King David on Trial Created by Rabbi Eve Rudin Weiner

Transcription

1 April 2003 \ Nisan 5763 King David on Trial Created by Rabbi Eve Rudin Weiner Goals: 1. PP s will grapple with the issues of personal ethics, leadership, and legacy Objectives: 1. PP s will learn about King David 2. PP s will participate in a trial of King David by either prosecuting, defending, or judging 3. Following the trial, PP s will participate in a discussion regarding ethics in leadership Timetable and Procedure: 00:00-00:10 Newscast 00:10-00:15 Break out into groups 00:15-00:30 Group (prosecution, defense, and judges) preparation 00:30-01:00 Trial 01:00-01:20 Group Discussion 01:20-01:25 Wrap Up Materials: Newscast script Character trial explanations Characters: Newscaster Reporter #1 Reporter #2 King David Batsheva Joab, King David s general Judge Avimelech, King David s Servant Eved, another servant Detailed Procedure: 0:00-0:10 Newscast (Please change any Reporter #1 or Reporter #2 to the names of the people playing those reporters) (Intro news music) Good evening. You re watching ANE News--your number one news source for the Ancient Near East. Today is the 6th day of Adar, 980 BCE. It was hot in Jerusalem today (what else is new) and the value of Jerusalem stone rose today by 18 points. Rumors surrounding King David s alleged involvement in the murder of Mr. Uriah continued to circulate today. King David has been accused of having Mr. Uriah murdered because of an alleged affair with Batsheva, Mr. Uriah s wife, who is currently pregnant. We now go live to Uriah s home where Reporter #2 has the full story.

2 Reporter #2: Thanks, Reporter #1. Three months ago, Uriah was killed in the line of battle. Since this is a normal occurrence for a soldier in battle, Uriah s funeral came and went without any controversy. A few weeks ago, however, an anonymous army commander came forward and let ANE News know that orders had been given by King David himself to put Uriah at the very front of the battle line--an act that has been understood to ensure Uriah s death. Such a decision is strange, especially because King David and Uriah supposedly had dinner together a few nights before Uriah s death. This news came to ANE News coincidentally at the same time that Batsheva, Uriah s wife, began to show signs of being pregnant. Despite all the reporters in front of her home, Batsheva has no comment at this time. Back to you, Reporter #1. Thanks, Reporter #2. With us in the studio right now is one of King David s servants, Avimelech. Welcome to Ancient Near East News. Thanks for having me here. Let s get right down to the details. You have come forward to allege two things. The first is King David s alleged affair with Batsheva. Why don t you tell us more about that. Well, first things first. There s nothing alleged about it. For months King David used to go up to his balcony to think. We were always told to never bother King David while he was on his balcony. Well, one day, his chief of security came to the palace and insisted that it was an emergency and that I get King David right away. I had no choice but to go up to the balcony. What I learned was that our beloved King David was really a peeping Tom. I found him overlooking the roofs of the neighboring houses to the palace. On one of the roofs in plain sight was Batsheva who was bathing...uh...well...in the nude. Why she was bathing on her roof, I don t know, but I only know what I saw. What happened then? Well, King David came inside for his meeting, and I didn t think much about it until a few days later when I saw Batsheva leaving the castle. I see. So you are alleging that King David and Batsheva had an affair. I m not alleging...i m telling you what I saw.

