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Why does Yoma require a leader to carry a "box of worms" — skeletons in his closet? The shiur proposes that Dovid HaMelech's humility came from his lineage through Peretz and Zerach, who perpetuated the souls of Er and Onan through yibum. This genealogical reality kept him humble, explaining why he retained his kingship while Shaul lost his.
The shiur opens with a striking Gemara (גמרא) in Yoma that states a leader should not be appointed unless he has a "kupa shel shreratzim" — a box of creeping creatures, metaphorically referring to skeletons in his closet. The Gemara explains this requirement prevents arrogance and cites it as the reason Dovid HaMelech retained his kingship while Shaul HaMelech lost his. Rashi (רש"י) identifies Dovid's "kupa shel shreratzim" as his descent from Rus HaMoaviah, but Rabbi Zweig finds this difficult to accept as a negative mark, given that Rus is celebrated in Jewish tradition and even had a chair next to Shlomo HaMelech's throne according to the Gemara. Rabbi Zweig proposes an alternative understanding based on Parshas Vayigash. The Torah (תורה) enumerates the seventy people who descended to Egypt and lists among Yehuda's descendants: "Er v'Onan v'Shela, Peretz v'Zerach." The Torah then adds that Er and Onan died. This creates an obvious difficulty: if they died before the descent to Egypt, why list them at all? The story of their deaths was already told in Parshas Vayeishev. Why repeat it here in a census of those actually traveling to Egypt?
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Vayigash - List of Seventy Souls (Bereishis 46); Gemara Yoma
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