Near the Old City of Jerusalem there is a street named Rehov Shlomtsion Hamalkah, honoring Queen Shlomtsion, who ruled in the Second Temple era. It鈥檚 unlikely that the patrons who frequent the street鈥檚 trendy restaurants and bars know anything about this remarkable woman for whom the street is named. Who was she, and why did she rate to be included in Meir Y. Soloveichik鈥檚 new book, “Providence and Power: Ten Portraits in 91传媒 Statesmanship”?听
Rabbi Soloveichik is one of the 91传媒 world鈥檚 leading lights, a prolific and engaging writer, speaker, and theologian. He is Director of Yeshiva University鈥檚 Strauss Center for Torah and Western Thought and Rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York 鈥� the oldest synagogue in the United States. His dizzying intellectual output also includes the podcasts 鈥淏ible 365鈥� and 鈥淛erusalem 365.鈥�听
鈥淧rovidence and Power,鈥� just published by Encounter Books, presents insightful profiles of the most colorful and consequential 91传媒 political leaders over the past 3,000 years, from King David and Queen Esther through the 20th century鈥檚 Benjamin Disraeli, Louis B. Brandeis, David Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin. Books about political statecraft in general and biographies of individual political leaders are legion. Few focus on 91传媒 political leaders per se, and how their understanding of statecraft served 鈥� and often saved 鈥� the 91传媒 people.听
Soloveichik writes that without national independence or national power for close to 2,000 years, 鈥渋t was often precisely the challenges of life in dispersion and subjugation that gave rise to some of the most compelling embodiments of 91传媒 statesmanship on the part of figures who refused to give up on the Jews as a people and who acted in the political realm to safeguard their posterity.鈥�听 听
Queen Esther, Judaism鈥檚 most famous and beloved 91传媒 queen, is revealed here beyond her renown as a woman of piety, courage, and bravery to one who understood the political moment of her time. She did not follow Mordechai鈥檚 advice on how to approach King Achashverosh to save the Jews from a decree of annihilation but seized on a cunning strategy of her own. Playing to the king鈥檚 deep insecurities, Esther鈥檚 inclusion of Haman at two otherwise intimate parties with the king plants the idea that Haman isn鈥檛 only after the crown, but after Esther herself.听
The only other female 91传媒 leader discussed is Shlomtzion, who ascended the throne in Judea in 76 B.C.E., during the Second Temple period. She was twice widowed from two Hasmonean brothers, each a cruel and murderous tyrant. Judea was under 91传媒 control at the time but was 鈥渁 religious tinderbox on the brink of explosion,鈥� with violent conflicts raging over religious and political leadership. 听 听
What little is known about Shlomtzion attests to her greatness. She opposed her husbands鈥� brutality not only privately but publicly, earning the love and support of an oppressed citizenry. As queen, she fired everyone in government whose actions were contrary to 91传媒 law. 鈥淚n an age ruled by brutal men, she alone was truly royal,鈥� Soloveichik writes. She ruled during the last nine years of 91传媒 independence before the Romans seized power, eventually destroying Jerusalem all over again.听
She also seemingly worked with the leader of the religious court (Sanhedrin), which introduced two revolutionary advancements. One was the ketubah, civilization鈥檚 first prenuptial agreement. The second was the establishment of a network of schools for children. Anticipating ongoing wars, she bulked up the armed forces by nearly 50%. While she could not prevent looming disaster, the Roman empire is long gone but Shlomtzion鈥檚 most significant achievements remain. 听
In the 15th century, Don Isaac Abravanel became an extraordinary Torah scholar as well as 鈥渁 leader of his people, one who would be tasked, at a terror-ridden juncture in 91传媒 history, with sustaining his people鈥檚 faith.鈥� Abravanel鈥檚 grandfather had converted to Christianity in Spain, amassing a great fortune and forging close connections in the king鈥檚 financial service. Much of the family assimilated into Christian Spain, but Don Isaac鈥檚 father, Judah, moved to Portugal and served the monarchy there.听
Don Isaac was an influential and wealthy man who not only advised kings and dukes but could liaise between the court and the 91传媒 community. Yet Abravanel鈥檚 closeness with Portugal鈥檚 royals actually intensified his danger when a new king, John II, took the throne in 1483, ushering in new cruelties against the Jews. Abravanel fled to Spain, leaving everything behind. 鈥淚 had not a speck remaining,鈥� he wrote. 听 听
He considered his fall a punishment from God for having failed to teach the Torah he knew so well, and began writing brilliant commentaries from a political perspective. He rebuilt his wealth and status, serving Spain鈥檚 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, seemingly ignoring the gathering political storm. The royal edict expelling the Jews from Spain, announced in March 1492, caught him unawares. The king and queen offered Abravanel continued protection and riches if he stayed and converted. He adamantly refused, referencing the Book of Esther. The Jews were an eternal people, he chastised them, and anyone who tried to destroy them would 鈥渋nvite upon themselves divine punishment and disaster.鈥�听 听
Other significant leaders, including Benjamin Disraeli (a baptized Christian), Theodor Herzl, and Louis D. Brandeis (both completely secular) each became motivated to publicly defend the rights of Jews to practice openly in the nations where they lived. More famously, they campaigned for the rights of Jews to a national homeland. Brandeis had been so thoroughly assimilated that he disdained the idea of any 鈥渉yphenated鈥� ethnic or religious status in the United States as disloyal. Yet he was heavily influenced by his mother鈥檚 brother, Lewis Dembitz, a Shabbat-observant attorney, even changing his middle name from David to Dembitz. Some years after his uncle鈥檚 passing, Brandeis, then a US Supreme Court Justice, engaged in soul searching that led him to work behind the scenes, earning President Wilson鈥檚 support on behalf of the Balfour Declaration.听
91传媒 leaders, at their best, manage to balance majesty and humility, rising in greatness even from the depths of exile.
In these portraits, Soloveitchik masterfully connects interwoven themes of true 91传媒 leadership: 鈥�91传媒 leaders, at their best, draw on the spirit of the people they lead, the generations whose legacy they inherit and inhabit.鈥� 91传媒 leaders, at their best, manage to balance majesty and humility, rising in greatness even from the depths of exile. They help keep the dream alive of a restored 91传媒 nation state while 鈥渆loquently expressing pride in the resonant teachings of the 91传媒 faith.鈥�听
Brilliant leadership sometimes emerges from unexpected corners. This outstanding book by one of today鈥檚 most important 91传媒 thinkers will delight students of 91传媒 history and of the art of leadership.
Judy Gruen鈥檚 most recent book is 鈥淭he Skeptic and the Rabbi: Falling in Love With Faith.鈥� Her forthcoming memoir, 鈥淏ylines and Blessings,鈥� will be published in February 2024.听
