By Rabbi David Wolpe
Several years ago, my book on King David was optioned for a movie by Warner Brothers. A few scripts were written but then it fell into the
void of Hollywood projects that languish for eternity.
The studio concluded it just wasn’t the right time for a major biblical epic.
Apparently, it is now.
Several shows about David are suddenly dotting the streaming landscape. There is an animated film, a forthcoming docu-drama and a streaming TV show.
Why the sudden surge of interest in the ancient Israelite king?
According to the creators of “David,” the children’s movie released recently by the Christian production company Angel Studios, David is an exemplar of faith.
“Now more than ever, David is … what the world is missing in terms of leadership because he was so servant-hearted, such a shepherd-hearted person,” director Brent Dawes said on a Christian podcast.
Zachary Levi, the actor tapped to star in the Fox Nation docu-drama “David: King of Israel” which launched in March, explained his interest in David: “Aside from the account of Christ, the story of David is the most powerful in all of scripture. In fact, one might argue that it’s even more powerful in some ways, given that David was fully human, and therefore flawed, like us, making his journey more relatable to our own.”
And about the massively popular “House of David,” whose second season is soon to start streaming on Amazon, the Jewish consultant brought in to assist the evangelical showrunners had a simple take. “King David is someone who can inspire anybody,” Jenn Levine told JTA.
While the three major David productions all emerge from the recent explosion in Christian programming, I believe Jews would do well to tap into the David moment, too.
The story of David is one of a flawed but supremely gifted and determined person who rises to the pinnacle of leadership.
He is an improbable hero. But once tested, his remarkable courage is inspiring precisely because he is otherwise so unprepossessing. The slingshot that fells Goliath epitomizes not only the improbability of David’s victory but its creativity and daring.
How desperately we seek that in leaders today, someone who will step forward when others are afraid and do difficult things with elan and grace.
David is a sensitive soul who plays music and writes poetry; yet on the battlefield he is fierce and his band of fighters are loyal to him.
Crucially to the David story, he sins. David is a deeply flawed human being. He commits both adultery and murder, all in one episode.
Remembering his role as the founder of Jerusalem, and therefore as pivotal in Israel’s historic ties to the land, we should certainly welcome the framing of David as a heroic if flawed figure.
While David as “prelude,” which is part of the Christian story, may raise theological differences, I know from speaking about David in churches and Christian colleges that a common celebration of his legacy is more a tie than his eschatological status is a divider.
What about this story would appeal to the contemporary viewer? Not only the salacious reality of the story itself, but the astonishing aftermath. David instantly recognized his sin, fell to weeping before God and begged for repentance.
Power does not merely reveal character; it tests whether we can repent of the selves power tempts us to become.
The true man, and true hero, is not only an external quality — not merely one who acts. He is one who feels, regrets, understands, embraces his friends, dances and weeps. David exemplifies depth and offers accountability, which is a balm in an unaccountable age. He reminds us that greatness is not the absence of failure but the refusal to let failure be the final word.
There are many speculations about why David is the one chosen to be the precursor of the Messiah. In the end, I believe the key is when God says that David is “a man after my own heart.”
Since everything is in God, the more fully human one is, the more one in a sense carries out the religious injunction of imitatio Dei, to conduct one’s life b’tzelem Elokhim — in the image of God.
Holiness is not a flight from humanity but its fullest realization.
The Christians who made the flurry of David productions believe David is worth paying attention to because he is close to God. Their shows may be worth watching for the opposite reason.
David is the fullest character the Bible offers us. In his sinfulness and sublimity, he is the most human of us all. 
Rabbi David Wolpe is the Max Webb emeritus rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles and a scholar in residence for the Maimonides Fund.
This article was provided by the JTA global Jewish news source.
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