Every Jew is obligated to write a Torah scroll for himself. There is one Jew, however, who is obligated to write an additional Torah scroll. Surprisingly, it is neither the High Priest, the religious leader of the nation, nor the Sanhedrin Chief Justice, its judicial head. It is the king who must write a second Torah during his reign.

What is the significance of these two Torah scrolls, that of the individual and that of the king?

Torah for the Individual and for the Nation

The Jewish people accepted the Torah at Sinai on two levels. The first level was acceptance of Torah for each individual, as part of the collective. The second level was acceptance of the Torah as a nation in control of its own political life.

Unfortunately, observing the Torah on the national level is far more complex than the individual's observance of the Torah. The Torah and its mitzvot were given to refine humanity. The process of purifying an entire nation, with all its political exigencies, is far more complicated than the purification of the individual.

The individual approaches simple issues of human morality informed by an innate sense of justice. Mankind, however, has not yet arrived at a consensus on the ethical imperatives governing affairs of state. Thus, the evil inclination in collective, political man is many times stronger than the evil inclination of the individual. As a result, all conceptions of good and evil, justice and iniquity, are totally lost amidst political turmoil in the bubbling caldron of state, which rages like a stormy sea.

The power of the messianic king is to achieve fulfillment of the Torah's ethical teachings in the political realm. We read about the foundation of the messianic dynasty in the Book of Ruth, which concludes with the lineage of David, king of Israel. For this reason, we read the Book of Ruth on Shavuot: to remind ourselves of the second level of acceptance of Torah at Sinai, on the collective, political level.

"We must not allow the inclination towards factionalism — the threat of which is strongest at the inception of a political movement — to deter us from justice and truth, from love of humanity, both the collective and the individual, from love for Israel, and from the duty of sanctity unique to Israel. We are obligated not only to be holy individuals, but also, and especially, to be 'a kingdom of priests and a holy nation'."

(adapted from "Celebration of the Soul", pp. 234-5; Ma'amarei HaRe'iyah pp. 173-4)