Question

Following what was said here. In your opinion, in that state governed by Jewish law would we be obligated to appoint a king? There is a minority view that appointing a king is in the category of a permission, not an obligation (and that is also the plain meaning of the verse, and that also seems to emerge from the Book of Samuel). The verse also says, “And you shall say: I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me.” At first glance, one could interpret this to mean that the commandment of a king applies only when it is the practice of the nations to appoint a king; but nowadays, when that is not the practice, it may be that the obligation has lapsed. Or one could also interpret it to mean that the obligation is to establish a ‘kingship’ in the form customary among the nations, and nowadays the customary ‘kingship’ is democracy.