King Moshiach!

This week’s Torah portion is Parshat Shoftim. Parshat Shoftim talks about the Mitzvah (commandment) to appoint a king.

Rambam (Maimonides) compares the king to the heart of a human being and the nation to a complete body. The Rabbi of a community is considered the brain of the community. The difference between the heart and brain is that the heart does not have its own power. Its job is to just pump out blood and energize the body. The brain controls the whole body and has an identity of itself - that it is the controller. Why, then, is the king the heart and not the brain? Because the king gets its identity from the nation, and without the nation, the king has no stand.

Moshe Rabbeinu had both qualities. On one hand, he was the king of the Jews and on the other hand, he was also the brain, the Rabbi, who taught the Jews the Torah.

When the Torah talks about a king, the Torah strictly speaks about the king in his capacity as a king. However, the Rebbe explains that just like the first redeemer of the Jews, Moshe Rabbeinu, who took us out of Egypt, had both qualities, so too the last redeemer, Moshiach, will also have both qualities.

May we very soon see those days of having the King Moshiach revealed to us, speedily in our days!!

This week’s candle lighting is on Friday, before 7:41 PM in NYC.

Shabbat Shalom!