Chapter 8 of Melachim A is the chapter of the dedication of the Temple: Shlomo brings the Aron into the Kodesh HaKodashim, blesses the people, and kneels in a long prayer before the altar of Hashem. In this prayer he lists one situation after another in which Israel will need Heaven's mercy, and he asks that this House be the gateway of prayer for all those situations. In this lesson we will proceed through the requests of the prayer in order, from the request concerning the withholding of rain to the blessing of the people at the conclusion of the festival, according to the explanation of the Malbim.
When the heavens are shut - a punishment that comes through the hiding of the Face
בְּהֵעָצֵר שָׁמַיִם וְלֹא־יִהְיֶה מָטָר כִּי יֶחֶטְאוּ־לָךְ וְהִתְפַּלְלוּ אֶל־הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה וְהוֹדוּ אֶת־שְׁמֶךָ וּמֵחַטָּאתָם יְשׁוּבוּן כִּי תַעֲנֵם׃ (לה) - When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You, and they pray toward this place and confess Your name and turn from their sin because You afflict them. (35)
In the previous request, concerning defeat before an enemy, Shlomo spoke of a situation in which Israel repent, regret their deeds, and then Hashem hears the voice of their supplication. Here he makes a different request: that Hashem answer them even before they have turned from their sin. Why is the order changed here? The Malbim explains that there are two kinds of punishments that come from Heaven. There is a punishment that the Holy One actively brings about through individual providence, such as being delivered into the hand of an enemy. Even when by the natural course of things your strength exceeds the enemy's, your army and your weapons are more developed than his, and yet you are delivered into his hand, this is clear proof of individual providence. "How could one pursue a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, were it not that their Rock had sold them and Hashem had delivered them." When a strong army is delivered into the hand of a weak one, it is known that the hand of Hashem has done this.
By contrast, there is a punishment that does not come through individual providence but rather through its opposite, through the removal of providence. Rain is an example of this. Rain in the Land of Israel must come through individual providence, for "the Land to which you are coming to possess it is not like the land of Egypt" - Egypt drinks from the Nile, while the Land of Israel "drinks water from the rain of the heavens," and the verse continues and explains: "a land that Hashem your God seeks out, the eyes of Hashem your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year." To bring down rain requires providence. It follows that in order to withhold rain the Holy One need not exercise providence and bring a punishment; it is enough that He remove His providence and the rain automatically ceases. But in order for us to fall into the hand of an enemy weaker than we, individual providence is required to deliver us into his hand.
And what is the difficulty in a punishment that comes through the hiding of the Face? That very often we do not know for what and why. So it was in the days of David: three years of famine, and for three years David examined, searched, investigated, and inquired for what reason the drought had come. At times the sins are hidden and it is hard to identify them, and Hashem hides His face and there is no rain. Therefore Shlomo says: "and they pray toward this place and confess Your name" - they will pray and confess that the punishment came upon them justly. Although they do not know which specific point to point to, they acknowledge: if Hashem has punished us, apparently we deserve it. "And turn from their sin" - they accept upon themselves in advance to turn from any sin that becomes revealed to them, even without yet knowing what it is.
וְאַתָּה תִּשְׁמַע הַשָּׁמַיִם וְסָלַחְתָּ לְחַטַּאת עֲבָדֶיךָ וְעַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי תוֹרֵם אֶת־הַדֶּרֶךְ הַטּוֹבָה אֲשֶׁר יֵלְכוּ־בָהּ וְנָתַתָּה מָטָר עַל־אַרְצְךָ אֲשֶׁר־נָתַתָּה לְעַמְּךָ לְנַחֲלָה׃ (לו) - And You will hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants and Your people Israel, for You teach them the good way in which they should walk, and You will give rain upon Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance. (36)
The request is: Master of the Universe, first of all forgive them and answer them, "because You afflict them." And why are they worthy of being answered even before they know their sin? Because they possess complete readiness to correct any sin that may be found in them. They do not know for what, but they say: if there is in us a sin or a shortcoming, whatever we learn of, we will turn from it. And this is the continuation of the verse: "for You teach them the good way" - afterward You will teach them where they went wrong and they will correct it. And why are they worthy of this? "Your servants and Your people Israel" - they are the servants of the Omnipresent, ready to do Your will, only that they do not know. This is the difference between defeat before an enemy and the withholding of rain: there, first repentance and confession and then a response, and here, first a response, because they do not know what the sin is, and only afterward will You teach them and they will correct it.
Four kinds of calamity
רָעָב כִּי־יִהְיֶה בָאָרֶץ דֶּבֶר כִּי־יִהְיֶה שִׁדָּפוֹן יֵרָקוֹן אַרְבֶּה חָסִיל כִּי יִהְיֶה כִּי יָצַר־לוֹ אֹיְבוֹ בְּאֶרֶץ שְׁעָרָיו כׇּל־נֶגַע כׇּל־מַחֲלָה׃ (לז) - If there be famine in the land, if there be pestilence, blight, mildew, locust, or grasshopper, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their gates, any plague, any sickness. (37)
First the plain meaning of the text: famine in its simple sense. Pestilence - a plague that kills human beings. Blight and mildew - a blow to the produce. Locust and grasshopper - creatures that destroy the produce. "If their enemy besieges them in the land of their gates" - war. "Any plague, any sickness" - illnesses.
