The Arrogance of Power (given on the week of the Gov. Blagojevich arrest)

I hardly need to say that his has been an incredibly disheartening week for the people of Illinois. The spectacle of the Governor of this state being arrested and taken from his own home in handcuffs was startling in and of itself. But the revelation of what he is accused essentially of having conspired to auction off the vacant seat in the United States Senate literally takes one's breath away.

If there is such a thing as ultimate chutzpah, this certainly must be it. And if that was not enough to make all of us sick to our stomachs, the transcripts of his various conversations, filled with the coarsest possible language has given us all an up-close and personal view of this particular Governor that rivals the infamous Nixon tapes.

Coming on the heels of one of Illinois' most glorious times, the election of Barack Obama and the celebration of that historic victory in Grant Park, this despicable behavior seems all the more disgusting. The city and state, so tainted historically by its inescapable association with gangsters and machine politicians, finally seemed to have transcended all of that by the election of this remarkable man from the South Side of Chicago, only now to have it demonstrated by our state's highest elected official that the legacy of corruption is not only alive, but apparently is flourishing.

If there is any good news, and there is some, it is that a determined and courageous U.S. Attorney stepped in to prevent what he vividly has described as a political crime spree; and that virtually every elected official from the President-elect down has called for the Governor to step aside or be removed, if he attempts to remain in office. I definitely agree with the sacred principle of our justice system: that a person accused of a crime is considered innocent until proven guilty. No doubt Mr. Blagojevich will avail himself of every opportunity to defend himself in court. But the appearance of wrong-doing in this case makes him unsuitable to remain as Governor, and the possibility of him exercising leadership is nil. We all know it; he must know it too, and he can save the people of this state and his own family much distress by stepping aside. That he has not yet resigned and even showed up for work following his arrest can only be described as an attitude of supreme arrogance.

That is as much as I intend to say about Governor Blagojevich, and I doubt that I have said anything that you have not already heard from the press, from countless public officials and from your own friends and family members.

What I want to share with you this evening is that the problem of political corruption has been one of the great curses of society from the dawn of civilization. The Bible contains several extreme examples of political corruption and offers its own prescription for preventing it.

The first incident that the Torah records concerns a man named Korach. Apparently, Korah was a bright and talented and also ambitious person, who coveted Moses' and Aaron's role of leaders Sensing the people's discontent with their somewhat autocratic style of leadership, he began giving speeches to the effect that Moses took too much on himself, and made the populist-sounding argument that all people are holy. He seems to have convinced a large number of people before God stepped in a resolved the matter by having the earth open up and swallow up Korach and his followers.

The literature of the Sages deals extensively with the conflict Korach caused with Moses and his leadership. He is portrayed in an extremely negative light, the reason being that Korach envied Moses and Aaron. He wanted greatness for himself that he was not worthy of. Most of all, he desired power for the sake of his own self-interest, and not because he wished to lead wisely. It is interesting that Korach is portrayed as a man of immense wealth, a reminder perhaps of the power of money to influence the political system.

Next we come to a most interesting event in the Book of Samuel. Samuel was the greatest of the Judges in the Bible and a prophet as well. The people implored Samuel to appoint a king who would rule over them. Samuel at first resisted the people's urge and warned that the crowning of a king would only bring trouble: that a king would conscript their sons into the army and send them into ill-conceived battles; that he would take advantage of their daughters, that he would amass wealth for himself. Unfortunately, his warning was not heeded and ultimately he anointed first Saul and later David as kings, neither of which were exactly perfect. As things turned out, there were really only 3 reasonably decent kings of Israel: Saul, David and David's son Solomon. It was all downhill after that. Ultimately the Kingdoms of Israel and Judea both perished, not only because of their external enemies, but because of the excesses and corruption of the various leaders: kings and priests.

One King in particular is worth mentioning as a prime example, King Ahab and his not so adorable Queen Jezebel. Apparently Ahab had his eye on a particular piece of real estate, a vineyard that Naboth owned and would not sell. Jezebel thereupon forged various documents and fabricated a case against Naboth, for which he was executed, whereupon Ahab takes possession of the vineyard. I should add that Ahab is portrayed as something of a stooge and that Jezebel is the one who did the dirty work. To this very day, Jezebel's name is associated with immoral behavior and political corruption of the worst kind.