3 Reporter #3: Joab: Reporter #3: Joab: Reporter #3: Joab: Reporter #3: Joab: Understood. It must be difficult for you considering that you work for the King. It s the truth. Well, Avimelech, thank you for coming by. Thank you for having me on the show. The scandalous rumors surrounding our King, of course, do not end there. Reporting live from up north is [Reporter #3] who is with Joab, King David s army general. Thanks, Reporter #1. I m here with Joab, King David s general, who is very distressed about the rumors. Your comments, sir? Yes, yes, I m very distressed indeed. I just want to say that our King David would never have an affair, and certainly never have any one intentionally murdered--especially someone like Uriah. Uriah was a kind fellow who felt great camaraderie with his fellow soldiers. Even when Uriah went home for that night in Jerusalem, he only spent time with the King and did not go home to be with his wife -- if you know what I mean because he knew that the other soldiers here would not be able to see their wives. That s the type of person he was--willing to sacrifice his own personal pleasures because he knew his fellow soldiers would be jealous and weren t afforded with the same opportunity. I was very sad when Uriah was killed. The rumors are that Uriah was killed because you received orders to put him in the front lines. Do you have any comments regarding these orders? I have no comments, except that in the army we make personnel and placement changes all the time. But there is, of course, greater risk of being killed in battle if you are on the front lines, correct? Well, of course. Is it true that you received those orders from King David himself?

4 No comment. Reporter #3: Well that s the story here. Back to you Reporter #1. Thank you, Reporter #3. Well, that the news here in the Ancient Near East for today. We ll have the latest on the King David scandal tomorrow evening. Until then, erev tov. 0:10-0:15 Breakout Group leader will tell everyone that we will be putting King David on trial and split everyone into groups. 0:15-0:30 Group Preparation Please read the character sheets before hand. Don t read them to the kids, but help them write questions that will get to the information in them. A. Prosecution: 3 groupleaders Prepare to bring forth and question the following witnesses (you can use many lawyers--you should not just have one): Avimelech, the servant who saw the balcony incident Batsheva Eved, a servant who seems to have overheard King David s conversation with Uriah when Uriah was at the palace for a night. You have subpoened her and she isn t happy about testifying. Prepare to cross-examine: King David B. Defense: 3 groupleaders (you can use many lawyers--you should not just have one) Prepare to cross examine: Avimelech, the servant who saw the balcony incident Batsheva Eved, a servant who seems to have overheard King David s conversation with Uriah when Uriah was at the palace for a night. She has been subpoenaed and isn t happy about testifying. Prepare to bring forth and question the following witnesses: King David C. Jury: 3 Groupleaders You are deciding whether King David is fit to continue as King or not (not whether he had an affair). Decide as a group on what bases you will be deciding.

5 0:30-1:00 Trial Your youth group president, advisor or other adult leader can judge and facilitate the trial. Please note that this next section of the program is very dependent upon the cast of characters staying in their roles and to answer the questions as best they can according to what they know about their character (see character sheets attached). The jury will be charged with deciding whether King David is fit to continue as King. Order of Trial: 1. Opening Prosecution argument 2. Opening Defense argument 3. Prosecution Witness: Avimelech 4. Cross Examination of Avimelech 5. Prosecution Witness: Batsheva 6. Cross Examination of Batsheva 7. Prosecution Witness: Servant #2 8. Cross Examination of Servant #2 9. Defense Witness: King David 10. Cross Examination of King David 11. Prosecution Closing 12. Defense Closing 13. Jury Deliberation 14. Verdict 1:00-1:20 Discussion Split participants into new discussion groups. These groups should be smaller than trial groups. Discussion Questions: 1. What do you think of the verdict? 2. In the second book of Samuel, the book in which the King David story appears, what do you think God s reaction was? (answer: David was punished by disaster after disaster, such as his favorite son being murdered by other sons) 3. Does a leader s personal life affect his/her public life and the good things they do? 4. Did the whole Monica Lewinsky incident affect your view of Bill Clinton? 5. As leaders, should we be acting more ethically? At TYG/NFTY/Camp events? Outside of TYG/NFTY/Camp Events? Why or why not? 6. It may not be fair that people will always think of us as leaders whether or not we are doing NFTY work, but how do we deal with it? 1:20-1:25 Short Wrap Up Advisor/Adult Leader 5 minutes

6 April 2003 \ Nisan 5763 PROGRAM MATERIALS The following four pages contain character descriptions for the trial: 1. David 2. Batsheva 3. Amibelech 4. Eved

