Public Consequences

Let not those who hope for You be shamed through me.  Master, O LORD of Armies.  Let those who seek You be not disgraced through me, God of Israel.  Psalm 69:7 [Hebrew Bible]  Robert Alter

Through me – As we discovered yesterday, David’s concern is not about his own vindication.  It is about the impact his prior behavior will have on others.  This is the same theme we encounter in Rabbi Freedman’s Living Kiddush Hashem.  He writes, “Our mission in life is to increase Hashem’s honor in the world.”[1] To do this a person “must constantly evaluate every single one of his actions and words to ensure that they cannot possibly lead to a chillul [sacrilege of] Hashem.”[2]  The global nature of this requirement rests on the fact that those who are not presently followers of the One True God will judge YHVH’s character on the basis of the actions of His servants.  Everything we do is a reflection on Him.

The idea is not new, but the fact that it is found in a psalm written nearly 3000 years ago is important.  Too often we think that rabbinic Judaism added requirements to the Torah with numerous halakhic rulings.  We feel overwhelmed by the plethora of restrictions and instructions, especially when we come from a Greco-Roman world where individual freedom is extolled.  We have the tendency to cast off these rabbinic requirements as if they are the work of men; righteous men, of course, but nevertheless, not God’s direct commands.  Then we find a verse like this one, and hopefully we realize that the theme of personal accountability for public perception is a very old concern.  Perhaps we’re surprised, but we shouldn’t be.  We must remember that reputation—public acknowledgement of character—is fundamental to Hebrew thought and it is no less the case with God’s reputation than with our own.  Freedman’s statement about our mission is a good measure of our public responsibility for God’s reputation.  Our mission is to increase God’s honor, and as David points out, doing so will prevent His people from being shamed by the outside world.

But what happens if we make a mistake?  David’s story is an example.  His affair with Bathsheba led to various attempts to conceal his guilt—with dire consequences.  When we read the account, we feel the treachery of his plot.  We are aghast at his duplicity.  We are as incensed as Nathan.  Then we shift gears.  We see a man distraught, repentant, filled with remorse.  We empathize.  We know what it’s like.  We read his poem of guiltiness.  We suffer with his consequences.  But what we usually don’t appreciate is what happened to the faithful who put their trust in God’s anointed and proclaimed David God’s chosen one.  How did they feel when they discovered that their hero of faith fell—and not just a little, but calamitously?  Their exemplar was shattered, and along with him the choice God made.  Was he any better than Saul?  Was he worse?  How could God allow such a man to become ruler of the nation?  The questions must have circulated.  It wasn’t just David on trial.  God was also in the dock.  And He still is—with every choice you make.

Topical Index: reputation, public responsibility, chillul, mission, Psalm 69:7

[1] Rabbi Shraga Freedman, Living Kiddush Hashem, p. 8.

[2] Ibid., p. 10.