ABSTRACT
The Jewish people are clearly republican in their orientation; they have a partnership that is based on the principle that the community is a res publica, a public thing, not the private preserve of any person or group, whose leaders are drawn from and are penultimately responsible to the people. Ultimately, all are responsible to God; but penultimately, for matters of this world, leaders are responsible to the people in some way. In fact, much of the internal political history of the Jewish people revolves around the balancing of power among those who are seen as representatives of God’s will and those whose authority stems from the people. This fundamental division of powers is crucial to any Jewish polity and is even reflected in modem Israel in the deference shown those recognized as representatives of normative Judaism, which goes beyond the demands of coalition politics.