The Malbim says: here Shlomo prays regarding all kinds of needs, both those affecting the individual and those affecting the community, and he lists four "primary categories of damage" - the four central harms: sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence. In their time, when they wished to say that a person died from some harm, it was either sword, or famine, or a wild beast that was common, or pestilence, which is a plague. And these four evils originate in four roots: either from the general order of nature and creation, and this is famine - a reality that exists throughout the world, that a person has nothing to eat and dies of hunger. Or from a change in the nature of man for the worse, and this is pestilence - something changed in a person's body, and he becomes exposed to plague and is stricken. Or by beings possessing will, these are the animals, and this is the wild beast. Or by beings possessing choice, this is the harmful man, and this is the sword.
And this is how they are ordered in the pasuk: "famine when it will be in the land" - corresponding to the general order of nature and creation. "pestilence when it will be" - corresponding to a change in human nature for the worse. "blight, mildew" - corresponding to wild beasts, for there are plagues that strike the crops and plagues that strike man. "when his enemy besieges him" - corresponding to the sword.
Every prayer, every supplication - the individual and the community
כׇּל־תְּפִלָּה כׇל־תְּחִנָּה אֲשֶׁר תִּהְיֶה לְכׇל־הָאָדָם לְכֹל עַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר יֵדְעוּן אִישׁ נֶגַע לְבָבוֹ וּפָרַשׂ כַּפָּיו אֶל־הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה׃ (לח) - Every prayer, every supplication that will be from any person, from all Your people Israel, each of whom knows the affliction of his own heart, and he spreads out his hands toward this House. (38)
After enumerating the kinds of afflictions, Shlomo goes on to ask concerning all types of prayers: both prayer and supplication, which is a request for an undeserved gift. And he adds all types of those who pray: "from any person" - even a single individual, who will not need the merit of the many, but even one who comes privately and prays will have his prayer accepted; "from all Your people Israel" - those who come as a community.
This is not as it is with us today, where a person who wants his prayer accepted as an individual needs many merits. Naturally the prayer of the many is accepted at once, whereas one who goes and prays alone, and especially one who could go to the synagogue and does not go, it is written that they examine his ledger and scrutinize his deeds, and they say: what did this person see in himself, that he is so righteous he does not need the community, that his prayer alone ascends on high - come, let us check whether he really is such. Therefore a person must be very, very careful not to miss even a single prayer with a minyan. But in the Beit HaMikdash Shlomo asks that even the prayer of the individual be accepted.
"each of whom knows the affliction of his own heart" - even when it is a communal distress, a general famine or a general pestilence, and the individual comes who knows the affliction of his heart; and likewise when a private person comes to ask about a private matter, for he knows what he lacks and what he needs on a personal level.
And give to each man according to all his ways - a conditional request
וְאַתָּה תִּשְׁמַע הַשָּׁמַיִם מְכוֹן שִׁבְתֶּךָ וְסָלַחְתָּ וְעָשִׂיתָ וְנָתַתָּ לָאִישׁ כְּכׇל־דְּרָכָיו אֲשֶׁר תֵּדַע אֶת־לְבָבוֹ כִּי־אַתָּה יָדַעְתָּ לְבַדְּךָ אֶת־לְבַב כׇּל־בְּנֵי הָאָדָם׃ (לט) - And You shall hear in heaven, the foundation of Your dwelling, and forgive, and act, and give to each man according to all his ways, since You know his heart, for You alone know the heart of all the children of men. (39)
Seemingly there is excessive length here: You shall hear, forgive, act, and give - so why all the addition, "according to all his ways, since You know his heart, for You alone know"? Says the Malbim: we have already explained that there are two situations, a situation in which Hashem is present with us here below and the Shechinah dwells between the Keruvim, and a situation of "the foundation of Your dwelling," in which only His name dwells in this House. Shlomo asks that even at the time of "You shall hear in heaven, the foundation of Your dwelling," even when only Your name is called here, You will turn to the prayer of the poor, the destitute, and the wretched, and grant his request. "and forgive, and act" - after You pardon him for his sin, You will fulfill his request.
But here Shlomo sets a condition: do not fulfill his request automatically, but rather look upon this person and consider him. First, see whether his repentance comes from the depths of the heart, whether he has truly repented of what he did, or whether it is something external because he has a request to make of Hashem. Therefore "according to all his ways" - look at his previous ways, whether in the past he repented with true repentance, or whether he repents and then returns and ruins again.
Second, "since You know his heart, for You alone know the heart of all the children of men" - look at the person's nature and examine what he is asking: if You grant it to him, will the matter affect him for good or for ill. A person asks for wealth: Master of the Universe, consider whether this wealth will be riches hoarded by its owner to his detriment, whether it will distance him from the service of Hashem, whether it will corrupt him. You alone know the heart of man and what will come of the good You bestow upon him. And if You see that the matter will harm him - do not give it to him, do not bestow this good upon him, for in the end it will bring him harm.
There is a story of the Chofetz Chaim, to whom a man came and pleaded and begged: my financial situation is terrible and dreadful, let the Rav pray for me that I become wealthy. He promised again and again that he would give charity and kindness, not a tenth but a fifth and more, and would support yeshivot and Torah. The Chofetz Chaim prayed for him, and that Jew merited wealth. After a few years he came to the Chofetz Chaim and said: honored Rabbi, I remember what I said and what I promised, but it is very hard for me, my hands are clenched, I am unable to give. The Rav said to him: and what did you think? That the Holy One, blessed be He, would give you the money of a rich man and the yetzer hara of a poor man? From the moment you received the money of a rich man, you were given the yetzer hara of a rich man.