There are quite a few other vivid examples of the abuse of power, each in their own way demonstrating over and over again that political power can so easily become corrupted and that a prime element in the corrupting practice is the arrogance that comes from having power. As the French say, "the more things change, the more things remain the same."

So, one might reasonably ask: is there an antidote to corruption? Historically, the answer unfortunately is probably not. As we know all too well, power corrupts and it takes a person of both integrity and of moral courage to resist the forces of corruption, including the desire to accumulate wealth, the ability to manipulate others, not to mention the seduction by those who seek to curry influence or favored treatment from officials perceived as weak or corruptible. Unfortunately, it takes a especially strong person to resist corrupting influences, particularly in this age where the amount of money it takes to be elected to man political offices is so unbelievably high.

Nevertheless, in spite of this inevitability or perhaps because of it, ancient Jewish law established a number of most interesting rules regarding the kings of Israel. Even though the Bible's instructions may not be exactly applicable to a secular government, our society would do well to take some guidance from that Biblical rule guiding Israel's kings. Let me quote:

"From the outset, a king is crowned only to carry out justice and war, as it states, 'Let our king serve as judge over us and go out at our head and fight our battles' (Samuel I 8:20)." Maimonides offered an even more explicit instruction for the life of the king: "It is forbidden for a king to drink in an intoxicating manner, as it states, 'Wine is not for kings to drink' (Psalms 31:4). Rather, he should be occupied with Torah and the needs of Israel day and night, as it states, 'Let it [the Torah scroll] remain with him and let him read in it all his life' (Deuteronomy 17:19)." Here Maimonides introduced an essential element of the ruler's responsibilities ? to study Torah. Although the king was appointed to deal with national concerns, diligent Torah study was to accompany his work on behalf of the country. Despite the vastness of his responsibilities towards the people, with the weight of the entire nation resting upon his shoulders, he nevertheless were required to ensure the ongoing cultivation of his inner, spiritual self, to maintain the purity of his own heart, primarily by engaging in serious Torah study.

The Torah specifically notes that it is the king's obligation personally to write a Torah scroll and to study it throughout his life.

Are we to understand this mitzvah simply as a means to avoid the moral corruption endemic to positions of authority? If this were the underlying purpose of these regulations, then it would be sufficient for the king to make use of an old Torah scroll, perhaps one inherited from his predecessors. The ancient sages insisted that the king must actually write his own scroll. Apparently, the Torah demanded more than mere resistance to the temptation of official corruption. The king must invest creative energy into his own spiritual and ethical life.

Imagine if high-ranking public officials today would take out time from their schedule to spend hours in city hall, or the county offices, the Governor's mansion or even the White House engrossed in contemplation of the Law, ignoring temporarily the dire problems facing his/her constituency and focus instead of what his/her obligations are to the people and to the Law itself. Undoubtedly, such a politician would be accused of wasting the public's time.

Maimonides, however, reacts differently to such a statement: "The Torah was insistent with regard to his heart turning away, as it states, 'Lest his heart go astray,' for his heart is the heart of the entire congregation... Therefore, this verse connecteded him to the Torah to a much greater degree than to the rest of the people, as it states, '[Let him read in it] all his life'."

Thus, the strict standards demanded of Israel's ancient kings involved not only out of the Torah's concern for the likelihood of arrogance on the leader's part. Rather, these guidelines related to the Torah's view of the leader's moral conscience as equivalent to that of the entire people. Specifically due to his/her stature as leader, he/she must serve as an exemplar of integrity and strict obedience of the Law.

For that reason, and to make sure that Israel's ancient kings should know and understand every single precept, they were actually expected personally to inscribe an entire Torah scroll. Given the alleged conduct of Illinois' (hopefully soon-to-be ex-) Governor, and also the behavior of multiple elected officials, we can only wonder whether some of them have ever even read the laws that they were elected to uphold.

Let us hope that better days do lie ahead; that our new president will set a high standard for those who have the privilege of being elected by the people to hold positions of public service. Let us also hope that better days lie ahead for the people of this land of Lincoln. As our nation looks so optimistically to an era of renewed confidence and faith in our national leadership, the time is long overdue, particularly here in Illinois, to remove the blight of political corruption, to demand that our officials adhere to much higher standards and, if not exactly to write their own copy of the Constitution, at least to have read it and to understand that the sacred laws of our nation and of our state apply even more to them than to private individuals that they have been chosen to serve.