King David, the Days of Awe, and Relationships Beyond Repair

Sept. 15 2021

The biblical book of Samuel depicts David going from his role as the favorite of King Saul to being the target of his rage, jealousy, and obsession. Convinced that David is determined to overthrow him and replace him as monarch, Saul leads a contingent of soldiers in pursuing his former protégé into the Judean Desert. When presented with a chance to assassinate the king hellbent on killing him, David instead cuts off a piece of his cloak and—once at a safe distance—holds it up as proof that he remains loyal to Saul. Saul, whose fear of David has brought him past the point of madness, remains unsatisfied.

Benjamin Goldschmidt reflects on this story in the context of David’s life, the Days of Awe—a time of forgiveness and reconciliation—and the psalms of David incorporated into the High Holy Day liturgy:

It is [after this encounter] that David says to himself, “‘Someday I shall certainly perish at the hands of Saul.’” He realizes that at a certain point, he cannot expose himself to danger anymore, that Saul is intent on his destruction and that he can no longer rely on the caves of the desert for safety. It is then that our revered Jewish hero must turn, in humiliation, to Israel’s enemy, the Philistines, to give him asylum.

But according to the M’tsudat David, [the 18th-century commentary of Rabbi David Altschuler], David’s realization is not only that he is no longer safe anywhere in Israel. It is also an internal revelation that after that moment in the cave, there is nothing he can do to salvage this relationship. David knows that he will never play the lyre for his mentor again; he will never carry his armor into battle again.

King David’s glory was not defined by the battle against [Goliath] in the valley of Elah. His greatness was not displayed fully in public, before two nations watching. Rather, it was in the darkness of the cave—in which he showed his moral strength by not avenging himself, and by allowing God to serve as true judge. His moral character is defined while in hiding, in his lowest moment, when even then he is able to find the downtrodden and bring them under his wings. This is the person who seven years later will enter Jerusalem and make it the eternal capital of Israel and a bedrock of civilization. This is the ancestor of the messianic redemption.

Read more at Medium

More about: Book of Samuel, Hebrew Bible, High Holidays, King David, King Saul

Egypt Is Trapped by the Gaza Dilemma It Helped to Create

Feb. 14 2025

Recent satellite imagery has shown a buildup of Egyptian tanks near the Israeli border, in violation of Egypt-Israel agreements going back to the 1970s. It’s possible Cairo wants to prevent Palestinians from entering the Sinai from Gaza, or perhaps it wants to send a message to the U.S. that it will take all measures necessary to keep that from happening. But there is also a chance, however small, that it could be preparing for something more dangerous. David Wurmser examines President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi’s predicament:

Egypt’s abysmal behavior in allowing its common border with Gaza to be used for the dangerous smuggling of weapons, money, and materiel to Hamas built the problem that exploded on October 7. Hamas could arm only to the level that Egypt enabled it. Once exposed, rather than help Israel fix the problem it enabled, Egypt manufactured tensions with Israel to divert attention from its own culpability.

Now that the Trump administration is threatening to remove the population of Gaza, President Sisi is reaping the consequences of a problem he and his predecessors helped to sow. That, writes Wurmser, leaves him with a dilemma:

On one hand, Egypt fears for its regime’s survival if it accepts Trump’s plan. It would position Cairo as a participant in a second disaster, or nakba. It knows from its own history; King Farouk was overthrown in 1952 in part for his failure to prevent the first nakba in 1948. Any leader who fails to stop a second nakba, let alone participates in it, risks losing legitimacy and being seen as weak. The perception of buckling on the Palestine issue also resulted in the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat’s assassination in 1981. President Sisi risks being seen by his own population as too weak to stand up to Israel or the United States, as not upholding his manliness.

In a worst-case scenario, Wurmser argues, Sisi might decide that he’d rather fight a disastrous war with Israel and blow up his relationship with Washington than display that kind of weakness.

Read more at The Editors

More about: Egypt, Gaza War 2023