And truly, if the wealthy would open their pockets, the world of Torah would be well provided for. If only they would give us a tenth of what they lost in the stock market, that alone would suffice for the coming decades. Yet one cannot judge them, for they have the yetzer hara of a rich man. It is easy for us to say, "What is the problem, let him give" - easy for me to say, because I do not have it. To what may this be compared? A man asks a friend for a favor, to give him a lift. But if you ask a taxi driver to do a kindness and give you a ride, that is his work, this is how he makes his living. Every person has a yetzer hara suited to him. To come and judge your fellow - are you on his level, in his situation?
And this is the request here: Master of the world, when a person comes to ask for something, examine whether it will benefit him or harm him. He comes and asks to marry a certain woman - will it draw him closer to Your service, or will it distance him and ruin him, will he have quarrels with her and come away from her in despair and need to divorce. If You see that it is to his detriment, do not give it to him. And from here there is a great lesson for every person in his prayer: first, not to ask for a specific thing - "Give me precisely this job," "Give me this woman," "Arrange for me this house that I should buy" - but rather he should ask that he have a house to live in, that a fitting match be arranged for him. And second, that he always say in his request: fulfill all the desires of my heart for the good, only for the good. And if You know that it is not good for me, do not give it to me.
לְמַעַן יִרָאוּךָ כׇּל־הַיָּמִים אֲשֶׁר־הֵם חַיִּים עַל־פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נָתַתָּה לַאֲבֹתֵינוּ׃ (מ) - So that they may fear You all the days that they live upon the face of the land that You gave to our fathers. (40)
When they see that at the moment they pray the trouble leaves them, and that Hashem answers them according to their request - "they will fear You all the days." And according to the earlier explanation: precisely if You do not bestow good upon a person when it is to his harm and when it distances him from Your service, through this "they will fear You all the days." But if You bestow good upon him even when he is not worthy, and give him wealth that distances him from Your service, he will not fear You all the days. Therefore only when he is worthy - give it to him.
The Prayer of the Gentile
וְגַם אֶל־הַנׇּכְרִי אֲשֶׁר לֹא־מֵעַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל הוּא וּבָא מֵאֶרֶץ רְחוֹקָה לְמַעַן שְׁמֶךָ׃ כִּי יִשְׁמְעוּן אֶת־שִׁמְךָ הַגָּדוֹל וְאֶת־יָדְךָ הַחֲזָקָה וּזְרֹעֲךָ הַנְּטוּיָה וּבָא וְהִתְפַּלֵּל אֶל־הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה׃ (מא-מב) - And also to the gentile who is not of Your people Israel, but comes from a distant land for the sake of Your Name; for they will hear of Your great Name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm, and he will come and pray toward this House. (41-42)
The gentile comes from a distant land because the Name of Hashem became renowned among the nations, it became clear to them that Hashem watches over the world and overturns the systems of nature, and therefore he comes to pray in this House - "for the sake of Your Name" he comes, for he heard of the Name of Hashem.
אַתָּה תִּשְׁמַע הַשָּׁמַיִם מְכוֹן שִׁבְתֶּךָ וְעָשִׂיתָ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר־יִקְרָא אֵלֶיךָ הַנׇּכְרִי לְמַעַן יֵדְעוּן כׇּל־עַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ אֶת־שְׁמֶךָ לְיִרְאָה אֹתְךָ כְּעַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלָדַעַת כִּי־שִׁמְךָ נִקְרָא עַל־הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר בָּנִיתִי׃ (מג) - May You hear in Heaven, the foundation of Your dwelling, and do according to all that the gentile calls to You, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your Name, to fear You as does Your people Israel, and to know that Your Name is called upon this House that I have built. (43)
Notice the wording: "according to all that the gentile calls to You." Regarding Israel he asked conditionally - whether it is to his benefit or whether it is not to his benefit. But regarding the gentile - fulfill his request in any case, even if You give him wealth through which he will sin. Even though this gentile is not worthy and is not on the fitting level, nevertheless do according to all that he calls to You. And what comes out of this? Two gains. The first, "so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your Name, to fear You as does Your people Israel" - they will see that Hashem hears prayer, and they will recognize that He watches over each and every person and is close to all who call upon Him, until they reach a level like that of the people of Israel in recognizing individual providence. The gentile will say: I went to every idol and was not answered, I came to the Beit HaMikdash and prayed and was answered, as the Gemara brings several examples of this. The second, "and to know that Your Name is called upon this House" - that they should know there is an abode and dwelling place for Hashem upon which His Name is called, and that there is a place where He rests His Divine Presence, and upon whom He rests it - upon Israel.
