Shlomo (שלמה) — King Shlomo, the wise king

Core definition

Shlomo — King Solomon, Dovid's son and builder of the first Beis HaMikdash — is the Torah's embodiment of wisdom and of peace. "Shlomo" is explained as "the term of wholeness (shleimus)" [31621/maamar_027 :: Page 288 summary]. He "was called by seven levels of wisdom, corresponding to Above" [31676/maamar_030 :: עב׳ 86]; his wisdom flowed "from the supernal Chochmah's source without limit (וה׳ נתן חכמה לשלמה; יהיב חכמתא לחכימין)" — both as supernal influence, "a great faculty in the intellect's essence," and as the vessel fit to receive it [58845/maamar_010 :: Summary (עמוד קו)].

How the Rebbeim develop it

The throne of Havayah. "And Shlomo sat upon the throne of Havayah": "that is, that he came to the degree of the category of the seventh above them — the category of yichud elyon — and the category of the Torah, which is called a throne." Sitting indicates permanence — "as the saying: 'a king stands, and Augustus sits'" — "the permanence of the drawing of the category of 'I am Havayah — I did not change'": as the Mishkan was temporary ("and I walked in a tent and in a Mishkan") while the Mikdash is "a permanent dwelling — not changing," so Shlomo's sitting is permanence [31621/maamar_027 :: עב׳ 411–414, 530]. He "made a throne in the likeness of the throne Above": "for regarding Shlomo's throne it is written: 'six steps to the throne,' which is in the likeness, as it were, of the throne Above" [31676/maamar_030 :: עב׳ 119–122]. "Shlomo, who had peace from one end of the world to the other" [31676/maamar_030 :: עב׳ 113].

The fifteenth generation. "The reason that Shlomo came to this category is that Shlomo was the fifteenth generation to Yackov": as the moon grows until the 15th and "stands in its completeness," so in Shlomo's generation "the moon stands in its completeness — in the completeness of the light" — no preventer or delayer upon the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos. For Yackov "opened the channel of self-sacrifice upon the publicity and unity of the Divinity": he did his avodah "in wholeheartedness — not giving his heart at all to the opposers," even when thrown into the fiery furnace — "and this power was given in inheritance to all Israel" [31621/maamar_027 :: Page 287 summary]. Shlomo merited the permanence "through the permanence in the soul to Torah and avodah" [31621/maamar_027 :: עב׳ 601–604].

The red heifer's secret. "Shlomo wanted to know the reason of the red heifer — as Moshe who attained this" — "to know the category of the Torah's inwardness and its secret — and could not stand upon its reason." The Torah has two categories: light — the Torah's inwardness, "from the side of the Infinite light" — and garment — "the revealed externality in the Torah, proper to the worlds," the mediator between the Infinite and the bounded worlds. "Although Shlomo merited the throne of Havayah — which is the category of the Torah — nevertheless this is in the category of the Torah's garment — as the throne, which is the garment to the honor that rests within it." Hence "'Shlomo' is the term of wholeness (shleimus) and garment: therefore he knew specifically that in the externality there is all the category of the inwardness and the essence — which are the secrets of the Torah — and that the inwardness is Infinite — one cannot stand upon its reason — 'man does not know its value — but Elokim understood its way'" [31621/maamar_027 :: Page 288 summary].

Wisdom over folly. "And I saw that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly": "'folly' — not folly literally, but the wisdoms of the tree of knowledge of good and evil: in them there is inwardness — one can come to their end — as in the Midrash, Parshas Chukas: 'upon all these I stood'"; but "in the Torah there is inwardness — one cannot stand upon its end. This is the advantage to the Torah's wisdom over 'folly' — the rest of the wisdoms: 'as the advantage of light over darkness'" [31621/maamar_027 :: Page 288 summary].

Key distinctions

The throne vs. the honor. The throne is the garment; "the honor that rests within it" is the inwardness. Shlomo merited the throne — the Torah's garment — and precisely thereby saw that "in the externality there is all the inwardness... but in concealment" [31621/maamar_027 :: Page 288 summary].

Torah's wisdom vs. other wisdoms. All other wisdoms — even the wisdoms of the tree of knowledge — have an end that can be reached; the Torah's inwardness is Infinite and "one cannot stand upon its reason" [31621/maamar_027 :: Page 288 summary].

Sitting vs. standing. "A king stands, and Augustus sits": standing is temporary, sitting permanent — Shlomo's sitting on the throne of Havayah is the permanence of "I am Havayah — I did not change," drawn "through the permanence in the soul to Torah and avodah" [31621/maamar_027 :: עב׳ 414, 601].

Related concepts

Sources