Moses told the Jewish people,”You may indeed appoint a king over yourself, whom G-d chooses.” (Devarim 17:14)
Although the Jewish people have not had a king since the destruction of the first Temple and will not have another until King Meshiach comes, we are still enjoined to appoint a higher authority over ourselves, both individually and collectively.
The idea of a king as an absolute monarch-not a ceremonial figure- is foreign to our worldview.
The Jewish King was not just a figure. He was appointed by G-d Himself through a prophet, he couldn’t acquire many horses only the ones he would need for his chariot,he couldn’t take too many wives (in those days it was permitted to have more than one)so his heart wouldn’t go astray,he shouldn’t acquire an abundance of silver and gold for himself,and after he is already sitting on his throne, he should write two Torah scrolls, one to be left in his treasury and the other one should remain with him to be read from it every day of his life., so he may learn to fear G-d and to carefully guard the observance of all the words of the Torah.
All this was so he wouldn’t become arrogant and haughty and would follow the Torah diligently, never loosing sight of what his role was.
“The king is the heart of the entire congregation of Israel”(Rambam 3:6)
The Heart has no role unto itself, it’s there to serve the rest of the body, the limbs and organs all depend on the heart. For this reason the king is compared to the Heart, since his whole purpose is to take care of the people and their needs.
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