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Why must Jews obey secular government while maintaining religious obligations? Chananiah, Mishael and Azariah's response to Nevuchadnezzar reveals that human authority is legitimate only when it doesn't contradict divine commands. This principle transforms parenting—children should follow parents not 'because I said so' but because parents serve as conduits to transcendent values and spiritual purpose.
Rabbi Zweig begins by analyzing Koheles 8:2, where King Shlomo instructs to guard the king's word in conjunction with one's oath to God. Rashi (רש"י) explains this means Jews have responsibility to follow secular government laws, except when they contradict divine commands. The paradigmatic example is Chananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who refused Nevuchadnezzar's demand to bow to his idol, telling him they would follow all his decrees - taxes, service, burdens - but not idol worship, at which point he ceased being their king and became merely 'Nevuchadnezzar.' The Rabbi addresses a fundamental question: why did only these three Jews maintain basic Jewish law when the obligation to die rather than commit idolatry, adultery, or murder was established at Sinai? He explains that the other Jews likely reasoned that since Nevuchadnezzar was melech al kol ha'aretz (king of all the earth), they owed him allegiance even in matters that contradicted God's commands.
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Koheles 8:2
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