In Parshat Tetzaveh at 28:17-20 we learn that the Kohen Gadol wore a breastplate called theחֹשֶׁן. It contained 12 precious and semi-precious jewels, representing the twelve Tribes. If you are wondering what the identity of individual gemstones in High Priest’s breastplate are, forget it.Take it from me - No one living today really knows.There is only speculation.
From a mineralogical perspective I have a good idea as to what they may be, and a better idea as to what they are not, but only from the view point of mineralogy or better yet gemology. There are 3,500 known minerals in the world at large.Minerals are naturally occurring chemical compounds.The mineral that we are most familiar with ishalite better known as salt.It is the chemical compound sodium chloride.
Gems on the other hand are minerals that are rare.There are only about 15 or so of them.In addition to being rare, gemstones are durable, relatively hard and certainly beautiful.Gemstones are categorized as either precious of semi-precious.Precious gemstones are very rare and very hard. Semi-precious gemstones are less rare and somewhat softer.They are both beautiful; take on a polish and or have a natural luster.
Diamond, Emeralds, Sapphires, Rubies, Garnet. Spinel, Jade, Peridot and Topaz are considered precious gemstones.Aquamarine, Amber, Lapis, Opal, Turquoise, Zircon and several varieties of Quartz are considered semi-precious gemstones.
Of the many varieties of quartz that are considered semi-precious I’m sure you are familiar with several of them: Colorless quartz is called Crystal; purple is Amethyst; pink is Rose; gray is Smokey; white is Milky, yellow is Citrine; banded is Agate, orange is Jasper and Carnelian, and black (sometimes with white stripes) is Onyx.
In my opinion the Children of Israel obtained the gemstones for the breastplate from their Egyptian neighbors or found the more common varieties in the dessert.Those obtained from their Egyptian neighbors were either native to Egypt or originated at a locale that traded with Egypt.In terms of precious gemstones I would eliminate Diamond, Emerald, Spinel and Jade because they occur at locations too far away from Egypt.And Diamonds were only “invented” many years later in India.As to the semi-precious gemstone choices, although beautiful, I would eliminate Amber, Lapis, Opal and Turquoise because they are too soft and not durable enough. I'm not sure about Zircon.
I’m not sure which of the remainder gemstones would have been chosen.Because of their Hebrew names, I’m most comfortable with Sapphire,סַפִּירand Jasperיָשְׁפֵה.Sapphires and Rubies have the same chemical composition.Where there are Sapphires there is a likelihood of also finding Rubies.Peridot and Topaz are found in Egypt.All this is speculation and certainly the rest are up for grabs.
Onyx,שֹּׁהַםin Hebrew is often associated with the Tribe of Joseph. Perhaps a pale yellow stone such as Topaz is representative of the Tribe of Asher known for its olive oil or a pale blue aquamarine should stand for the sea-going trading Tribe of Zevulun. All this is speculation, but it does give you much to talk about at your Shabbos table. But one thing is for sure: Whether represented by precious or semi-precious stones all the Children of Israel are treasured by Hashem.
Urim and Tummim are elements of the חֹשֶׁן, the breastplate worn by the If important matters. The Urim and Tummim are not defined, but traditionally they are a parchment containing the Names of God, which would cause the stones of the breastplate to light up with messages. “Urim and Tummim” comes from the Hebrew words for light and perfection.
Rashi explains that when the Jewish People needed to know something of great import, the Urim and Tummim could be consulted to reveal the will of God. There was a special name of God that was written and placed in the fold of the breastplate through which the breastplate illuminated and answered the question. The Urim and Tummim were often consulted throughout Biblical times, but went missing after the destruction of the first Temple in 586 BCE.
One of the most moving portions of a synagogue service is when the Priests, the Kohanim, bless the congregation.This was originally done by Aaron and his four sons in the Mishkan. In synagogues today prior to the actual blessing, the Kohanim stand before the congregation and recite a prayer in that they are commanded to bless the people with love:
Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with the holiness of Aharon and commanded us to bless His people, Israel, with love.
וצונו לברך את עמו ישראל באהבה
If באהבהis an object of a preposition, then the Kohanim are bestowing on the congregants the blessing of love.If באהבהis an adverb, then the Kohanim are giving their blessing lovingly. It is a beautiful and meaningful service.
At Reb Yitz’s weekly shiur on the Parsha,
he brought out some very interesting commentary:
Aaron the Kohen Gadol was required to
wear special garments when officiating in the Mishkan, particularly when he was
in the Holy of Holies which was only on Yom Kippur.
