I Kings 5:26-6:13
After Jill’s wonderful post, and then Marc’s wonderful post relating to Jill’s wonderful post, I was not about to be outdone…
The first line of this week’s Haftarah:
וַיי, נָתַן חָכְמָה לִשְׁלֹמֹה, כַּאֲשֶׁר, דִּבֶּר-לוֹ
And Adonai gave Solomon wisdom, as Adonai had promised him.
The last lines of this week’s Haftarah:
הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר-אַתָּה בֹנֶה, אִם-תֵּלֵךְ בְּחֻקֹּתַי וְאֶת-מִשְׁפָּטַי תַּעֲשֶׂה, וְשָׁמַרְתָּ אֶת-כָּל-מִצְוֹתַי, לָלֶכֶת בָּהֶם--וַהֲקִמֹתִי אֶת-דְּבָרִי אִתָּךְ, אֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתִּי אֶל-דָּוִד אָבִיךָ.
וְשָׁכַנְתִּי, בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל; וְלֹא אֶעֱזֹב, אֶת-עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל
With regard to this house you are building—if you follow My laws and observe My rules and faithfully keep My commandments, I will fulfill for you the promise that I gave to your father David: I will abide among the children of Israel and I will never forsake My people Israel.
Solomon is granted wisdom, and we immediately learn that he has made treaties with his neighbors, essentially establishing peace in the region. It does not say that God gave him כח or strength to make this happen. Nor does it say that God gave him an army to accomplish this. Peace, or at least a friendship treaty, comes from wisdom. Since we have already learned that wisdom is usually personified as female, thanks to Marc, we could say that peace requires a feminine touch. At this point in the “peace” process, I’d give it over to women. Men have mad too much of a mess of things already.
But that’s not what I wanted to mention this Shabbat…
The last promise seems to be the one you’d ask for first, right? I want God here first, 'cause if I have that, then I don’t really need wisdom. Well, in an interesting way, Solomon already had what he needed and he didn’t even know it…
Earlier in I Kings, we read that Solomon was visited by God in a dream. God said: “Ask, what shall I give you?” The Genie-in-a-bottle resemblance notwithstanding, God basically grants Solomon one wish in this dream.
What would you wish for?
What should Solomon wish for?
Solomon asks for “an understanding mind to judge [God’s] people, to distinguish between good and bad.” Because Solomon asks for this, and not for wealth or power, God grants him all of the above. It appears that Solomon had it all along! And, as long as he doesn't mess up, God will be there, by his side.
Solomon was wise enough to know what to ask for. He knew the right thing to do as a young King of Israel was to get the tools to be a good leader. One of those tools, as our Haftarah points out, is wisdom. Though it is clear he was wise beyond his years even before the dream, we see how his wisdom allows him to make peace, expand the land, acquire wealth for the nation and build God a house to live in.
When we look to our leaders, what qualities do we look for and value? I, for one, am going to continue in my quest to find a leader who is wise. Hopefully, I won’t have to wait too much longer…
Saturday, February 20, 2010
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It's interesting that you link peace, wisdom, Solomon, and God together. I learned last night that according to the Rabbis, King Solomon (שלמה) is an acronym for מלך השלום שלו (the King to whom peace belongs). They interpret it as a sign that Song of Songs is actually written by and about God (Rashi to Song of Songs 1:1, or Shevuot 35b) but I think it's a good double entendre. Solomon and God are intimately tied, both using their wisdom to rule their respective realms and bring about peace on earth.
ReplyDeleteNice post! It made me think.
Nice post! I have to say, though, it always struck me that Sefer Melakhim presents us with two Solomons: the wise Solomon of the first ten chapters (although not always--but that's for another time), and then the Solomon we see in ch. 11 and the beginning of ch. 12. In these two chapters, we see Solomon being pulled toward idolatry, and Ahijah ha-Shiloni telling Yerevam--at God's command--that most of the kingdom will be taken away from him. Moreover, the people of "Israel" (as opposed to "Judah") let us know at the beginning of ch. 12 what we were led to suspect even earlier--in order to build the Temple, king's palace, empire, etc., Solomon worked the people very hard and ruthlessly. Was that wise? Look what it led to--rebellion and a divided kingdom. So, I've always thought that the biblical redactors employed irony by juxtaposing the tales of Solomon's wisdom with what we see as the results of his reign.
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