And Rashi brings the words of Chazal on the difference between the wordings: regarding the gentile it says "according to all that he calls to You," and regarding Israel "and give to each man according to all his ways." Is Shlomo requesting for the gentile privileges that we as Israel do not have? Rather, since Israel recognizes the Holy One, blessed be He, and knows that the ability is in His hand, when his prayer is not answered he attributes the matter to himself and to his sin. The Jew says: it seems I do not have enough merits, it seems that for my own good I was not answered. He knows how to find reasons and does not find any fault, Heaven forbid, in Hashem. But an idol worshiper protests and says: a House whose fame reaches the ends of the earth, I toiled several journeys and came and prayed in it and found nothing real in it, just as there is nothing real in the worship of idols. Therefore he asked "according to all that the gentile calls to You," so that the gentile should not come to cast off the yoke. A Jew who is not answered knows that he is not worthy; a gentile who is not answered says: this is worth nothing. And like the gentile in the parable of the sukkah, who kicks and walks out - not only is the mitzvah unsuited to him, but he kicks and despises everything.
Those Who Go Out to War
כִּי־יֵצֵא עַמְּךָ לַמִּלְחָמָה עַל־אֹיְבוֹ בַּדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר תִּשְׁלָחֵם וְהִתְפַּלְלוּ אֶל־יְהֹוָה דֶּרֶךְ הָעִיר אֲשֶׁר בָּחַרְתָּ בָּהּ וְהַבַּיִת אֲשֶׁר־בָּנִתִי לִשְׁמֶךָ׃ וְשָׁמַעְתָּ הַשָּׁמַיִם אֶת־תְּפִלָּתָם וְאֶת־תְּחִנָּתָם וְעָשִׂיתָ מִשְׁפָּטָם׃ (מד-מה) - When Your people go out to war against their enemy, on the way that You send them, and they pray to Hashem toward the city that You have chosen and the House that I have built for Your Name; then may You hear in Heaven their prayer and their supplication, and uphold their cause. (44-45)
Until now Shlomo prayed that Hashem hear the prayers offered inside the Beit HaMikdash, and from here on he adds a prayer that Hashem also hear the prayers Israel will offer from outside the place, directed toward the Beit HaMikdash. This is what we have in mind when we stand to pray: I hereby direct my heart toward Jerusalem the holy city, the Beit HaMikdash, and the Holy of Holies, where the gate of heaven and the Shechinah are. And one who is outside the Land says: I hereby direct my heart toward the Land of Israel, Jerusalem, the Beit HaMikdash, and the Holy of Holies, where the gate of heaven and the Shechinah are. Here Shlomo asks: when they are worthy and deserving and go out to war against their enemies outside Jerusalem and outside the Land of Israel, and pray toward the city and toward the House, accept their prayer. "And do their justice" - according to what is coming to them in judgment, for here the case is one where they are in the right.
The Three Stages of Repentance in Exile
כִּי יֶחֶטְאוּ־לָךְ כִּי אֵין אָדָם אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יֶחֱטָא וְאָנַפְתָּ בָם וּנְתַתָּם לִפְנֵי אוֹיֵב וְשָׁבוּם שֹׁבֵיהֶם אֶל־אֶרֶץ הָאוֹיֵב רְחוֹקָה אוֹ קְרוֹבָה׃ (מו) - When they sin against You, for there is no person who does not sin, and You are angry with them and deliver them before an enemy, and their captors carry them off to the land of the enemy, far or near. (46)
Another request: if they are truly not worthy, and they sin before You, and Hashem is angry with them, and the enemy captures them and leads them into exile outside the Land.
וְהֵשִׁיבוּ אֶל־לִבָּם בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבּוּ־שָׁם וְשָׁבוּ וְהִתְחַנְּנוּ אֵלֶיךָ בְּאֶרֶץ שֹׁבֵיהֶם לֵאמֹר חָטָאנוּ וְהֶעֱוִינוּ רָשָׁעְנוּ׃ (מז) - And they take it to heart in the land where they were taken captive, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying: We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly. (47)
וְשָׁבוּ אֵלֶיךָ בְּכׇל־לְבָבָם וּבְכׇל־נַפְשָׁם בְּאֶרֶץ אֹיְבֵיהֶם אֲשֶׁר־שָׁבוּ אֹתָם וְהִתְפַּלְלוּ אֵלֶיךָ דֶּרֶךְ אַרְצָם אֲשֶׁר נָתַתָּה לַאֲבוֹתָם הָעִיר אֲשֶׁר בָּחַרְתָּ וְהַבַּיִת אֲשֶׁר־בָּנִיתִי לִשְׁמֶךָ׃ (מח) - And they return to You with all their heart and all their soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and they pray to You toward their land that You gave to their fathers, the city that You chose, and the House that I have built for Your name. (48)
There are three stages here: first, "and they take it to heart" in the land where they were taken captive, that they understand this came about because of their sins. Second, "and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors," that they recognize this is not their land but the land of their captors. And third, "and they return to You with all their heart and all their soul in the land of their enemies." Note the change of wording: first "the land of their captors" and afterward "the land of their enemies." The Malbim explains that here we are already speaking of complete repentance, the third stage, in which they have already absorbed that these are not merely captors, but that the captors inflict such troubles upon them that they become truly enemies in the land where they dwell. They were exiled to their land and suddenly they feel this is no summer camp; they cause them troubles and torment them, and therefore it is called "the land of their enemies" - even though I dwell in their land, they treat me as an enemy. And then, out of the many evils and troubles that befell them, their repentance is complete and true, and they pray toward their land, the city, and the House, like one who stands outside the Land and directs his heart toward the holy Land and Jerusalem.