In contrast, Moshe spoke with Hashem in
the Holy of Holies at will and was not required to wear special clothing.
Going back to the time of Adam and Eve, before
they sinned they did not wear any clothing at all.
Fast forwarding to Aaron’s role in
perpetuating the Sin of the Golden Calf, perhaps there is a connection between
his sinful behavior and the requirement for him to wear special clothing when
entering the Holy of Holies. And if you consider Moshe to be unblemished, he could
wear what ever he wanted when speaking to Hashem.
Moshe is not mentioned in Parshas Tetzaveh. The Parsha is devoted to Moshe’s brother Aaron and his fellow Kohanim. Traditionally the overall role of the Kohen is to instruct us Jews regarding the Torah. They were our teachers. They carried the Law.
“…and Aaron shall bear the law of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.”
Over the course of time, however the Kohen’s role has become at most a ceremonial one; it has been greatly diminished. We have picked up the slack, something foreseen by Hashem.
“And you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation…”
While once we were instructed by the Priests, now we have become as Priests and are expected to instruct the peoples of the world in righteous compassion and moral justice (paraphrasing from Rabbi Riskin’s words).
In Parshat Tetzaveh we learn that the Kohen Gadol wore two stones on his shoulders on which were engraved the names of the Tribes. These are the Shoham Stones....what are they?
Shoham is commonly thought to be a semi-precious gem called onyx. Onyx is either solid black or black with white stripes. It is mentioned in Sefer Bereishis (2:12) in conjunction with B'dellium, another mysterious substance: B'dellium may be a resin for making perfume or incense. וּזְהַב הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא, טוֹב; שָׁם הַבְּדֹלַח, וְאֶבֶן
הַשֹּׁהַם "And the gold of that land is good; there is the b'dellium and the onyx stone"
12. They were used to make petilot/wicks which were lit during the nights of
the Simchas Beis Hashoeva and used for the daily lighting of the menorah! (Rambam-
Hil. Bigdei Kehuna 6)
13. The Rambam says they both wore turbans formed from linen strips that
were 16 amos long, but they were wrapped around the head differently. Others say
otherwise. (Rambam Hil Klei Hamikdash, Bigdei Kehuna 19)
14. No, they didn’t. Each mishmar had four separate built-in wall cupboardsone
for each type of garment. Each one was labelled, there were 96 in total, and they were kept locked when the mishmar was not there. (Beis Hamikdash B’Yerushalayim).
Tetzaveh is almost exclusively about the Priesthood. They were our religious leaders. On the other hand Moshe is representative of our civil leadership. At the same time Moshe is regarded as our greatest Prophet. A question then arises as to our Prophetic leadership. Rabbi Sacks compares the roles of the Priests and the Prophets:
Priests and Prophets were very different in their roles, despite the fact that some Prophets, most famously Ezekiel, were Priests also. The primary distinctions were:
1. The role of Priest was dynastic, that of Prophet was charismatic. Priests were the sons of Aaron. They were born into the role. Parenthood had no part in the role of the Prophet. Moses’ own children were not Prophets.
2. The Priest wore robes of office. There was no official uniform for a Prophet.
3. The priesthood was exclusively male; not so prophecy. The Talmud lists seven women who were Prophets: Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Huldah and Esther.
4. The role of the Priest did not change over time. There was a precise annual timetable of sacrifices that did not vary from year to year. The Prophet by contrast could not know what their mission would be until God revealed it to them. Prophecy was never a matter of routine.
5. As a result, Prophet and Priest had different senses of time. Time for the Priest was what it was for Plato: the “moving image of eternity,”[3] a matter of everlasting recurrence and return. The Prophet lived in historical time. Their today was not the same as yesterday and tomorrow would be different again. One way of putting this is that the Priest heard the word of God for all time. The Prophet heard the word of God for this time.
6. The Priest was “holy” and therefore set apart from the people. He had to eat his food in a state of purity, and had to avoid contact with the dead. The Prophet by contrast often lived among the people and spoke a language they understood. Prophets could come from any social class.
7. The key words for the Priest were tahor, tamei, kodesh and chol: “pure”, “impure”, “sacred”, and “secular”. The key words for the Prophets were tzedek, mishpat, chessed and rachamim: “righteousness”, “justice”, “love”, and “compassion”. It is not that the Prophets were concerned with morality while the Priests were not. Some of the key moral imperatives, such as “You shall love your neighbour as yourself,” come from priestly sections of the Torah. It is rather that Priests think in terms of a moral order embedded in the structure of reality, sometimes called a “sacred ontology.”[4] Prophets tended to think not of things or acts in themselves but in terms of relationships between persons or social classes.
