arts & entertainment

A New Look At King David

Rabbi David Wolpe tackles the grace, and the contradictions,
of the biblical monarch.

Sandee Brawarsky
Special to the Jewish News

T

he young biblical David is cap-
tured in Michelangelo's colossal
marble Renaissance masterpiece
— now standing in the Galleria dell'
Accademia in Florence, Italy — in the
days before his battle with Goliath. The
sculptor expresses his beauty and hints
of the boy's majestic future.
That's the David a reader pictures
in the opening pages of Rabbi David
Wolpe's new biography, David: The
Divided Heart (Yale University Press),
when the High Priest Samuel visits the
house of Jesse in Bethlehem in search of
a new king to replace Saul.
Before meeting David, Samuel
encounters his older brothers. David is
then summoned back from the fields,
where he is tending the sheep, and his
life is about to change.
This is a David, according to Wolpe,
who is easy to love.
"His introduction is his anointing.
There is no suspense about this young
man's destiny. David will be king. And
God dictates the drama — God, who
is rarely directly in the story of David,
speaks unambiguously about the divine
choice," he writes.
Wolpe goes on to paint a portrait of
David that is vibrant and nuanced, full
of the complications that marked his
life: He was a poet, skillful musician, a
firm believer in God, a king who united
a nation and also a warrior, schemer,
murderer, an undistinguished father
and adulterer, a man of idealism, self-
interest and self-assurance.
"David is the first person in history," he
writes, "whose tale is complete and vital,
laced with passions, savagery, hesitation,
betrayal, charisma, faith, family — [the]
rich canvas of a large life. He is capable
of great acts, expressions of focused piety
and of startling cruelty. David's failings
are not slight or endearing:'
For Wolpe, David is fully human.
Wolpe leads Sinai Temple in Los
Angeles and has been named by
Newsweek as the most influential rabbi
in America. He's the author of seven
previous books, including Making Loss
Matter and Why Faith Matters.

This book is
with gripping
very different from
minor and sup-
other books he has
porting characters
written that had
all over the way."
to do with Jewish
While writing,
theology, although
he "had the great
his tone is similarly
advantage" of
thoughtful.
teaching the story
Wolpe was
of King David to
approached by
his weekly Torah
Yale University
classes.
Press about doing
Among the many
a brief biography
themes he empha-
for the Jewish Lives
sizes are the influ-
series. He was told
ence of women
that Moses was
over the course of
taken, but he could
events in the David
choose someone
story, whether
else.
his wife, Michal,
For Wolpe, it was
who enables him
THE DIVIDED HE4RT
clear that David
to flee from King
was the figure he
David Wolpe
Saul early on and
was most interested
saves his life; or the
in writing about.
anonymous woman
Ever since he was
who saves him
King David: An important figure to
a high school student Jews, Christians and Muslims.
from a bloody bat-
and his father's gradu-
tle; or Bathsheba,
ation card to him
who convinces him
invoked his namesake,
to name their son
he has been interested in the story of the Solomon as his royal successor.
biblical David.
"The prevalence of women signals
The name David means beloved, and
again the openness of David's spirit,"
Wolpe wondered about David's powers
Wolpe writes.
and why he is the most loved of bibli-
He also focuses on David's faith in
cal characters. With this book, he has
God. Even if he was not always obedi-
come to understand David's flaws and
ent, he never rejected God nor turned to
contradictions as well as his grace and
idols; rather, he shared an intimacy with
greatness.
God.
Wolpe unfolds David's story both the-
Wolpe suggests that perhaps God
matically, in chapters about his multiple
chooses flawed vessels.
roles — young man, lover and hus-
Some question whether there is a his-
band, fugitive, king, father, etc. — and
toric David, that is, whether David actu-
chronologically within the chapters. He
ally existed.
carefully reads the text, drawing on both
Wolpe responds: "I have no doubt
ancient and contemporary commenta-
that David existed. I have not that much
tors and scholars.
doubt that a lot of what is said about
In a telephone interview, Wolpe
David is reflective of what happened. I
describes the book as "almost a collage
can't say it was identical to what hap-
of different images of the same man,
pened:'

David

.11,1,11 LIN,.

Author David Wolpe suggests that
perhaps God chooses flawed vessels.

Based on language and other clues, he
assumes that the account of David's life
was written within 100 years of his life.
As for David the psalmist, or author
of the psalms, Wolpe believes that if
he did write them, he wrote only a few.
He finds the psalms to be reflective of
David's life, if not a first-person record-
ing.
The David story has fired the imagi-
nations of writers and poets over the
ages, and Wolpe is skilled at pulling
out texts and quotes from a great range
of sources, from John Adams to D.H.
Lawrence to Leonard Cohen.
"David has a very large cultural foot-
print:' he says.
Amos Oz, in The Same Sea, writes of
an ancient king who seems so modern
"with his leaping and dancing and his
one-night stands / It would have been
more fitting for him to reign in Tel Aviv:'
"Absolutely Shakespeare was influ-
enced by the biblical story:' Wolpe says.
He explains that William Shakespeare
would have heard the story in church as
a kid and probably knew the Bible well.
"When he was writing about a king —
whether Henry or Hamlet — this king
[David] had to influence him. It's just
there."
About David's legacy in contem-
porary Israel, Wolpe says that he is
thought of as the founder of Jerusalem
and the forerunner of the Messiah. (In
Christianity, which considers Jesus to
be the Messiah, Jesus is thought to be
a direct descendant of David; in Islam,
David is considered an important proph-
et and lawgiver.)
Wolpe feels most Israelis don't give as
much careful consideration to the real
David as does Shimon Peres, for whom
David is no role model.
Peres said, "I recognize the Torah of
Moses our teacher and not the Torah of
David our patriarch. ... Not everything
King David did on land, or on the roofs,
appears to me to be Judaism?'
In this context, "on land" refers to his
conquests, and "on roofs" to his affair
with Bathsheba.
The book jacket features Marc
Chagall's lithograph of a crowned David
playing the harp, another side of the
king. ❑

DI

December 25 • 2014

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