וְשָׁמַעְתָּ הַשָּׁמַיִם מְכוֹן שִׁבְתְּךָ אֶת־תְּפִלָּתָם וְאֶת־תְּחִנָּתָם וְעָשִׂיתָ מִשְׁפָּטָם׃ וְסָלַחְתָּ לְעַמְּךָ אֲשֶׁר חָטְאוּ־לָךְ וּלְכׇל־פִּשְׁעֵיהֶם אֲשֶׁר פָּשְׁעוּ־בָךְ וּנְתַתָּם לְרַחֲמִים לִפְנֵי שֹׁבֵיהֶם וְרִחֲמוּם׃ (מט-נ) - Then hear in the heavens, the foundation of Your dwelling, their prayer and their plea, and do their justice. And forgive Your people who sinned against You and all their transgressions with which they transgressed against You, and grant them mercy before their captors, that they show them mercy. (49-50)
First You will forgive the sins, which are the smaller offenses, and afterward also the transgressions, which are what a person does out of rebellion and betrayal. And what does "and grant them mercy before their captors" mean? Seemingly he should have asked that He bring them out of exile, yet he asks only that their conditions there be improved. But the Malbim explains that Shlomo knows what is written in the Torah, that there is a state of exile and there is a state in which Israel remains there until Hashem decides to gather His scattered ones. Therefore Shlomo does not request the ingathering of the dispersed when its time has not yet come, but rather asks that when Israel prays, at least until the time of the ingathering of the exiles arrives, Hashem hear the voice of their prayer and lighten the yoke of their exile upon them.
For They Are Your People and Your Inheritance
כִּי־עַמְּךָ וְנַחֲלָתְךָ הֵם אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתָ מִמִּצְרַיִם מִתּוֹךְ כּוּר הַבַּרְזֶל׃ (נא) - For they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace. (51)
And what is the reason behind this? Why is the Exodus from Egypt a reason for Hashem to accept their prayer? Shlomo says: even if the harshness of subjugation was decreed upon them, there is a difference between the first exile and the later exiles. After they have already passed through the refining and purifying in the iron furnace, after they have suffered so much, and after they are already Hashem's people, it is not fitting to continue tormenting them. You already brought them out once from the iron furnace, and then they were not yet Your people, whereas today they are already Your people and Your inheritance, You have already given them the Torah, and it is not fitting that they be subjugated any longer.
לִהְיוֹת עֵינֶיךָ פְתֻחֹת אֶל־תְּחִנַּת עַבְדְּךָ וְאֶל־תְּחִנַּת עַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל לִשְׁמֹעַ אֲלֵיהֶם בְּכֹל קׇרְאָם אֵלֶיךָ׃ (נב) - That Your eyes may be open to the plea of Your servant and to the plea of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call upon You. (52)
Not only that Hashem should hear the prayers, but that His eyes should be open. And "whenever they call upon You" means even if it will not be inside the Beit HaMikdash, even if they are outside the Beit HaMikdash and outside the Land, and even if they do not turn toward the House: whenever they call upon You, Your eyes will be open upon them.
כִּי־אַתָּה הִבְדַּלְתָּם לְךָ לְנַחֲלָה מִכֹּל עַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתָּ בְּיַד מֹשֶׁה עַבְדֶּךָ בְּהוֹצִיאֲךָ אֶת־אֲבֹתֵינוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה׃ (נג) - For You have set them apart for Yourself as an inheritance from all the peoples of the earth, as You spoke by the hand of Moshe Your servant, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord Hashem. (53)
Since You have set them apart for Yourself as an inheritance, it is fitting that You watch over their prayer and accept their plea. This is like a person who listens to the plea of his son, while another asks of him and he does not give to him. They ask him why, and he answers: this is my son. So too here, these You set apart for Yourself as an inheritance, they are Your children, it is all the more fitting that You hear and accept their prayer.
The Conclusion of the Prayer: Kneeling Upon the Knees
וַיְהִי כְּכַלּוֹת שְׁלֹמֹה לְהִתְפַּלֵּל אֶל־יְהֹוָה אֵת כׇּל־הַתְּפִלָּה וְהַתְּחִנָּה הַזֹּאת קָם מִלִּפְנֵי מִזְבַּח יְהֹוָה מִכְּרֹעַ עַל־בִּרְכָּיו וְכַפָּיו פְּרֻשׂוֹת הַשָּׁמָיִם׃ (נד) - And it was, when Shlomo finished praying to Hashem all this prayer and plea, he rose from before the altar of Hashem, from kneeling upon his knees with his hands spread out to the heavens. (54)
This entire lengthy prayer was said while Shlomo knelt upon his knees. From here Chazal learn that a king who has knelt upon his knees does not straighten up again until he finishes the prayer. And there is a great principle here: the higher and more elevated a person's level, the greater the demand upon him to humble his mind and bend his stature, for the test of his pride and greatness is harder, and therefore the demands upon him are higher.
