Who WAS Dovid - and why do WE want to know?

There are countless teachings on the importance of learning Torah lishma (for its own sake). While I can say that the only purpose of my learning is to come closer to Hashem, can I really say this with utter certainty, or is this just my arrogance deceiving me?

While learning Likutey Moharan we come across an enlightening footnote in lesson #12 where Rabbi Chaim Kramer writes:

"Obviously, no one will readily admit that his Torah study is, by nature, not purely for its own sake. The only way to come to some clarity and remove the confusion is constantly praying to G-d for truth and guidance."

In our Torah study, as in our mitzvah observance, we must be constantly on guard that we are serving HaShem and not our own ego. from: A Simple Jew

Look where Lishma leads…


I began [we can begin] reading the literal English of Psalm 17:

“A prayer by David: Hear, HaShem, what is righteous; be attentive to my entreaty; give ear to my prayer, which is not from lips that are deceitful. From before You may my judgment go out; Your eyes behold uprightness. You examined my heart, You searched at night; You tested me – You found not; my thoughts do not transgress the (words of) my mouth. So that (my) human deeds (would accord with) the word of Your lips…”

And I thought; what manner of man was this who would address the Almighty in such (a) familiar manner? Was this chutzpah? Arrogance? Ignorance? Was he the most humble of men? Was he so “holy” that he felt such a strong relationship that he was ‘free’ to be so familiar? Who was David? The shepherd boy? The king lusting after (one of) his general’s wife?

So the trail begins. Lishma? Or will you follow?

First we (I) look at the book of Kings and find the end of David’s life, much as we find in Chayei Sarah. So we take up Volume One of the History of the Jews [©1891] by Professor H. Graetz and published by the Jewish Publication Society of America (Philadelphia) with a little background on Saul.

Saul has just been in battle with the Amalekites and gave the order to ‘dispose’ of the spoil so that all memory of Amalek would be destroyed but gave in to his army’s desire to keep the booty. This being directly in opposition to the prophet’s directions; he even brought king Agag in chains and further erected a monument to his victory. Samuel, through a prophetic vision, learned of these things and went to confront Saul. In any case Saul became humiliated and when he tore Samuel’s robe, the prophet said; “This is a sign: G-d will tear your kingly dignity form you and give it to a better man…” And this is where David first comes into the picture.

Saul’s victory over Amalek was also his own defeat. G-d abandoned him and Samuel avoided him. Later Saul would descend into madness, but before that we learn about his confrontation with the Philistines. The Philistines were the people who occupied the land previously held by the Phoenicians [and this is the area of current contention with the (so-called) Palestinians]. The ‘battle’ came to a one-on-one fight between one warrior from each side. Goliath for the Philistines and… no volunteers from the army of Saul – not a single person wanted to attempt to fight this giant. “And so it came to pass…” as the phrase goes; that a shepherd boy of Beth Lechem stepped up.

After his confrontation with King Saul, Samuel had received the prophetic mission to go to Beth Lechem to ‘anoint’ the future king of Israel from among the eight sons of Jesse. He selected the shepherd boy David.

We find out that David was about 18 at this time and was not from any distinguished house (like Judah) but who spent his time in the hills and pasture lands around his home. But he was pre-eminently gifted with poetic and musical talents. Samuel drew David into his circle of disciples and his poetic talents developed, he became proficient with various musical instruments and he came to “know G-d”.

After David slew the giant Goliath the Philistines fled and declared themselves conquered (and we still have the territory in dispute!). Saul’s own son, Jonathan (who normally would be next in line for kingship) was, himself, enchanted with David [hero worship? Or was it something else? We do not know – nor are we told]. David returned home but did not stay long as the destiny of Saul began to be fulfilled.

As Saul sunk into melancholy, it was only David with his harp that could relieve him at all. David became his amour bearer and became a favorite of the court. Besides Johathan, Saul’s second daughter, Michal, was secretly in love with David. Soon Saul came to see David as “the better man” whom G-d had chosen to be king of Israel; the rival with which Samuel had threatened him. Now Saul began to hate David with what would finally turn into his madness. And it came down to Saul, in his hatred, proclaimed David an outlaw and David had to flee for his life.

David was still popular and was joined by Joab and his two brothers which became the beginnings of the Gibborim (the heroic warriors) who would assist David in his rise toward the throne of Israel. Gad, a prophet of the school of Samuel then joined with them along with the priest of Nob and the last representatives of the family of Eli.

Jonathan attempted, in vain, to mediate between his father and David but only caused a wider breach. Many of the nation of Israel sided with King Saul and David was forced to form a kind of friendly relationship with the enemies of his land – the king of Moav, the Ammonite king, Nahash, and the king of the Philistines, Achish! This further incurred the suspicion that he had become a traitor to his own country.

At first it looked as though David would have to take arms against Saul along side of Achish but events transpired that David’s troops would not be engages in the fighting but still David remained in a position, living with the Philistine population and sought a dwelling-place in one of the citadels – the town of Ziklag.

We now find that David’s life (up to this time that we are learning about) is but a prelude in the development of the character of David. A youth of poetry and music; a time of great personal victory over the giant, an acceptance into the life of the King Saul and his family, his achievements in warfare and now his – unwanted but necessary – alliance with the enemies of his homeland. These all went into the development of whom he was and a foundation under who he would become. The life of David is a rich tapestry and the story of a life of a man. A wise man once said that; “Man is born to be many men, but dies but one man.” There is much more to be learned about this complex individual before we can come to understand how he would write the lines of verse that have become known as “The Psalms”. Indeed, we may even find that of the 150 Psalms attributed to King David that not all came from his hand. Is that the case?

Like the “Serials” in the movie-houses of our youth; we will have to return next week for the further installment into our Lishma.



chabakuk elisha said...
Torah lishma is really not much different than any other area of avodas Hashem. The entire concept of living for a holy purpose is a monumental goal to archive - and this applies equally to eating, working, playing and Torah study.
G-d gave us the Torah for us humans to get beyond the perspectives of this world. This world is unique in that Holiness is concealed; we live in a world where the ego is the only "given" that we know. The Torah teaches us to get beyond that.. we are to overcome our desires for all things physical and shift our perspective to the spiritual.
Now, imagine how ridiculous it would be for someone to learn Torah and boost his ego thereby!
As they say, "It is like one who immerses in a mikva with a sheretz in his hand."

You know what is a sheretz?