out that there are three basically different types of government. The first is dictatorship where one man rules without in any way consulting the people who are governed and the second is oligarchy where power is shared between a few powerful groups. The third is government based on covenant or constitution, which is the word we now prefer. A covenant sets out (usually but not necessarily in writing) the rights and obligations of the governed, the duties and limitations in the power of the rulers, the system of government, and the way in which disputes are to be adjudicated and criminals judged.
Whenever I read Parashat Shoftim I am always amazed to see how the Torah more than three thousand years ago required that the kings of Israel should not be omnipotent monarchs, that their authority was to be limited to avoid excesses and how the Cohanim [Priests] were prohibited from owning land to avoid corruption. The non-Jewish world discovered the virtues of the separation of powers in the 18th century (Montesquieu) and the dangers of corruption in the 19th century (Lord Acton). I have never heard even a vaguely satisfactory secular explanation as to how a group of ex-slaves wandering though the wilderness could have come up with such amazing political insights.
But what has all this to do with Yom Kippur?
On Yom Kippur we pray for the forgiveness of our sins. But in so doing we do not try to improve or change the Almighty in any way. He cannot be improved or changed. We do not even try to appease Him. We are, however, very much attempting to change or improve ourselves or the society in which we live. The sins set out in the Mahzor [Prayer Book] of Yom Kippur are mainly social sins. We pray for forgiveness for the sins of lack of respect for our elders or teachers, for the sins of gossiping, of obstinacy, of lying, of immorality, of “entrapping a neighbor”, of bribery, and of ignoring ethical behavior in business. It seems to me that there was not much point in an individual citizen trying to improve the system in Soviet Russia, in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq or even in present day Iran.
It is only in a democracy where our rights are enshrined and respected where we have the motivation to try to improve ourselves and to try to influence and maybe change others with whom we come into contact.
I think we do damage to ourselves by failing to appreciate the democratic institutions which exist in Israel and many Western states. In Israel I have not noticed one newspaper article or one radio broadcast which pointed out the pride we should feel that we lived in a country where the press is able to force the resignation of a prime minister who has not (yet?) been convicted of any offence. I feel that we exaggerate our criticisms of the manner in which our country is governed and we minimize its virtues. Winston Churchill said "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." (from a House of Commons speech on Nov. 11, 1947).
I pray that this coming Yom Kippur we will pray with all sincerity and resolve that in the coming year we will improve our own behavior towards our families, friends and colleagues and we should make an effort to make a contribution to the improvement of the democratic society and environment in which we live.