Blessed is Hashem Who Has Given Rest
וַיַּעֲמֹד וַיְבָרֶךְ אֵת כׇּל־קְהַל יִשְׂרָאֵל קוֹל גָּדוֹל לֵאמֹר׃ בָּרוּךְ יְהֹוָה אֲשֶׁר נָתַן מְנוּחָה לְעַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר דִּבֵּר לֹא־נָפַל דָּבָר אֶחָד מִכֹּל דְּבָרוֹ הַטּוֹב אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר בְּיַד מֹשֶׁה עַבְדּוֹ׃ (נה-נו) - And he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel in a loud voice, saying: Blessed is Hashem, Who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He spoke; not one word has fallen of all His good word that He spoke by the hand of Moshe His servant. (55-56)
We have already learned that the Beit HaMikdash can only be built when Israel has rest from its enemies. So Hashem promised: "And you shall cross the Jordan and Hashem will give you rest from all your enemies around, and you shall dwell securely, and it shall be the place that Hashem will choose." When shall it be "the place that Hashem will choose"? Only after "you shall dwell securely." And this is what he said: Blessed is Hashem, Who has given rest according to all that He spoke, not one word has fallen of all His word. Just as He promised rest and gave it, so too the promise of the continuation was fulfilled, "the place that He will choose," for He has now given us the Chosen House and will cause His name to dwell there permanently, as it is written "And I will set My dwelling among you." Blessed is Hashem Who fulfilled His promise, both giving rest and granting us the merit to build the Beit HaMikdash.
May Hashem Our God Be With Us: The Two Paths of Drawing Near
יְהִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ עִמָּנוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר הָיָה עִם־אֲבֹתֵינוּ אַל־יַעַזְבֵנוּ וְאַל־יִטְּשֵׁנוּ׃ לְהַטּוֹת לְבָבֵנוּ אֵלָיו לָלֶכֶת בְּכׇל־דְּרָכָיו וְלִשְׁמֹר מִצְוֺתָיו וְחֻקָּיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אֶת־אֲבֹתֵינוּ׃ (נז-נח) - May Hashem our God be with us as He was with our fathers; may He not abandon us and not forsake us. To incline our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers. (57-58)
The Malbim explains: there are two ways in which the Holy One draws our hearts to serve Him and brings Israel closer to Him. The first is the pleasant way, in which Hashem reveals His face to us and watches over us with individual providence and shines His countenance upon us, and through this we draw close to His service. The second way, the less pleasant one, is when Hashem hides His face and gives us punishments and afflictions, and through the suffering we recognize that all of this came because we defied His word.
This is the meaning of "May Hashem our God be with us as He was with our fathers" - just as there was individual providence in the wilderness, the well and the manna and the quail that accompanied them, the shining of Hashem's countenance upon Israel. "To incline our hearts to Him" - that through the shining of the countenance itself our heart will be inclined toward Him: we will see the constant and continuous miracles that Hashem performs with us, and through this we will be strengthened in His service, we will not want to lose it and will not want the shining of His countenance to be taken from us, and therefore we will strive greatly to serve Him. "And to keep His mitzvot, His chukim, and His mishpatim" - mitzvot are the commandments, chukim are the statutes, "a decree I have decreed, an ordinance I have ordained," things that are not grasped by reason such as shaatnez and the like, and mishpatim are the laws governing conduct between one person and another.
And "May He not leave us nor forsake us" the Malbim explains in two ways: may He not leave us just as He did not leave our fathers; and also, that it refers back to what follows - may He not leave us nor forsake us from inclining our hearts to Him, but rather may He hold onto us constantly and bestow good upon us so that through it He will incline our hearts to Him.
Individual Providence and General Providence
וְיִהְיוּ דְבָרַי אֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר הִתְחַנַּנְתִּי לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה קְרֹבִים אֶל־יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה לַעֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפַּט עַבְדּוֹ וּמִשְׁפַּט עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל דְּבַר־יוֹם בְּיוֹמוֹ׃ (נט) - And may these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before Hashem, be near to Hashem our God day and night, to grant justice to His servant and justice to His people Israel, each day's need in its day. (59)
Sometimes providence is general and sometimes individual. General providence - such as when the entire world is judged on Rosh Hashanah and Hashem apportions the abundance for the world. And individual providence - as in the words of Rabbi Yosi that a person is judged every day, that each and every detail and each and every individual is watched over, and the Holy One examines him closely every single day to see his situation. And this is what Shlomo requests: that my prayer be near to Hashem "day and night," meaning that He bestow of His goodness upon us with individual providence day and night, and not with general providence alone.
And over whom does general providence watch? Our Sages write: over the nations and over the animals. This is what is called species providence - that Hashem watches so that the species of elephants, for example, does not become extinct, and if His will is that it become extinct, then it will become extinct. But there is no providence over that particular elephant and over the details of its situation. The approach of the Baal Shem Tov is not this way, but rather that the Holy One watches with individual providence even over the animals. But the accepted approach among the Rishonim is that over the people of Israel there is individual providence, and over the nations there is species providence, over the species and not over each and every individual within it.
לְמַעַן דַּעַת כׇּל־עַמֵּי הָאָרֶץ כִּי יְהֹוָה הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים אֵין עוֹד׃ (ס) - So that all the peoples of the earth may know that Hashem is God, there is no other. (60)
And from this individual providence a benefit will emerge: the nations as a whole will see that over Israel there is individual providence while over them there is general providence. They will see how much Hashem helps and assists the people of Israel at every step, and they will recognize "that Hashem is God, there is no other." And as we saw with Naaman who came here, and Hashem transformed him from a leper into a man whose skin was like the flesh of a youth, pure as snow, and out of this he said: there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. When there is individual providence, even the gentile arrives at the conclusion that there is none like Hashem our God.