7 THINGS YOUR CHARACTER SHOULD KNOW (AND CAN ADMIT) David You are the king and you have done wonderful things for the Israelite people. You have united the Israeli state, beaten the Philistines and conquered Jerusalem. You brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and built a shrine, establishing Jerusalem as the religious center for the Israelite people. The economy is good, there is low unemployment, and there is little hunger. The Israelite people love and trust in you. You are very pious, and you have written many poems and songs (psalms). You have a few wives and yes, you did have an affair with Batsheva. But remember, it takes two to tango. You used to go out onto your balcony to think and she always seemed to be there just at those times. You invited her to the palace and spent the night together. A few weeks later, she came to let you know that she was pregnant. Since her husband, Uriah, had been away at battle for a number of months, you knew that you had to do something quick to make it look like it was Uriah s baby. So you invited Uriah to dine with you to congratulate him on his service in the army so far. You gave him lots of food and wine and felt that at the end of the evening, Uriah was sufficiently drunk and relaxed enough to go home to Batsheva to have relations with her. What you didn t expect was Uriah s refusal to go and spend the night with his wife, Batsheva. He said that he couldn t do something like that knowing that his fellow soldiers were suffering that night sleeping outside preparing for more battle. It seemed unfair that he should be able to enjoy himself while his friends in the army were unable to also enjoy themselves. Uriah wound up staying the night in the palace. You panicked. You sent Uriah back to battle with a sealed envelope to give to Joab, the general. The envelope instructed Joab to put Uriah in the front line of battle. You received word a few days later that Uriah was killed.

8 THINGS YOUR CHARACTER SHOULD KNOW (AND CAN ADMIT) Batsheva Your husband, Uriah, was a good man. Almost too good. Everyone loved him because he was pious, moral, and giving to others. You had a happy, but somewhat boring marriage. Uriah went away to battle for a number of months, and you got well. lonely. Your house was near the Palace and, like every other Israelite women, you had always admired King David from afar. He was manly, handsome and not always Mr. Nice Guy. One day you went to hang your wet laundry on the roof and you were shocked to find that THERE HE WAS. King David on his balcony!! For a few weeks you used to coincidentally go up to your roof to sneak a peak at the King. You began to notice that he was noticing YOU, too!! It was as if he came out to the balcony to watch YOU! You decided to toy with him...what could be the harm...i mean nothing was going to happen! He was the king, after all! And you were just a little lonely. So for a few weeks, you moved from hanging laundry to sunbathing, and a few weeks after that you were bold enough to actually bathe in front of the king. And after all those weeks had passed, you were thrilled that he invited you to the palace. You spent the night, and now you are pregnant with his baby.

9 THINGS YOUR CHARACTER SHOULD KNOW (AND CAN ADMIT) Abimelech You maintain the story you told the reporter in the ANE News studio. You are a loyal servant in the palace, but the truth is the truth. You might be asked about an incident that happened a few years ago. In your ploy to get the chief cook fired (so that you could have the job), you lied about him stealing grocery money for himself. Everyone found out that you lied, and you were lucky to not be fired. You grew from the experience and now you are a new and different person.

10 THINGS YOUR CHARACTER SHOULD KNOW (AND CAN ADMIT) Eved You were the servant on duty the night that Uriah came to dinner and stayed in the palace. You overheard some things and, like other things you have overheard in the palace, knew to not say a word to anyone. You have never broken the palace confidentiality code. You have been subpoenaed to court to testify and you are not happy about it. What did you overhear? A few things. King David praised Uriah for his ongoing service in the army. He also gave Uriah A LOT of wine--more than the King usually gave his dinner guests. You overheard Uriah talking about how he couldn t possibly go home to be with his wife, knowing that his fellow soldiers weren t being afforded the same opportunity to see their wives. He would just feel too guilty. What a goody-two-shoes. All you know is that Uriah slept in the palace that night and that the king seemed really distressed.