A vort from the Rebbe on this week's parsha, Parshas Shoftim. In Parshas Shoftim, the Torah tells us the mitzvah of מינוי מלך, of appointing a king. It says the Eibershter said, שום תשים עליך מלך, you should appoint a king upon you. And this is a mitzvah that had to be done after the Yidden entered Eretz Yisrael, they have to appoint a king. On the other hand, we find the time of Shmuel Hanavi when the Yidden asked for a king, they said תנה לנו מלך, give us a king, Shmuel Hanavi was unhappy, was upset, and so was the Eibershter. And the Eibershter told Shmuel that it's not אותך מאסו, they are upset with you and they don't want you and they want somebody else, אותי מאסו, the Eibershter said it's me that they don't want. And therefore the Eibershter was upset. And the question is why was the Eibershter upset when they were asking for something that was originally a mitzvah to do? Hashem said, \"Appoint a king,\" and that's what they asked for, so why was the Eibershter upset? Also, if the Eibershter was upset, which means that it was not a good idea, then why did he give in? Why did he have Shmuel Hanavi appoint a king if it's the wrong thing to do?

And the Rebbe answers this based upon what it says in other places in Chassidus, that there could be two reasons why we need a king. One reason is a simple reason, and that's the way a king is all over the world, in order to keep law and order. You need a government, you need a king. It says in פרקי אבות, אלמלא מוראה של מלכות איש את רעהו חיים בלעו, if not for the fear of the government, of the king, people would swallow each other. So to keep law and order, you need a king. That's one simple reason you need a king. Then there's another reason why possible, if a case is where people don't need a king for that, to keep law and order, they'll do it themselves. But a king really is supposed to be somebody who is a very high מדרגה, a very high רוחניות'דיקע, spiritual מדרגה. So by having a king and leading the people, leading the Yidden, and teaching them would elevate the Yidden to a higher spiritual מדרגה. We know that by Shaul Hamelech it says משכמו ומעלה גבוה מכל העם, from his shoulder and up he was taller than everybody else. It means people reached his, their head reached his shoulder, which simply means he was a very tall person. But that's not the real maalah of Shaul Hamelech. The maalah is he was in a very, very high spiritual מדרגה. ברוחניות, what was their in their head was in his shoulder, so to speak. So the reason to have a king, according to that, is that the king would be the one to elevate the Yidden to higher מדרגה. When the Eibershter gave the מצוה, שום תשים עליך מלך, make a king, he meant the higher, the second level, the higher level of making a king: have a king that he should elevate you to a higher madregah. But when the Yidden asked for a king, that's not what they had in mind. They asked for a king, they felt that we just need a king to run the country, we need a king to take care that there should be law and order. And that's why the Eibershter was upset. \"This is not what I meant. I didn't mean to have a king like this.\" And therefore he was upset, and so was Shmuel Hanavi upset. On the other hand, since they asked for it in that level, the Eibershter agreed to give it to them, because if they are that level that they do need it for that, then they need a king for that, too. So the Eibershter was, on one hand, upset why they wanted a king for that reason, but on the other hand, since that was what they are at, so that's what the Eibershter gave in, and he said to Shmuel Hanavi that he should appoint a king. But the real way to appoint a king is purpose is so that they should elevate the, he should elevate the Yidden to a much higher מדרגה ברוחניות. And that's takeh what the king of Dovid Hamelech was, etc., etc. But at that time when they asked for it, the Eibershter was upset because they didn't have this true reason in mind, they had the other reason in mind.