And the emphasis "there is no other" is a very important point in the conception of the nations, for they believed in many deities. They could acknowledge that there is a God, but add that there is also another god, each one a god in a certain respect and at a certain time and according to the influence of the stars. Therefore, when they see the individual providence over us and the general providence over them, they will understand that "there is no other." For the belief of the nations is often a belief in association, like Christianity, and according to many of the halachic authorities they were not forbidden idolatry in association - but this is not the higher level, and the higher level is to know that there is no other.
וְהָיָה לְבַבְכֶם שָׁלֵם עִם יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ לָלֶכֶת בְּחֻקָּיו וְלִשְׁמֹר מִצְוֺתָיו כַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה׃ (סא) - And let your heart be whole with Hashem our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His mitzvot, as on this day. (61)
This too will have a positive effect on Israel: their hearts will not be divided - on one side the Baal deity and on the other Hashem the God - but rather their heart will be whole, they will walk with Hashem in wholeness and with their whole heart cleaving to Him, blessed be He. When one sees Hashem's providence, everyone walks in His statutes and keeps His mitzvot, and there is no doubt in the heart. But when, God forbid, this is not the case, it can arouse all sorts of doubts and questions.
The Sacrifices and the Dedication of the House
וְהַמֶּלֶךְ וְכׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵל עִמּוֹ זֹבְחִים זֶבַח לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה׃ וַיִּזְבַּח שְׁלֹמֹה אֵת זֶבַח הַשְּׁלָמִים אֲשֶׁר זָבַח לַיהֹוָה בָּקָר עֶשְׂרִים וּשְׁנַיִם אֶלֶף וְצֹאן מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים אָלֶף וַיַּחְנְכוּ אֶת־בֵּית יְהֹוָה הַמֶּלֶךְ וְכׇל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ (סב-סג) - And the king, and all Israel with him, were offering sacrifices before Hashem. And Shlomo offered the peace offering which he sacrificed to Hashem, twenty two thousand oxen and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the House of Hashem. (62-63)
These were peace offerings, whose meat was eaten by the people, for they held a great celebration there, the joy of the dedication of the Beit HaMikdash. And what is chanukah? It is the beginning of the use of something. The initial use of a thing is called chinuch, to dedicate that thing, and this is "and they dedicated the House of Hashem." This is also the source of the word chinuch: when we speak of chinuch of children, the meaning is the beginning of accustoming the child in his conduct, so that if he has a proper beginning and proper guidance, then "train up a lad in the way he should go, and even when he grows old he will not depart from it." And they offered peace offerings and brought up a very great number of cattle and sheep, all in honor of the House of Hashem.
He Sanctified the Middle of the Courtyard
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא קִדַּשׁ הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת־תּוֹךְ הֶחָצֵר אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵי בֵית־יְהֹוָה כִּי־עָשָׂה שָׁם אֶת־הָעֹלָה וְאֶת־הַמִּנְחָה וְאֵת חֶלְבֵי הַשְּׁלָמִים כִּי־מִזְבַּח הַנְּחֹשֶׁת אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה קָטֹן מֵהָכִיל אֶת־הָעֹלָה וְאֶת־הַמִּנְחָה וְאֵת חֶלְבֵי הַשְּׁלָמִים׃ (סד) - On that day the king sanctified the middle of the courtyard that was before the House of Hashem, for there he offered the burnt offering and the meal offering and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar that was before Hashem was too small to contain the burnt offering and the meal offering and the fat of the peace offerings. (64)
There is a dispute in the Gemara as to the meaning of "the king sanctified the middle of the courtyard." Moshe Rabbenu had an altar upon which they offered, and it was called the bronze altar. Shlomo made in its place an altar of stone, twenty cubits by twenty cubits. According to one opinion, "the middle of the courtyard" means the altar he built within the courtyard, and he sanctified it because the bronze altar that Moshe made was too small to contain the burnt offering, the meal offering and the fat of the peace offerings. And there is one who explains, the view of Rabbi Yehuda, that he sanctified the floor itself, so that offerings could be brought upon it as if it were an altar, and they offered upon the ground. This is the plain meaning of the verse: the king sanctified the middle of the courtyard, the actual ground of the courtyard.
One must know that nothing in the Beit HaMikdash was done by mere decision. It was not possible simply to decide and that was it. They were required to do it with a Sanhedrin of seventy one, and with trumpets, and with offerings. The beginning of Tractate Sanhedrin, the first Mishna, explains exactly how a place in the Mikdash is sanctified. If they wished to expand the courtyard, that too required a complete ceremony. It is not a matter of an architect and a contractor, for there are things eaten only within the courtyard, and what good would the expansion do if the place did not have the sanctity of the courtyard. Only if it was sanctified through the special process. Here too a special process was needed to sanctify the middle of the courtyard and to give it the laws of an altar, as Rabbi Yehuda says.
