Much of the Book of Devarim deals with the obligation we have as a people to remain separate. We are obligated not to follow the customs of the people whose land we are conquering nor to assimilate ourselves among them. This is due to a culture and tradition that we must protect, one that promotes monotheism and a greater sense of morality.

Almost nowhere in Devarim is this sense of separation made clearer than in the mitzvah to appoint a king in this week’s parsha. While the medieval commentators debate whether there is an actual mitzvah to have a king or only a mitzvah of restrictions placed on a king should we choose to have one, everyone agrees that there are certain restrictions placed on a king.

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Both the reason for these restrictions, and the restrictions themselves, are fairly evident. The reason for the restrictions is because the desire to have a king is in order to emulate the nations around Israel.

“When you come to the land which the L-rd your G-d gives you, and shall possess it, and shall dwell in it, and shall say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are about me.” (Devarim 17:14)

When the purpose of monarchy is to emulate other nations, then those monarchs will emulate other monarchs.

Monarchs throughout history have been tyrannical, viewing themselves as deities, above the law and able to do whatever they want to whomever they want. In Egypt, the Israelites suffered under a monarchy that could change on a whim: one moment, praising Joseph, and the next, forgetting Joseph. And thus, it is an imperative in Judaism that Jewish monarchs are not susceptible to the same despotic intentions.

That is why the Torah places so many restrictions over a Jewish king: a limit on wealth, wives and property. An obligation that he be chosen from among the Jewish people, familiar with what it means to be Jewish. The King must write a Torah scroll so that he is not just aware of the mitzvot, but has physically committed them to parchment. And not only must he write these words, he must have them with him always, consistently returning to them, to remind himself that he is not more than human, not a despot, not amoral.

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Just like Judaism requires its kings to be morally superior to other kings, so, too, do we require all of our leaders to strive for morality at a level greater than others may require of their leaders. And for anyone who represents Jews in the public sphere, we expect a higher morality than we expect of others.

Because that is what it means to be a nation chosen by God: to exemplify morality and justice in this world, for everyone.

Rabbi Eliezer Finkelstein serves Bais Abraham Congregation and is a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association, which coordinates the d’var Torah for the Jewish Light.