Shabbat Parashat Metzora 5784

Parashat Hashavua: The Content of Kingliness and Servitude

We are to create an atmosphere of freedom, greatness, and malchut (kingliness) around our celebration of the Seder of Pesach. Indeed we are told generally that Am Yisrael are “the sons of kings” (Shabbat 67a) and “fit for kingdom” (Horayot 13a).

Usually we think of malchut as dominion, which requires someone to dominate. Is that a value, though? Also, if all are fit for malchut, who can they rule over? Answering that dominion will be over other nations does not fit with the messianic vision of cooperation among the nations in the service of Hashem!

Rather, malchut is a lofty characteristic of the spirit, which does not require anyone to subjugate. What is it, though, and what does the opposite term of avdut (servitude) mean?

Avraham had an eved named Eliezer. Eliezer wanted Yitzchak to marry his daughter, but Avraham told him that “one who is cursed cannot cling to one who is blessed” (Bereishit Rabba 59). If the curse was that she was from a family of slaves, then Avraham could have solved the problem by freeing them! The curse started with C’na’an, who was cursed and decreed to be a slave to his brothers (see Bereishit 9:25). The order is that C’na’an was cursed, and as a result was decreed to be a slave, not vice versa. Servitude, it seems, is also not dependent on having a master over him; it is a lowly state of spirit. Usually this standing invites one to “acquire” a master for himself.

Before fine-tuning the characteristics of malchut and avdut, let us take another look at Eliezer. The midrash (ibid.) complains that Eliezer was deceitful in scheming to have Yitzchak marry his daughter instead of carrying out his mission the way Avraham envisioned. This approach is surprising considering the great regard Chazal had for him (see Bereishit Rabba 59-60; Yoma 25b), including the fact that some people confused him with Avraham!

We actually find that, eventually, Eliezer was referred to as the “blessed of Hashem,” by Rivka’s family as he initiated the attempt to make Rivka Yitzchak’s wife. The midrash (ibid. 60) says that when he had served his master faithfully, he left the status of the cursed for the blessed. Thus, as long as he was harboring thoughts of arranging things for his personal favor, instead of for Avraham/Yitzchak’s well-being, he was, despite all his positive, included in the cursed. Indeed, the eved is the one who is ruled by the desire to put the stress on himself.

Avraham epitomized putting others first. He ignored pain to prepare a serious feast for three individuals he did not know and whom he assumed were idol worshippers. This gave him the status of malchut, who is one who is missing nothing (Sanhedrin 7b). That is why his neighbors referred to him as a king and a prince (Bereishit 23:6).

Our nation attained the proclivity to want to give more than to receive through the subjugation of slavery and exile in Egypt. It is this that we celebrate at the Seder and by dedicating our lives to following Hashem’s laws and precepts. That is a type of malchut that does not require having anyone beneath us, but to elevate ourselves to a level at which we imitate our Maker.

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