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Sanhedrin 107: David And Avshalom
David asks:
In a sefer by R. Yitzchak Sorotzkin on Nach he refers to the Yad Ramah on
Sanhedrin and is a tmiya because Avshalom could never have been in a
position to be melech under any circumstances (and presumably would have
known it) if he and Tamar were both born before there yefes toar mother
Maacha converted because he would not have been Dovid's son halachically to
be king (from "achicha").
Have you ever found an explanation for this statement from the Yad Ramah?
Thanks.
----------------------------------------------
The Kollel replies:
1) I suggest that according to the opinion in the Yad Ramah (107a) that
Avshalom and Tamar were twins conceived by Ma'achah in the war before she
converted (incidentally, this opinion is also mentioned by Rabeinu Chananel
to Sanhedrin 21a, in brackets), Avshalom was indeed not fit to be the king.
2) The Parashas Derachim (written by the Mishneh l'Melech), in the 12th
Derashah, is in doubt about whether David possessed the status of a king
during the six months of Avshalom's rebellion. He writes that if David was
considered a king, then it follows that Avshalom was merely a bandit. I
suggest, therefore, that the Yad Ramah also maintains that Avshalom was
simply a thief and was not qualified to be the king.
3) This may also be inferred from the Gemara in Berachos 64a, which states
that "anyone who pushes time aside is pushed off by events." Rashi explains
that an example is Avshalom who tried to reign forcibly. Avshalom tried
forcibly to dictate current events. The result was that he was killed and
consequently cast aside by history.
According to the Yad Ramah, we can explain that Avshalom was trying
forcibly to become king, even though he was not the Halachic son of David,
and this is why he was rejected by the Hashgachas Hashem.
4) I have found other opinions that apparently maintain that Avshalom was
not qualified to be the king, and these will be support for the Yad Ramah's
opinion:
a) Tosfos in Sotah 41b (DH Oso) writes that the Din concerning the pedigree
of the king is more exacting than other positions of authority. When the
Torah states (Devarim 17:15), "From amongst your brothers you shall place a
king over you," it teaches that the king must be absolutely from "amongst
your brothers." Tosofos writes that both his father and mother must be from
Yisrael.
Different interpretations have been given to this Tosfos by the Acharonim,
but if we follow the simple meaning of the words it certainly would follow
that Avshalom was not fit to be king.
b) The Tosfos Yom Tov to Pirkei Avos 1:10 discusses Shemaya and Avtalyon.
He writes that it is not possible that they themselves were Gerim, because
if so they could not have been the Nasi and the Av Beis Din, respectively.
He cites his teacher, the Maharal of Prague, who writes that their mothers
were certainly from Yisrael, while the Gerim present in their familes were
in generations earlier than their parents.
Again, if the father and mother of the Nasi must both be from Yisrael, then
this certainly would also apply to the king.
c) The following idea came to me partly through a search of the Otzar
ha'Chochmah database. The Rambam in Hilchos De'os (6:6) writes that if
Reuvin does an Aveirah towards Shimon, then Shimon should not silently hate
Reuven as a result. Instead, he should express to Reuven what he did and
say, "Why did you do such and such?"
The Rambam mentions -- as an example of the way that Resha'im behave -- the
verse in Shmuel II 13:22: "Avshalom did not speak to Amnon either bad or
good, because Avshalom hated Amnon." A commentary on Hilchos De'os called
Pri Etz Chaim (by Rav Peretz Steinberg) suggests the following reason for
why Avshalom hated Amnon. We notice that the problem was that Amnon raped
Tamar, but had he married her, Tamar would have been happy with the
marriage, and David would also have been agreeable. If we project this onto
the opinion of the Yad Ramah, it all fits nicely into place. When the
Ma'aseh of Amnon and Tamar happened, it became public knowledge that they
were not brothers and sisters, because otherwise Amnon would not have done
this. Everyone knew that Avshalom and Tamar were twins. However, it now
became apparent that their mother conceived them before she converted. If
so, it now became known that Avshalom was unqualified to be the king, which
is why he hated Amnon.
Kol Tuv,
Dovid Bloom
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