8. The task of the Priest is boundary maintenance. The key priestly verbs are le-havdil and le-horot, to distinguish one thing from another and apply the appropriate rules. Priests gave rulings, Prophets gave warnings.
9. There is nothing personal about the role of a Priest. If one – even a High Priest – was unable to officiate at a given service, another could be substituted. Prophecy was essentially personal. The Sages said that “no two Prophets prophesied in the same style” (Sanhedrin 89a). Hosea was not Amos. Isaiah was not Jeremiah. Each Prophet had a distinctive voice.
10. Priests constituted a religious establishment. The Prophets, at least those whose messages have been eternalised in Tanach, were not an establishment but an anti-establishment, critical of the powers-that-be.
This Shabbat is called Shabbat Zachor, the Sabbath of Remembrance, שבת זכור. It is the Shabbat immediately preceding Purim. On Shabbat Zachor we read from Deuteronomy 25:17-19 which describes the attack by Amalek:
“You shall remember what Amalek did to you on the way, when you went out of Egypt, how he happened upon you on the way and cut off all the stragglers at your rear, when you were faint and weary, and he did not fear God.
Therefore, it will be, when the Lord your God grants you respite from all your enemies around [you] in the land which the Lord, your God, gives to you as an inheritance to possess, that you shall obliterate the remembrance of Amalek from beneath the heavens”.
“You shall not forget!”
There is a tradition from the Talmud that Haman, the antagonist of the Purim story, was descended from Amalek. The portion that is read on Shabbat includes a commandment to remember the attack by Amalek, and therefore at this public reading both men and women make a special effort to hear the reading.
We were entering a “bad neighborhood”. It was bad then and it is still bad today.
And there is a lesson to be learned in connection with a “bad neighborhood”:
Moshe should have known that there were stragglers who were vulnerable, and needed rear-guard protection. A leader is responsible for the well-being of his people. Moshe needed to learn this.
17 - And you shall fill into it stone fillings, four rows of
stones. One row: odem, pitdah, and bareketh; thus shall the one row be.
21 - And the stones shall be for the names of the sons of Israel
twelve, corresponding to their names; [similar to] the engravings of a seal,
every one according to his name shall they be, for the twelve tribes.
It contained 12 precious and semi-precious jewels, representing the twelve Tribes. If you are wondering what the identity of individual gemstones in High Priest’s breastplate are, forget it.Take it from me - No one living today really knows.There is only speculation.
From a mineralogical perspective I have a good idea as to what they may be, and a better idea as to what they are not, but only from the view point of mineralogy or better yet gemology. There are 3,500 known minerals in the world at large.Minerals are naturally occurring chemical compounds.The mineral that we are most familiar with ishalite better known as salt.It is the chemical compound sodium chloride.
Gems on the other hand are minerals that are rare.There are only about 15 or so of them.In addition to being rare, gemstones are durable, relatively hard and certainly beautiful.Gemstones are categorized as either precious of semi-precious.Precious gemstones are very rare and very hard. Semi-precious gemstones are less rare and somewhat softer.They are both beautiful; take on a polish and or have a natural luster.
Diamond, Emeralds, Sapphires, Rubies, Garnet. Spinel, Jade, Peridot and Topaz are considered precious gemstones.Aquamarine, Amber, Lapis, Opal, Turquoise, Zircon and several varieties of Quartz are considered semi-precious gemstones.
Of the many varieties of quartz that are considered semi-precious I’m sure you are familiar with several of them: Colorless quartz is called Crystal; purple is Amethyst; pink is Rose; gray is Smokey; white is Milky, yellow is Citrine; banded is Agate, orange is Jasper and Carnelian, and black (sometimes with white stripes) is Onyx.
In my opinion the Children of Israel obtained the gemstones for the breastplate from their Egyptian neighbors or found the more common varieties in the dessert.Those obtained from their Egyptian neighbors were either native to Egypt or originated at a locale that traded with Egypt.In terms of precious gemstones I would eliminate Diamond, Emerald, Spinel and Jade because they occur at locations too far away from Egypt.And Diamonds were only “invented” many years later in India.As to the semi-precious gemstone choices, although beautiful, I would eliminate Amber, Lapis, Opal and Turquoise because they are too soft and not durable enough. I'm not sure about Zircon.
