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King Kamehameha III and Moshiach
“The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness” might sound like a proverb from Sefer Mishlei (The Book of Proverbs), but it’s not. This proverb was not authored by King Solomon, but by King Kamehameha III, who ruled the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1825-1854. The original Hawaiian saying, “Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono,” was first uttered by the king in 1843 and adopted as the state motto of Hawaii in 1959.
I found myself pondering the meaning of this statement during our recent trip to Hawaii. As per my Mishlei methodology, I decided to attempt to understand it using my own mind before consulting any commentaries. If we assume that the Hawaiian word “ʻāina” (land) refers to society, and that “pono” (righteousness) is the equivalent of the Hebrew word “tzedek” or “tzedakah,” and we rely on the Rambam’s definition of “tzedek” as “bringing every lawfully governed being in line with its lawful principle, and to give to every existing thing that which is proper for its existence” (Moreh ha’Nevuchim 3:53) then the proverb makes sense. No system can perpetuate its existence indefinitely unless the needs of all its constituents are met. If tzedek is withheld from any part of the system, then it will only be a matter of time before the detrimental effects spread and threaten the stability of the system as a whole. It may take a while for the system to fail, but its collapse is inevitable. According to this reading, this proverb is directed at those who hold positions of power within the society, and who are the most capable of providing or depriving the land and its people of tzedek.
After coming up with this interpretation, I looked into the historical context. According to Wikipedia:
This phrase was first spoken by Kamehameha III, the King of Hawaii, on July 31, 1843, on Thomas Square, Oʻahu, when the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hawaii was returned by the British through the restorative actions of Admiral Richard Darton Thomas, following the brief takeover by Lord George Paulet.Some of the words contained in this phrase have greater, more difficult to define meaning than is commonly ascribed. Mau, for example, implies an unending continuation; Ea means not only "life," but "breath" and, more importantly, "sovereignty." Pono is a well-used Hawaiian word that cannot be concisely translated. It includes aspects of goodness, excellence, fairness, order, propriety, completeness, care, value, organization, purpose, and hope. It is disputed that the word ea in this pronouncement refers to "life." Many now insist strongly that ea refers specifically to sovereignty because of the circumstances at the time Kamehameha III uttered it.Thus, a possibly more accurate translation would be: "The sovereignty of the land is perpetuated in righteousness." Admiral Thomas did what was righteous (pono) by returning on that day the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi to its people through handing it back to their king.
The ambiguity of “ea” as meaning “life” or “sovereignty” is interesting: depending on which translation is used, the proverb is either the expression of an ideal monarchy or a justification of a corrupt one.
However, it seems that there are solid grounds to maintain that King Kamehameha III was a genuine proponent of righteousness. According to Wikipedia: “Under his reign, Hawaii evolved from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy with the signing of both the 1840 Constitution, which was the first Hawaiian Language Constitution, and the 1852 Constitution.” This got me curious. I decided to check out the text of the 1840 constitution. Here is the preamble:
“God hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on the earth,” in unity and blessedness. God has also bestowed certain rights alike on all men and all chiefs, and all people of all lands.These are some of the rights which He has given alike to every man and every chief of correct deportment; life, limb, liberty, freedom from oppression; the earnings of his hands and the productions of his mind, not however to those who act in violation of the laws.God has also established government, and rule, for the purpose of peace; but in making laws for the nation it is by no means proper to enact laws for the protection of the rulers only, without also providing protection for their subjects; neither is it proper to enact laws to enrich the chiefs only, without regard to enriching their subjects also, and hereafter there shall by no means be any laws enacted which are at variance with what is above expressed, neither shall any tax be assessed, nor any service or labor required of any man, in a manner which is at variance with the above sentiments.PROTECTION FOR THE PEOPLE DECLARED. The above sentiments are hereby published for the purpose of protecting alike, both the people and the chiefs of all these islands, while they maintain a correct deportment; that no chief may be able to oppress any subject, but that chiefs and people may enjoy the same protection, under one and the same law.
