Parashat Shoftim 5784

All rabbis have their favorite traditional Jewish texts that they seek to teach at every opportunity. One of my favorites is found in the Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 34a, which addresses when worshippers should bow when reciting the Amidah, the standing prayer that is the centerpiece of every Jewish worship service.

The passage begins by noting an early tradition that a person should bow four times during the Amidah: at the beginning and conclusion of the first blessing (Avot), and at the beginning and conclusion of the blessing of Thanksgiving (Modim) which is the Amidah’s next-to-last blessing. If someone seeks to bow more often than this, they should be instructed not to; four times is enough.

Then, however, some later scholars (Amoraim) express that they learned the tradition slightly differently. The above scheme of bowing four times during the Amidah is specifically for ordinary people. However, a High Priest should bow at the end of each blessing — or, according to a different opinion, at the beginning of each blessing. (This means that while an ordinary person would bow four times during the Amidah, a High Priest would bow seven times [on a Shabbat or holiday] or 18 or 19 times [on a weekday].)

The passage also addresses what the King of Israel should do during his Amidah. (Never mind that this question is anachronistic — we are not sure if there ever was a King of Israel at the same time that the Amidah existed….) Again, two different opinions are presented. One opinion says that the King of Israel should bow at the beginning and end of each blessing of the Amidah (for a total of 14 bows on Shabbat, or 36 or 38 bows on weekdays!). A second opinion, however, says that during his Amidah, the King of Israel should bow just once. But that one bow should last for the entire length of the recitation of the Amidah. Thus the King of Israel will be emulating the prayer of King Solomon at the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem: “When Solomon finished praying all of his prayer to Adonai, he rose from before the altar of Adonai from kneeling upon his knees…” (I Kings 8:54). The implication is that just as King Solomon was prostrating during the entirety of his dedication prayer, rising only after the conclusion of the prayer, so it should be for every King of Israel when praying before God.

I appreciate what this text suggests about the meaning and purpose of bowing during prayer. In the Bible, when people bow before other people, it is understood as a gesture of humility and of respect; people bow when they are in the presence of those who are powerful and who deserve obedience and deference. And yet, according to this Talmudic passage, it is precisely those who have the most power and prestige who should be spending the maximum amount of time bowing! The message appears to be: those who are powerful are the ones who most need to internalize that they are not all-powerful. Those who have power must identify before Whom they need to bow.

This week’s Torah portion of Shoftim makes a similar point. In the Torah’s longest discussion of the role of a king (Deuteronomy 17:14ff), the people are told that they are permitted to appoint a king, though doing so is not required (and, from what follows, seems to be only begrudgingly permitted). The king must not amass too many horses or wives or gold and silver. Additionally, “when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he is to write himself a copy of this Instruction in a record, before the presence of Levitical priests. It is to remain beside him, and he is to read out of it all the days of his life,” so that he will develop awe for God and so that his heart will not be raised up above his brethren. (Schocken translation, Everett Fox) It is not entirely clear what the Hebrew words  mishneh ha-torah ha-zot al sefer mean in this context. Academic scholars usually assume that the word “Torah,” when present in the Torah, means “teaching” or “instruction” (rather than “Torah”), but the most traditional way that this passage is understood is that the king, in addition to his other duties, is commanded by the Torah to write a Torah scroll and to read from it every day. Either way, this commandment requires the king to affirm that he is not supremely powerful; he must show deference to God and is constrained by the laws of the Torah.

U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt once remarked about the White House, “I never forget that I live in a house owned by all the American people and that I have been given their trust.” (Fireside Chat, April 14, 1938) The Torah’s vision for the mindset of a leader is similar. May we have the wisdom to seek leaders who are comfortable with the extra bowing that a high leadership position demands.

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Rabbi Robert Scheinberg, Ph.D., is the Rabbi in Residence at the Academy for Jewish Religion, where he teaches courses in Jewish Liturgy, as well as the Rabbi of the United Synagogue of Hoboken. Rabbi Scheinberg was a member of the editorial committees for Mahzor Lev Shalem and Siddur Lev Shalem, the prayer books used in many Conservative congregations.