I’m not sure which of the remainder gemstones would have been chosen.Because of their Hebrew names, I’m most comfortable with Sapphire,סַפִּירand Jasperיָשְׁפֵה.Sapphires and Rubies have the same chemical composition.Where there are Sapphires there is a likelihood of also finding Rubies.Peridot and Topaz are found in Egypt.All this is speculation and certainly the rest are up for grabs.
Onyx,שֹּׁהַםin Hebrew is often associated with the Tribe of Joseph. Perhaps a pale yellow stone such as Topaz is representative of the Tribe of Asher known for its olive oil or a pale blue aquamarine should stand for the sea-going trading Tribe of Zevulun. All this is speculation, but it does give you much to talk about at your Shabbos table.
But one thing is for sure: Whether represented by precious or semi-precious stones all the Children of Israel are treasured by Hashem.
“Speak to the children of Israel, and have them take for Me an offering; from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity, you shall take My offering”.
When the B'nei Yisrael give from their heart they are transformed into the Am Yisrael, the People of Israel, the Jewish people.
Rabbi Wein has something to say about the aspect of voluntary giving associated with the building of the Mishkan:
“The demand of the Torah is not only to give from our heart but to give our heart itself to the exalted cause and spiritual greatness of the tabernacle/mishkan. It is not a donation that the Torah asks of us, rather it is a commitment of self that is demanded. The tabernacle/mishkan has long ago disappeared from our physical view but its lessons remain relevant and important to us today as when they were taught millennia ago”.
There is a connection between Rosh Chodesh Adar which falls on Tuesday and the current Parshah. This connection is in regard to the construction of the Mishkan. According to the Talmud (Tractate Megillah 22b), women are forbidden to engage in work on Rosh Chodesh. Rashi comments: Women must refrain: spinning, weaving, and sewing—the skills that women contributed to the building of the Mishkan.
There is a Midrash, (Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer, Chapter 45), as paraphrased explores this further: Aaron argued with himself, saying: "If I say to Israel, 'Give me gold and silver,' the men will bring it immediately; but behold if I will say to them, 'Give me the earrings of your wives and your sons,' the matter will immediately fail,"
"And Aaron said to them, 'Break off the golden rings.'" The women heard this, but they were unwilling to give their earrings to their husbands. The women said to them: "You want to make a graven image, a molten image (the Golden Calf) without any power in it to deliver.
"The Holy One, blessed be He, gave the women their reward in this world and the world to come. What reward did He give them in this world? That they should observe the new moons more stringently (not work) than the men. What reward will He give them in the world to come? They are destined to be renewed like the new moons, as it is said: "Who satisfies the years with good things; their youth is renewed like the eagle."
There is a message in this week’s Torah portion Terumah which applies to our children and grandchildren.
The Torah portion concerns in part the building of the Mishkan, the portable dwelling place for HaShem that we carried during our wandering in the desert.
In the most sacred part of the Mishkan there was the Ark of the Covenant in which was contained the stone tablets, the Ten Commandments. This Ark was a wooden box covered inside and out with gold. It had a golden cover on which stood two winged angelic beings called Cherubs, Cheruvim in the Hebrew plural. The cover and the Cherubs were fashioned out of one block of pure gold.
Because we Jews do not believe in idols or religious statuary, the presence of Cherubs in this holiest of places requires some explanation. In Hebrew, the word Cherub is writtenכְּרוּב. The letter כְּis often translated “as” or “like”. In Aramaic, רוּבis understood to mean “child”, so we get “like a child”.
HaShem spoke to Moses from between the two Cheruvim. It is the Cheruvim that stood watch over the Ten Commandments.
Rashi explains that the Cherub or Cheruvim had the face of a child. Their function was to guard or keep safe the most sacred of our religious objects. And that means the Torah. HaShem has placed the care of our Torah in the hands of our children and grandchildren.
“Let them make Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them.”
Whether it be a Mishkan or a Temple I think we no longer need a structure or a building to house the presence of God. We have the Land of Israel which performs that sacred obligation. Israel is the sanctuary that Hashem commanded us to build.Israel is theמִקְדָּשׁ, a safe haven for us Jews as well as a private place for the presence of God.
This week we receive detailed instructions regarding the construction of theמשכן, the portable sanctuary, a dwelling place for Hashem’s presence.Two of the major components of theמשכןare the Ark and the Menorah:
The Ark is protected by two Cherubs.These are winged-liked unearthly creatures that have the faces of children.It is thought just as the Cherubs protect the Ark, it is our children who protect our Torah and our Jewish traditions.
