The King and the High Priest. Chanukah. שֶׁ֖בֶת אַחִ֣ים גַּם־יָֽחַד The Division of Powers

 

Tehillim - Psalms - Chapter 133

שִׁ֥יר הַֽמַּֽעֲל֗וֹת לְדָ֫וִ֥ד הִנֵּ֣ה מַה־טּ֖וֹב וּמַה־נָּעִ֑ים שֶׁ֖בֶת אַחִ֣ים גַּם־יָֽחַד

The Rada'k learns that שֶׁ֖בֶת אַחִ֣ים גַּם־יָֽחַד refers to the Melech and the Kohen Gadol, the king and the High Priest. The Radak says that in the future the king and High Priest will be able to share authority. At the end of days the Melech and the Kohen Gadol will work together and there will be no friction between them both. Not only will they work together seamlessly but they will also be like brothers at heart with real love between the two. It will be much more than a workable arrangement but rather a brotherly relationship. 

The reason that this is considered such a "Miracle" and a "End of Days" wonder is because the king has full civil authority and full control of the government. The Kohen Gadol on the the other hand, is the nation's spiritual leader and has supreme authority over anything and everything spiritual. It is almost impossible for such an arrangement to work where none of the two has authority over the other's space. To make the arrangement work, the two powers must totally let go of their egos completely and allow for the other to infringe on his sphere of influence. The two can only succeed if they are Leshem Shamayim without seeking any vestige whatsoever of personal power.

For a society to reach its spiritual potential it has to be a totally free society. Spirituality and freedom go hand-in-hand. God created a world with free choice. That is not a coincidence. The concept of free choice is an intrinsic part of any spiritual journey. God HAD to give man free choice in order to fulfill his spiritual obligation in this world. 

Man has to CHOOSE good and CHOOSE life in order to fully internalize his actions. This allows for the intensity and passion man needs to continuously work hard towards accomplishing all the lofty spiritual goals required of him. No amount of external pressure can get a person there. On the contrary, to whatever extent man is not self-motivated, man will lose the ability to perform the required tasks.

The kings authority is directly antithetical to the Kohen Gadol's authority. The Kohen Gadol's authority is gained from people's respect. The Kohen Gadol has no authority to tell people what to do or how to act. The Kohen Gadol oversees  the Bais Hamikdash. This includes the Sanhderin, the high court seated in the Bais Hamikdash. However, the Kohen Gadol has no direct authority on the masses. The Kohen Gadol preaches free will and self-motivation. The king on the other hand controls the government. The king is in charge of the laws of the land. Generally the two will conflict. There is literally a zero sum relationship between the two. An increase in the power of one will cause an equal decrease in the power of the other. 

The Rada'k goes on to say that this was the prophesy of Zecharia in (Zecharia 3) that Zerubavel, the king, will rule together with Yehoshua Kohen Gadol. He called the "Zeisim" (Olives) because they were both anointed with olive oil. 

This prophesy in Zecharia is the prophesy that we read in the Haftorah of Chanuka. This is the situation that will exist at the end of days. This beautiful ability for both powers to coexist. 

The only time in history that it existed was during Chanuka. However, during the Chanuka period it only was possible to exist for one reason. The reason was that during that period the Hasmonaim who were the family of High Priests also served as kings. When the king is also the High Priest and is Leshaim Shamayim, has not ego, and is a Tzadik, effectively the same situation exits. This period lasted only a very short time. After a few short generations the Hasmonaim got corrupted and then what was left was the worst of all worlds where power was consolidated and there was no checks or balances. 

However for that short flash in history, during the days of the early Hashmonaim, the jewish nation had a glimpse of how real power can actually work beneficially. That is why we read the Haftorah of Zerubavel and Yehoshua Kohen Gadol on Chanuka