Shlomo's tax

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1. The Mishkan of God and the Mikdash of Shlomo

   Haftarot: Teruma

   Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein

   Shlomo forgoes the voluntary system upon which the Mishkan was constructed, and builds the Temple using a taxation system, thus forcing the nation to participate in the construction of the Temple. Why? What is the advantage of this system? What are the disadvantages? How did his decision affect the status of the Temple? The midrash blames Shlomo for his haughtiness, but also commends him for knowing how to redirect his emotions to building the house of God.

2. Building an Empire

   Rabbi Alex Israel

   Shlomo's government, free of military conflict, can turn itself towards a different set of priorities; it is primarily engaged in the Temple and affairs of State. Shlomo's reign includes colossal efforts on several fronts to change the kingdom into an empire: The creation of military cities for the maintenance of a large standing army, the creation of the port city in modern-day Eilat, the development of Jerusalem as a center of world knowledge, and all of these efforts for the purpose of exalting God's name in the world.  One of these endeavours is the demarcation of twelve administrative regions. Does this division to regions overtax the tribes of Yosef while exempting the tribe of Yehuda?

3. Shlomo’s Sins

   Rabbi Alex Israel

   Three broad approaches exist to explain the jarring discrepancy between the love and dedication that Shlomo displayed towards God and His Mikdash and his love towards foreign women that led to idolatry.

   1) The approach adopted by the majority of traditional commentaries posits that Shlomo himself did not partake in idol worship but facilitated his wives’ idolatry and it is therefore attributed to him.

   2) A careful read of chapters 9 and 10 points to a wide range of failures, a sense of spiritual disorientation identified by Shlomo's overconfident abrogation of the Torah's restrictions for a king.  All these lead in a direct line to the more serious offenses of chapter 11. 

   3) Shlomo's marriage to Pharaoh's daughter at the very outset of his reign is a competing love to his love for God as is subtly described in the text and more explicitly described in the Midrash. Shlomo is caught ideologically between competing worlds.  Bat Pharaoh represents Egypt, the power and trade, the skills and crafts, wealth and international control that appeal to Shlomo's imperial mind.  These come along with a religious worldview that is polytheistic and pagan.  On the other side is the Torah, the Mikdash, the path of David Ha-Melekh.  Shlomo is committed to both.  He seeks to balance the two, but he fails.

    

4. The Rebellion of Yerovam

   Part 1

   Rabbi Alex Israel

   Yerovam was a man who demonstrated impressive management and leadership skills.  His outstanding reputation led him to a high office when Shlomo appointed him as head of the administrative region of Yosef. However, at the point that Milo is built, Yerovam decided to confront Shlomo.  Ahiya HaShiloni's traumatic prophecy, involving the tearing of a new garment, may have come to Yerovam as a result of his confrontation with Shlomo or it might have been the catalyst that caused him to rebel.