What is the exact definition of a במה? Google translate defines it as stage, as it is. I think it is much more than just a stage. A במה is Hashem's stage. We, as Hashem's chosen nation, stand on the במה to worship and express our love for Hashem. Every nation has their form of a במה and we learn about this from מלכים א when King Shlomo marries woman from many different nations to create allies, but also ends up letting his wives build their own forms of "במות" in his home.
Shlomo became very well know by other nations. His way of making allies with those nations was to marry the princesses and queens of the nations. Hashem warned Shlomo that by marrying these women his heart would turn away from G-d. " מִן-הַגּוֹיִם, אֲשֶׁר אָמַר-יְהוָה אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא-תָבֹאוּ בָהֶם וְהֵם לֹא-יָבֹאוּ בָכֶם, אָכֵן יַטּוּ אֶת-לְבַבְכֶם, אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהֵיהֶם--בָּהֶם דָּבַק שְׁלֹמֹה, לְאַהֲבָה." And so it did. Shlomo had 700 wives and 300 concubines. The Navi states that they turned his whole heart away from Hashem. "נָשָׁיו הִטּוּ אֶת-לְבָבוֹ, אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים; וְלֹא-הָיָה לְבָבוֹ שָׁלֵם עִם-יְהוָה אֱלֹהָיו, כִּלְבַב דָּוִיד אָבִיו." Shlomo let his wives build their own במות just to have political allies and keep his ties with his father David's allies. Shlomo was warned about letting his wives turn him away from Hashem and now he has to live with the punishment of his kingdom being split after his reign was over.
Was what Shlomo did right at all? I think that it was far from right. There are other ways to make allies than being influenced by the allies. I think the only reason that Shlomo let his wives build their במות in his home was because of his emotional attachment to them because they were married. One of the ways he could have made allies, without turning against G-d, could have been to not marry, rather to trade. At the end of everything his allies weren't necessarily political because of his emotional attachment to them, they were more personal. The בית המקדש was supposed to be the only stage or במה in his life but because of his political ego the במה made him turn away from Hashem.
I totally agree with Sophie. Shlomo didn't have to go so incredibly far and acquire so many wives. I would personally take the restriction of not having too many wives one step further than the Torah. I would say that kings of Israel or any Jew for that matter should only be allowed to marry other Jews. In today's Orthodox communities, people are strongly encouraged to marry within the faith. Shlomo's straying from G-d shows us exactly why.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I want to emphasize something Sophie said: Shlomo could have made trade arrangements instead of marrying for allies. There were other ways for Israel to make alliances in their day and Shlomo chose the wrong way.
DeleteI agree with Sarah and Sophie. This story is a great way to prove to the Jews why we need to marry witing the religion. I'm sure Shlomo thought he could get away with marrying foreign women and still stay true to G-d. Shlomo was probably the wisest and most powerful king at the time. If he wasn't able to stay true to G-d while married to foreign women, then average Jews in this generation don't have a chance.
ReplyDeleteI agree and disagree. I don't think that Shlomo married all of those women just for allies. I think one of the reasons that he married them was just temptations, which shows weakness. I agree that the במות were a factor in turning Shlomo from Hashem. He didn't have to build the במות, he was simply weak at the time because he was in love with all of his wives . This shows his weakness which eventually led him to turn astray.
ReplyDeleteI also agree and disagree. I think that Shlomo had the intention to do something logical with the allies that he had made. Once he started marrying the women from the other nations that's when he went wrong. That led him to so many issues-buildng the bamot for the wives and his heart turning away from Hashem. If he had continued with the allies with out marrying so many other women then that would have been a logical thing for him to do.
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