The body of the Constitution continues:
It is our design to regulate our kingdom according to the above principles and thus seek the greatest prosperity both of all the chiefs and all of the people of these Hawaiian Islands. But we are aware that we cannot ourselves alone accomplish such an object – God must be our aid, for it is His province alone to give perfect protection and prosperity. Wherefore we first present our supplication to HIM, that he will guide us to right measures and sustain us in our work.It is therefore our fixed decree, (1) That no law shall be enacted which is at variance with the word of the Lord Jehovah, or at variance with the general spirit of His word. All laws of the Islands shall be in consistency with the general spirit of God’s law. (2) All men of every religion shall be protected in worshipping Jehovah, and serving Him, according to their own understanding, but no man shall ever be punished for neglect of God unless he injures his neighbor, or brings evil on the kingdom.
King Kamehameha III advocated for a government of righteousness, justice, and equality under God’s law. It is reasonable to assume that these are the values underlying the state motto. While we can’t know what he intended by “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness,” the proof is in the pudding.
It was then that it hit me: Kamehameha III, his proverb, and his constitution are all part of the unfolding of the path to Yemos ha’Moshiach (the messianic era). The Rambam introduces the topic of Melech ha’Moshiach (the King Messiah) in Chapter 11 of Hilchos Melachim u’Milchamos (the Laws of Kings and Wars). After detailing the various requirements which must be met for a person to qualify as Melech ha’Moshiach, he launches into a polemic against Jesus, referring to him as “the greatest stumbling block” who “caused Israel to be annihilated by the sword and the remnant to be scattered and lowered” and who “caused the Torah to be exchanged and the led the majority of the world to erroneously worship a god other than Hashem.” It is at this point that the Rambam takes a surprising turn:
But the plans of the Creator of the universe are not within the capacity of man to grasp, for our ways are not His ways and our thoughts are not His thoughts. All these matters of Jesus of Nzareth and the Ishmaelite who arose after him – all these have only straightened the pathway for the Melech ha'Moshiach, and prepared the world to serve Hashem together, as it is stated: "then I will transform all the peoples, that they all will call upon the name of Hashem and serve Him with one purpose" (Tzephania 3:9).How so? The entire world has already been filled with statements about the Moshiach, about the Torah, and about the mitzvos. These matters have spread to the far-off islands and many peoples of uncircumcised hearts. They have debated these matters: these say that the mitzvos are true but they were only in effect for a set number of generations and are nullified in the present era, and these say that there are hidden matters in [the mitzvos] and they are not to be taken at face value, and the Moshiach has already come and revealed their secrets.And when the true Melech ha'Moshiach will arise, and he will succeed, be exalted, and be venerated, immediately all of them will return, knowing that they were bequeathed falsehood by their fathers, and that their prophets and ancestors caused them to err.
According to the Rambam, even Christianity – with all its evils and harms – has nevertheless paved the way for Yemos ha’Moshiach (the Messianic Era) by spreading awareness of Torah and mitzvos throughout the world. What better example is there of “these matters spreading to the far-off islands” than King Kamehameha III establishing a constitution promoting a righteous society, in the name of God, in which all people are equal under the law? And in case one needs a reminder of just how “Jewish” Hawaii’s first constitution was, here is a passage from Paul Johnson in History of the Jews:
All the great conceptual discoveries of the intellect seem obvious and inescapable once they have been revealed, but it requires a special genius to formulate them for the first time. The Jews had this gift. To them we owe the idea of equality before the law, both divine and human; of the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person; of the individual conscience and so of personal redemption; of the collective conscience and so of social responsibility; of peace as an abstract ideal and love as the foundation of justice, and many other items which constitute the basic moral furniture of the human mind. Without the Jews it might have been a much emptier place.
It turns out that “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness” is not just “Solomonic” in style, but also in substance. Kamehameha III’s proverb and constitution share the same Torah foundation as Shlomo ha’Melech’s kingdom. That the Torah’s ripple effects were so far reaching provides hope for the fulfillment of Tzephania’s prophecy: “I will transform all the peoples, that they all will call upon the name of Hashem and serve Him with one purpose." May we all merit to see that day.
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