Equal Culpability Under the Law

July 6, 2024
Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

With more than tongue in cheek, I suggest to the members of the Supreme Court that they buy a copy of Mr. Trump’s newly published Bible, skip the rest, and turn directly to Deuteronomy 17:14-20 and read the verses very, very carefully. They refer to the establishment of the monarchy in ancient Israel. I can set aside all scholarly debates about when and by whom and for what purpose the Book of Deuteronomy was written and focus exclusively on the verses and their message.

If, after you have entered the land that the Lord your God has assigned to you, and taken possession of it, and settled in it, you decide, “I will set a king over me, as do all the nations about me,” you shall be free to set a king over yourself, one chosen by the Lord your God. Be sure to set as king over yourself one of your own people; you must not set a foreigner over you, one who is not your kinsman. Moreover, he shall not keep many horses or send people back to Egypt to add to his horses, since the Lord warned you, “You must not go back that way again.” And he shall not have many wives, lest his heart go astray; nor shall he amass silver and gold to excess. When he is seated on his royal throne, he shall have copy of this Teaching written for him on a scroll by the Levitical priests. Let it remain with him and let him read in it all his life, so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God, to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching as well as these laws. Then he will not act haughtily toward his fellows to deviate from the Instruction to the right or to the left, to the end that he and his descendants may reign long in the midst of Israel.

Adjacent to this passage in the same chapter is the injunction to take difficult cases to a higher court for adjudication. The existence of courts of law is rooted in episode of Jethro advising Moses to choose from the elders and establish a series of courts that could properly and in a timely fashion deal justice.

I am sure that the founding fathers of the United States knew these passages well. They also knew the horrible history of religion, i.e. Christianity in Europe, the wars, the deaths, the violations of human dignity, that led to the creation of a different place than Europe to live, a better place, a safer more humane place.  The courts of law and the rule of law became paramount in the colonies. While not including Native Americans and African Americans in their original vision, that which they did establish would lay the foundation for equal protection and equal culpability under the law. They assiduously refused to copy the European model of “divine right” and make George Washington a king. Instead he became president, addressed as Mister, without the trappings of the European kings and queens. Like the Biblical king, they reduced and contained his power and authority. And like the Biblical king, he was subject to the same laws as everyone else. Nathan called out David. Elijah called out Jezebel and Ahab.

No excuses!

No exceptions!

No exemptions!

No allowances!

No immunities!

Reading the Bible they understood the flaws and frailties of people elevated to position. They learned about the Israelite and Judean kings that the prophets railed against when they raised themselves and diminished the people, ignored the law and violated the law. With hubris they held themselves above the law.  What were the teachings that the king must follow?       

Justice, justice must thou pursue!

One law for the stranger and for the citizen!

Protect the poor, the widow, the orphan, the stranger!

Don’t lie!

Don’t covet!

Walk humbly before the Lord your God.

The United States has had a vast assortment among the presidents. Politics is a difficult business at best. Yet two who stood the test of time, whose monuments, built due the people’s affection, admiration and esteem, of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, command the District’s landscape, and compel our attention, for they, more than all the others, are exemplars of the presidency, the best of America, the litmus test of leadership. While Washington came from wealth and Lincoln did not, as the Biblical teaching, it did not lead them astray. They did not use the office to enrich themselves. They did not attempt to skirt the law, avoid the law, diminish the law, escape the law.

They saw themselves subject to the law just like the rest of us.

No excuses!

No exceptions!

No exemptions!

No allowances!

No immunities!

The Supreme Court, no matter how you read their statement, they missed all of this.

They missed the point that the president is just another citizen, albeit, with a very large responsibility.

They missed the point of equal protection and equal culpability.

They missed the point that higher office means higher responsibility.

They missed the point of the pursuit of justice.

They missed the point that if any of us had acted like that we would have long been in jail and they would have thrown away the keys.

They missed the point that without respect for the law, civilization can crumble.

Maybe we need the Jewish model of adding to the number of justices as per the severity of the case, reaching even to the seventy of the Sanhedrin. Maybe then there would be greater diversity, greater wisdom, and greater justice. I have a hard time thinking about this past July 4^th, thinking about this country, its current dynamics and its future. Currently I can scream “Gevalt,” share meaningful pieces on Facebook, and donate to people and causes that I believe will make a better America. I will send Menachem this sermon and let him post it in as many places as possible to amplify this message. Maybe in it will turn out well. Maybe people of love and kindness for others, for nature, for the world, will have their voices and their votes answered. As Rabbi Tarfon said in Pirkey Avot (2:21): “You are not called upon to complete the work, but you are not free to evade it.”

May we not desist in our duty to God, our country, our people.

May our prayers and actions be answered, Ba’a’ga-lah u-viz-man ka-reev, soon, in these days,

And as the authors of the Declaration of Independence closed the document:

“We mutually pledge to each other, our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

Shabbat Shalom