DEUT903 Another, important manifestation of the sanctity of the individual over the group in both [i.e., Jewish and American] ideologies is the overpowering emphasis that they both put on the rule of law. Kings, presidents, military leaders, and even individual judges do not determine the rules; There is a law by which even they must abide. (Deuteronomy 17:18-20, 2 Samuel 11-12, and 1 Kings 21. Compare also the talmudic story of the confrontation between Simeon Ben Shetah and King Alexander Yanai in B. Sanhedrin 19a-b). Thus in a poignant passage the Torah requires the King to own a copy of the Torah, to keep it nearby, and to “read it all his life.... Thus he will not act haughtily toward his fellows or deviate from the Instruction to the right or to the left.” (Deuteronomy 17:18-20) Similarly, to ensure that judges are not lured into thinking that they are the source of the law, they are advised by the Mishnah not to judge cases on their own. As Rabbi Ishmael, son of Rabbi Yose, said, “Do not judge by yourself, for there is only One who [appropriately] judges by Himself.” M. Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) 4:10. Insistence that the law must govern has engendered great effort in both systems to extend it to cover every contingency. Jewish law became, as the Talmud put it, a veritable sea, and American law is now even more extensive. The United States may well be the only nation in the world that has centered its civilization around law as much as the Jews have. (So claims Konvitz (1980) Judaism and the American Idea, New York: Schocken., 53-55; the quotation is from p. 55).