And it happened to King David himself, involving none other than the Ark of the Covenant.
We find ourselves in Bamidbar (Numbers 7:9), where the Torah is describing the gifts given to the Levites. Specifically, it mentions that the sons of Kehath received no wagons. Why? Because, as the text tells us, "the burden of the holy things was theirs, (wherefore) they were to be borne upon the shoulder." These weren't just any holy things, remember. We're talking about the Ark!
Now, fast forward to the time of David. He's bringing the Ark back to Jerusalem, a momentous occasion! But, as Sifrei Bamidbar points out, David initially makes a critical error. He puts the Ark on a wagon! We see this in I Samuel (6:3), "And they placed the ark of G-d on a new wagon..." Disaster strikes. Uzzah, trying to steady the Ark, is struck down. A breach, a painful tear, occurs in the joy of the moment. "And the L-rd was wroth with Uzzah, and He smote him there for erring… And David grieved over the L-rd's having made a breach in Uzzah."
Ouch.
According to Sifrei Bamidbar, Achitofel, one of David's advisors, then gives David a harsh but necessary lesson. Shouldn't he have known, Achitofel asks, that the Levites were supposed to carry the Ark on their shoulders? "Should you not have learned from Moses your master that the Levites bore the ark only on their shoulder...?"
It's a powerful moment of realization. David, the King, the poet, the warrior, had overlooked something fundamental. He had forgotten the explicit instructions given to Moses, instructions that were now tragically highlighted by Uzzah's death.
So, David corrects his mistake. He gathers the priests and Levites – Tzaddok, Evyathar, Uriel, and others – and instructs them to carry the Ark properly, on their shoulders, using poles. As we see in I Chronicles (15:11-15), David acknowledges that the previous failure was due to not following the original instructions. "For in the beginning (when the ark was brought up from Kiryat Yearim), it was not you (who were the bearers, wherefore) the L-rd our G-d made a breach in us..."
The Levites then carry the Ark as Moses had commanded, “on their shoulders, with staves upon them.” The text emphasizes that they “originated nothing, but (did) all from the mouth of Moses, and Moses from the mouth of the Omnipotent." (Sifrei Bamidbar, quoting I Chronicles 24:19).
The story is a powerful reminder that even the greatest leaders can make mistakes, and that humility and a willingness to learn are essential. It also highlights the importance of adhering to tradition and following divine instructions, even when they seem inconvenient or outdated. David's experience underscores a crucial lesson: sometimes, the most important thing is to go back to the basics, to remember the original instructions, and to carry the weight – literally and figuratively – on our own shoulders. What do you think – in what areas of our lives do we need to make sure we carry the weight on our own shoulders, rather than try to put it on a "new wagon?"