Fourteen Days - and Eating on Yom Kippur
וַיַּעַשׂ שְׁלֹמֹה בָעֵת־הַהִיא אֶת־הֶחָג וְכׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵל עִמּוֹ קָהָל גָּדוֹל מִלְּבוֹא חֲמָת עַד־נַחַל מִצְרַיִם לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים וְשִׁבְעַת יָמִים אַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר יוֹם׃ (סה) - And at that time Shlomo held the festival, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Chamat to the brook of Egypt, before Hashem our God, seven days and seven days, fourteen days. (65)
Which festival did he hold? Our Sages say: he held the festival of Sukkot, and the seven days that preceded it were the days of the dedication of the Beit HaMikdash, for a total of fourteen days. And if we go seven days back from Sukkot, which falls on the fifteenth, we reach the eighth of the month. It emerges that part of those days of feasting and joy fell on Yom Kippur itself, and our Sages say that they ate on that Yom Kippur, which was included among the days of celebration. And from where did they learn this? From the dedication of the Mishkan: if during the eight days of inauguration they offered peace offerings even on Shabbat, though desecration of Shabbat carries the prohibition of stoning, then Yom Kippur, whose prohibition is lighter, karet and not stoning, how much more so is it set aside for the dedication of the Beit HaMikdash.
בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי שִׁלַּח אֶת־הָעָם וַיְבָרְכוּ אֶת־הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיֵּלְכוּ לְאׇהֳלֵיהֶם שְׂמֵחִים וְטוֹבֵי לֵב עַל כׇּל־הַטּוֹבָה אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה יְהֹוָה לְדָוִד עַבְדּוֹ וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵל עַמּוֹ׃ (סו) - On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that Hashem had done for David His servant and for Israel His people. (66)
"Joyful" - for they merited to dedicate the Beit HaMikdash; "and glad of heart" - for the sin of having eaten on Yom Kippur was forgiven them. A heavenly voice went forth and said to them: all of you are destined for the life of the World to Come. So we see that although they ate on Yom Kippur, it was a temporary ruling, and not only were they not punished for it, but they even received reward for it.
What is the explanation for this? The chaver explains to the king in Sefer HaKuzari, and we have already learned this here, that a person can attain the love of Hashem and closeness to Him through eating, drinking, and joy, just as one attains it through fasting, self affliction, and taanit. And it is well known what the Arizal says: Yom HaKippurim, a day like Purim. What does this mean, like Purim? We compare the lesser to the greater, saying it resembles that greater thing. It turns out that Yom Kippur is compared to the day of Purim, for the level of Purim exceeds even that of Yom Kippur. And why? Because the level of Purim is attained through joy, and through joy one can attain more than through self affliction and taanit.
And they say in the name of the Vilna Gaon: on every festival it is said that half is for you and half is for Hashem, yet there are two festivals in which this does not apply, Yom Kippur and Purim. Yom Kippur is entirely for Hashem, and so, corresponding to it, they established the day of Purim to be entirely for you, one against the other. Yom Kippur is entirely for Hashem, like the ministering angels, neither eating nor drinking, and corresponding to it Purim is entirely in the category of "entirely for you," for one drinks throughout the day until he no longer knows. From here we learn that one can attain lofty and immense levels of attainment through joy and through eating and drinking with proper intention, no less than one attains through self affliction.
And of the Vilna Gaon they said that through his eating he would effect great and immense tikkunim, things that other great and holy men could not effect through their self afflictions and their taanit. He never fasted; he always ate in his usual manner, and surely he limited his food, and there were entire days on which he did not eat because he was immersed in his sugyot. Once he did not eat for three days, and his wife came and said to Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin: come quickly, perhaps there is some matter in a sugya troubling him. He entered and said: I saw his face had darkened like the bottom of a pot. And as soon as he saw me, he immediately rejoiced and leaped up like one finding great spoils, and said to me: from Heaven they have sent you to me, there is a Yerushalmi with which I am struggling, and he began to lay out the difficulty before me. I said to him: what do I know that his honor does not know? He answered: from me and from you the teaching will be enriched, through the two of us perhaps we shall arrive at it. And indeed Rabbi Chaim raised a possibility and an idea, the Gaon developed the matter and reached an understanding of the issue, and he had the greatest joy and radiance. It was then just a few minutes before Shabbat, and immediately the Gaon ran to wash his hands so as to eat something, not because he was hungry, for the Gaon was above such concepts, but he said: it is forbidden to enter Shabbat while afflicted. And why did they call him the Gaon the Chassid? Because he was exceedingly precise in every halacha and in every crown of every letter, and his piety was no less than his genius. He said: there is a halacha that one may not enter Shabbat afflicted, so he went and ate quickly and immediately accepted Shabbat upon himself. We see that with great men food does not speak to them at all, and on the contrary, through their eating they effect tikkunim greater than self afflictions and taanit. And so it was here too: that eating, which was for the joy of the Beit HaMikdash, for the joy of the dedication of the House of Hashem, was no less than the service of Yom Kippur performed in a taanit.
In summary:
Shlomo's prayer passes through all the situations of life: the withholding of rain, which comes with a hiding of the face and does not reveal the sin, and therefore Shlomo asks for a response even before the teshuva; the four sources of calamity, famine, plague, wild beasts, and the sword, and the prayer of the individual and the community over them; a conditional request that no good be granted to a person that would harm him, for Hashem alone knows the heart of human beings; the prayer of the gentile, which is answered without condition so that he will not complain; the prayer of those going out to war, and the prayer of the exiles in the three stages of their teshuva. All of it concludes with a request that Hashem's eyes be open whenever they call to Him, and with a blessing that the heart of all Israel be whole. And to conclude, the dedication of the House in joy and in eating that is itself a service, until a heavenly voice went forth and proclaimed: all of you are destined for the life of the World to Come.