The Menorah in its abstract resembles a tree, perhaps the Tree of Life.And when it branches are lit by Aaron the Kohen Gadol, the Menorah resembles Hashem’s Torah that gives light to us Jews and to the world at large.
There is a controversy as to the design of the Menorah's arms:
At 26:14 we are instructed that the roof of the Mishkan is to be made up of animal skins, red dyed ram skins and the uppermost layer is to be composed of “tachash” skins.
"And you shall make a covering for the tent of ram skins dyed red and a covering of tachash skins above”.
No one knows what a Tachash is. Since it forms the uppermost layer of the Mishkan roof I think the animal hide must have tough, sort of a weather proofing material. One Rabbi in the Talmud at tractate Shabbat 28a speculates that it came from an animal with a single horn. The Prophet Ezekiel at 16:10 has the tachash being made into shoes. I would guess that the tachash is an animal with a very tough skin. I think the tachash is a hippopotamus. They certainly roamed in Egypt and once roamed about in Israel.
In the Book of Job (40:15 and 40:31) they are called the Behemoth that were huge and lived in swamps. Their skin is two inches thick.
I want to explore a little more about the tarchash:
THE TACHASH
In Parshat Terumah we read about the offerings donated for the construction of the Mishkan. One of these offerings were Tachash skins.
Tachash skins served two purposes: They were used as an outer roof or covering for the Tabernacle (26:14).
We learned that the outer roof of the tent of the Tabernacle are made up of skins of an animal identified as a “Tachash.
Also in the Book of Numbers at Chapter 4 we learn that Tachash skins were used to wrap sacred objects and ready them for transport.
Not Just Another Pretty Face
From learning about its purpose we can assume that Tachash skins offered some sort of protection. water-proof, weather-resistant, tough, and very durable. The skins also provided protection against narrows and missiles.
But what animal is the Tachash?
There is much speculation as to its identity: a unicorn or a one-horned rhinoceros, antelope, manatee, dolphin
In the Talmud Shabbat 28a the Tachash is identified as being similar to a multi- colored animal called either sasgona, סַסְגּוֹנָא, because it glistened with different colors and/or tela ilan, תלא אילן another multicolored creature.
My best guess is that the Tachash is a Hippopotamus.
For one thing, a hippopotamus is not what you would call a thin-skinned creature. Its skin is so thick that it is almost bullet proof, and at 1 ½ inches thick most certainly arrow proof.
A hippo is multicolored: The hippo's upper parts are purplish-grey to blue-black, while the under parts and areas around the eyes and ears can be brownish-pink. Their skin secretes a natural sunscreen substance which is red-colored.
Tachash skins were used in the Mishkan where they served as a form of protection and weather proofing. They formed the outermost layer of the Mishkan’s roof.
"And you shall make a covering for the tent of ram skins dyed red and a covering of Tachash skins above”.
As in the Book of Numbers, Chapter 4, Tachash skins were also utilized in the transport many of the components of the Mishkan. These components were wrapped up in the skins prior to their transport.
The Talmud, Shabbat 28a says that the Tachash was multicolored:
שיש בו גבוונין הרבה
“…in that it was multicolored…”
A hippopotamus’ upper parts are purplish-grey to blue-black, while the under parts and areas around the eyes and ears can be brownish-pink. When out of the water they will secrete a red oily coating that protects its skin from drying out.
If you need a proof text, consider some verses from Chapter 40 of the Book of Job in which a monstrous primeval land animal who has enormous strength and is called a “Behemoth” is described and this creature resembles a hippopotamus:
40:15 - Behold now the Behemoth that I have made with you; he eats grass like an ox.
40:17 - His tail hardens like a cedar; the sinews of his testicles are knit together.
40:18 - His limbs are as strong as copper, his bones as a load of iron.
40:21 - He lies under the shadows, hidden in the reeds and the swamp.
The hippopotamus is large, very large; males weigh more than 4000 lb. The hippopotamus spends much of its time in lakes, swamps and rivers. Before becoming locally extinct they inhabited Egypt and the region known as the Levant, which includes Canaan. Think of the Hula Valley and the area south of Tiveria. Archaeological evidence exists of its presence in the Levant, dating to less than 3,000 years ago.
