David

David, the next king, confronts his oldest son, Amnon, who has raped his youngest daughter.

Context

• Reference: 2 Samuel 13:21

• David succeeded Saul as king.

• David was renowned as a harpist and singer and wrote many of the Psalms.

• David loved Jonathan, Saul's son who died alongside Saul in battle, and married Saul's daughter, Michal.

• David had many wives, including Bathsheba, whom he married after he had her husband killed.

• David had many children. Absalom and Tamar were the children of his wife Maacah. Amnon was the son of his wife Ahinoam.

Aftermath

• David's family was torn apart. Absalom had Amnon killed and claimed the kingship for himself.

Notes

There are so many stories about David that it was difficult to choose just one. And once I chose it, this story was one of the most difficult to write.

But as with many of the others, I turned the focus to the very human interactions within a family, the moment when David confronted Amnon, away from the trappings of his kingship. While David could never forget that he was the king, in this moment he was, most importantly, a father, needing to care in different ways for his daughter and his son..

This resonated with some interactions that I had with my own father over the years. He was a psychotherapist, historian, and teacher, and those parts of his identity were always involved in our relationship. But when needed, he could step back from all that and be simply my father, making appropriate and compassionate decisions in that role.

I am also reminded of some bosses that I have had, and some people that I have seen acting in that role toward others, and how deeply they had to reach within themselves and outside the strict definitions of their positions in order to do what was best for everyone. I look at my own current position as a supervisor at a book store, and see how difficult it can be to make decisions that respect both the customer and the company. The balance between strength and kindness is hard to maintain, but according to Jewish mysticism, it is precisely at that point of balance that beauty lies.