That’s exactly the situation King David found himself in, according to the Legends of the Jews. He wasn’t choosing between dinner options, though. This was a divine reckoning.

You see, David had committed a grave sin: taking a census of the people. Now, on the surface, counting your population doesn't sound so bad, right? But in ancient Jewish thought, such an act could be seen as an expression of arrogance, a reliance on human strength rather than divine providence. It was like saying, "Look at how powerful I am, with all these people under my command!"

So, the prophet Gad arrives, a messenger of the Almighty, and lays out the consequences. David gets to pick his punishment. Talk about a lose-lose.

What were the options? Famine, oppression by enemies, or… plague.

Yikes.

As Ginzberg tells us in Legends of the Jews, David felt like a sick man asked to choose between being buried next to his father or his mother. A morbid choice, indeed. He was in a bind. What to do?

David agonized over it. "If I choose the calamities of war," he reasoned, "the people will say, 'He cares little, he has his warriors to look to.'" In other words, they'd think he wasn't suffering because he had protection. "If I choose famine," he continued, "they will say, 'He cares little, he has his riches to look to.'" Again, he'd be perceived as insulated from the people's suffering.

So, he made his choice. "I shall choose the plague," he declared, "whose scourge strikes all alike." At least this way, he thought, everyone would suffer equally, himself included. There’s a certain tragic nobility in that decision, isn't there?

But even with his intentions, the plague was devastating. Although it raged for only a brief time, it took a massive toll. And the most heartbreaking loss? The death of Abishai.

Who was Abishai? According to the Legends, he was no ordinary man. He was a pillar of piety and learning, so much so that his presence was equal to a host of seventy-five thousand! Imagine the spiritual void left by his passing.

This story leaves us with a lot to consider. The weight of leadership, the consequences of our actions, and the unpredictable nature of divine judgment. And maybe, just maybe, the importance of counting our blessings instead of simply counting heads. What do you think?