Hippos measure 10 to 17 feet in length, including a tail of about 1 to 2 feet in length. The testes of the males descend only partially. Their diet in nature consists almost entirely of grass. They are considered to be extremely aggressive
On an interesting note the most powerful land animal on Earth, the Behemoth/Hippopotamus is paired in the Book of Job with another primeval monstrous animal, the Leviathan. It is the most powerful sea creature on Earth and is thought by many to be a whale. Whales and hippopotamus’ share a common origin. The most recent theory of the origins of the Hippopotamus family suggests that hippos and whales shared a common semiaquatic ancestor that branched off from their common ancestor around 60 million years ago. This ancestral group then split into two branches around 54 million years ago.
And in the World to Come, as many believe, just as the skin of the Leviathan will serve as a tent for the righteous, perhaps it is only fitting that the skin of the hippopotamus served as a tent for us when we wandered in the Wilderness.
------------------------------------------------- The Haftorah portion of Parshas Terumah parallels the building of the Mishkan in the Wilderness with Solomon’s building of the Temple in Jerusalem. The portion is from 1 KINGS 5:26 - 6:13 and begins:
וַיהוָה, נָתַן חָכְמָה לִשְׁלֹמֹה, כַּאֲשֶׁר, דִּבֶּר-לוֹ “And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as He had spoken to him,…“
“and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and the two of them entered into an agreement”.
When all is done and said, I do not like Solomon. Despite his wisdom Solomon was a fool from the beginning. Let’s return to the previous Parshah at 23:32 where HaShem commands us not to enter into agreements with the Canaanites.
לֹא-תִכְרֹת לָהֶם וְלֵאלֹהֵיהֶם, בְּרִית
“You shall not enter into an agreement with them, nor with their gods”.
So what does Solomon do? He enters into a construction agreement, aבְּרִית,with Hiram, who is a king of Phoenicia and a Canaanite.
Hiram was king of Tyre. His regnal years have been calculated by some as 980 to 947 BCE. During Hiram's reign, Tyre grew from a satellite of Sidon into the most important of Phoenician cities Some believe that Solomon’s Temple is the best example of Phoenician temple architecture found to date.
In 1 kings 6:13-14, king Solomon and king Hiram were assisted by a Phoenician coppersmith also named Hiram:
13: And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.
14: He (was) a widow's son, of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a coppersmith; and he was filled with the wisdom and understanding and skill, to work all works in copper; and he came to king Solomon and wrought all his work.
Returning to Solomon and his pervasion of Jewish law: He conscripts 30,000 Hebrew workmen to labor in Lebanon. They are not volunteers; they are forced laborers. But it gets worse. In addition to the 30,000 Jews from birth laborers, Solomon conscripts 150,000 Jewish converts to schlep stone and timber from Lebanon to Jerusalem. It is all laid out in 1 Kings 5:27-32 and according to 2 Chronicles 2: 16-17.
It gets even worse: the 30,000 forced laborers are divided into three groups and work one month in Lebanon and rest two months at home. Not so for the 150,000 converts; the Tanakh is silent regarding their rotation. Going back to Parshas Mishpatim as per 22:19 we are enjoined not to oppress or mistreat the foreigner, which has come to mean those who convert to Judaism. In fact we are to love the convert (Deuteronomy 10:19).
If you have a problem with my disdain for Solomon, consider this:
God gives Solomon wisdom, and in the Book of Kings 1 from Chapter 3 through 10 we learn of the supposed glory of Solomon’s rule. But then we come to Chapter 11 and a different picture of Solomon emergences. He is no longer wise, and it is not just Solomon’s excesses in terms of horses, wives and gold. Nor is it the negative influence of his Egyptian Queen, in terms of her idolatry.
At 11:1 – “King Solomon loved many foreign women and the daughter of Pharaoh; Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites.
The Zidonians are the people of Canaanite/Phoenician city of Sidon.
At 11:3 - And he had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned away his heart.
At 11;5 - And Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
At 11:7 - Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab on the mountain that is before Jerusalem and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
At 11:9 - And the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had digressed from the Lord, God of Israel, Who had appeared to him twice.
At 11:11 - And the Lord said to Solomon, "For as this has been with you, and you have not observed My covenant and My statutes which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and I shall give it to your servant.
And that is exactly what happened: The Kingdom of Judah had been comprised of all 12 Tribes. Ten of these revolted and they became known as the Kingdom of Israel or the Northern Kingdom. Judah was left with only two Tribes that of Benjamin and Judah.
Solomon’s servant was none other than Jeroboam (11:26). He had an opportunity to succeed to all the blessings that were to be given to Solomon and Judah, but he too followed the path of idolatry.
