A Changed Man

Reading Shmuel Alef recently, I was perplexed by a few passages. After David defeats Goliat, Shaul asks Avner “בן מי זה הנער אבנה?”, “Whose son is the boy, Avner?”, and Avner answers, “חי נפשך המלך אם ידעתי”– “As you live, King, if I know.” Shortly afterwards, Shaul asks David, “בן מי אתה הנער?”– “Whose son are you, boy?” and David tells him.

Did Shaul and Avner really not know who David was? How can this be? In the previous perek, David was summoned to Shaul– asked for from his father by name– to play music for Shaul; he became a favourite of Shaul’s and was even appointed his arms-bearer. And in the very perek in which they ask these questions, David personally volunteers to Shaul to fight Goliat, and is even given Shaul’s own armour before he elects to go unarmed.

How, then, can we explain Shaul’s ‘amnesia’ in asking who David was?

Shaul knew David well– but he knew David the shepherd, David the musician, David the arms-bearer. In defeating Goliat, David rose so far above people’s expectations– accomplishing a task that would have been difficult even for men long experienced in battle, let alone an untried lad– that Shaul and Avner were sure it couldn’t have been the same person. In fact, by ascending a new level of accomplishment, by jumping from David the shepherd to David the champion, he did become a ‘new person’.

Similarly, when Shaul is given the signs of the kingship, Shmuel tells him “והפכת לאיש אחר,” “And you shall turn into a different person.” Sure enough, when Shaul leaves Shmuel, it says “ויהפך לו אלקים לב אחר,” “God gave him a different heart.” Soon afterward, all the people who had known him before are heard to ask, “מה זה היה לבן קיש?” “What has happened to the son of Kish?” [Shaul is the son of Kish.]

Did Hashem really turn Shaul into a different person? If so, why choose him as king in the first place?

Rather, in recognizing the signs of his kingship, Shaul ascended a new level of spirituality, jumping from Shaul the donkey-seeker to Shaul the king of Israel– becoming, in effect, a new person.

On Yom Kipur we have a tradition of wearing white clothing. Why white? Because white represents purity, innocence– and a clean slate. Wearing white clothes on Yom Kipur, we want to start fresh, as new people, ascending a new level of ruchaniut.