Today, we're diving into a story about Solomon, the king renowned for his wisdom, and a misstep that, according to some traditions, nearly cost Jerusalem everything.
The tale begins with a double celebration: Solomon's wedding feast to the Egyptian princess and the consecration of the Temple in Jerusalem. A momentous occasion, right? Except… the rejoicing over the king's marriage, as Ginzberg tells us in Legends of the Jews, overshadowed the dedication of the Temple itself. There's an old proverb that says, "All pay flattery to a king," and it seems that applied then as much as it does today.
But here’s the kicker: Some say that this misplaced emphasis, this prioritizing of worldly celebration over sacred duty, was so egregious that it planted the seed for the eventual destruction of Jerusalem. Harsh, right? But that’s what some traditions suggest. As the prophet says, "This city hath been to me a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day." (Referencing Kings 2:21)
The story gets even more dramatic. On their wedding night, Pharaoh's daughter, wanting to keep her new husband utterly captivated, brought a thousand different musical instruments from Egypt. Each one, allegedly, was dedicated to a different idol, its name proclaimed aloud as it was played. Imagine the scene! The clash of cultures, the echoes of foreign gods in the heart of Jerusalem.
And that's not all. She also spread a tapestry above Solomon's bed, covered in diamonds and pearls, glittering like a miniature night sky. The Zohar tells us about the power of such images, how they can influence our perceptions and even our actions. So, whenever Solomon stirred, he saw these "stars" and, thinking it was still night, he’d drift back to sleep until the fourth hour of the morning.
The consequences were severe. The daily sacrifice in the newly consecrated Temple couldn’t be offered because the Temple keys were under Solomon's pillow, and no one dared to wake him. Can you feel the tension? The weight of religious obligation left unfulfilled because of a king's… well, let's just say, a king's infatuation.
Word eventually reached Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She rushed to her son and rebuked him. "Your father," she said, "was known as a God-fearing man, and now people will say, 'Solomon is the son of Bathsheba, it is his mother's fault if he goes wrong!'" Ouch. Talk about motherly guilt!
She reminded him of the responsibilities of kingship, warning him against licentiousness and intoxication. "Give not thy strength unto women," she cautioned, "nor thy ways to them that destroy kings, for licentiousness confounds the reason of man." It’s a powerful reminder that even wisdom can be clouded by desire. She urged him to remember his role, quoting Proverbs: "Not for kings, O Lemuel… It is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to desire strong drink."
The story leaves us with a stark question: how easily can even the most righteous be led astray? Solomon, the wisest of men, nearly jeopardized everything because of worldly pleasures. It's a cautionary tale, reminding us that constant vigilance and devotion are needed to maintain a righteous path, and that even the most glorious of moments can hold the seeds of potential destruction.