Ode to Those Who Fail but Keep Trying

“All honor to him who shall win the prize,”
The world has cried for a thousand years;
But to him who tries, and who fails and dies,
I give great honor and glory and tears;

Give glory and honor and pitiful tears
To all who fail in their deeds sublime;
Their ghosts are many in the van of years,
They were born with Time, in advance of Time.

Oh, great is the hero who wins a name,
But greater many and many a time
Some pale-faced fellow who dies in shame,
And lets God finish the thoughts sublime.

And great is the man with a sword undrawn,
And good is the man who refrains from wine;
But the man who fails and yet still fights on,
Lo, he is the twin-born brother of mine.

by Joaquin Miller

(From here.)

Rabbi Avi Grossman: Elections Should Be Free and Infrequent

The marriage mashal:

Choosing a partner could very well be the most important decision in life, and it may (hopefully) last for life. Therefore, one should not approach such a decision with the knowledge that, for example, every five years he will have a chance to change his decision, or that, perhaps, even if he chose to stick with her for another five years, after ten years, he must find another, because that will detract from the gravity of all of his life decisions, even if ending the marriage is warranted in extreme cases.

So too with a nation. A democratic and fair process should be employed to ascertain who should rule since such a decision is the most critical in the life of the nation. But it should be infrequent, with the condition in mind that it is meant for the long haul, and not to be regularly re-evaluated and likely changed every few years.

The democratic aspect of the initial election is required by the halacha. The Sages said in B’rachoth:

“אמר רבי יצחק: אין מעמידין פרנס על הצבור אלא אם כן נמלכים בצבור, שנאמר “ראו קרא ה’ בשם בצלאל” (שמות לה, ל). אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה: משה, הגון עליך בצלאל? אמר לו: רבונו של עולם אם לפניך הגון, לפני לא כל שכן? אמר לו: אף על פי כן לך אמור להם. הלך ואמר להם לישראל: הגון עליכם בצלאל? אמרו לו אם לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא ולפניך הוא הגון, לפנינו לא כל שכן?”

And: אין מעמידין מלך אלא על פי בית דין של שבעים ואחד, the Sanhedrin being the representative body of the community.

Thus, we find that it was the elders of the people who asked for Saul, and who had to make the decision to accept him as king, and likewise with David, who despite being chosen by God, had to get the support of the elders of the nation in order to actually rule, and this explains why even though the right to rule is hereditary, Rehoboam had to go through a process of election and acceptance by the people when his time came.

This also explains how many times the new king was put in place “by the people.” (E.g., Omri, Jehoash, Amaziah, Josiah, Jehoahaz, etc.)