The History of the Divine Service at Altars (52) – The Prohibition of Bamot (29)

 

            In the previous shiur we discussed the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda in the Mishna – that "the rest" refers to Shilo and "the inheritance" to Jerusalem. According to this understanding, Shilo emerges as the temporary reality, whereas Jerusalem is the permanent and eternal reality. This is the meaning of the connection between Shilo and rest, on the one hand, and Jerusalem and inheritance, on the other.

In this shiur, we wish to examine the position of Rabbi Shimon, according to which "the rest" refers to Jerusalem and "the inheritance" refers to Shilo. According to the plain sense of the verses, we find quite a few passages that connect the ark, the Temple, Jerusalem and King Shelomo to the idea of rest. We will examine them in order to get a more comprehensive picture of the relationship between rest and Jerusalem.

The concept of rest is significantly related to the description of the permanent resting of the Shekhina in one place. The opposite of rest can be movement or a journey, but the word rest can also be synonymous with the concept of peace in contrast to war.

We will try to examine the various meanings of the concept in connection with the resting of the Shekhina.

Jerusalem As Rest

The Ark’s Rest

The ark is described in Scripture in movement and in war, at rest and with the resting of the Shekhina.

In war – the Torah itself already described the role of the ark in war:

And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moshe said, Rise up, Lord, and let Your enemies be scattered; and let those who hate You flee before You. And when it rested, he said, Return, Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel. (Bemidbar 10:35-36)

The Ibn Ezra (ad loc.) explains that the words: "And when it rested," refer to the ark. The Chizkuni says: "Because He would rest." The ark which represents the resting of the Shekhina is described in two states: He who fights the enemies is God, and He who rests among the people of Israel in His house at rest is God. The Tur explains that "the primary purpose of the Mishkan is the site of the resting of the Shekhina which is the ark" (Shemot 25:1).

In Tehilim 132, the psalm in which David searches for the site of the resting of the Shekhina, it says: "Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place, You, and the ark of Your strength" (v. 8).[1] The commentators explain that when the ark is brought into the Holy of Holies, those who bear the ark recite a prayer that is based on Moshe's words: "And it came to pass, when the ark set forward… And when it rested," and they allude to the fact that the following words of the Torah have already been fulfilled:

For you are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God gives you. But when you traverse the Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God gives you to inherit, and when He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety. (Devarim 12:9-10)

When we bring in the ark of Your strength, the ark of the covenant, rest upon it, O God, and enter with it. It is possible that the phrase, "Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place," means that we are inviting God to dwell in His rest, and perhaps the request, Arise (kuma), O Lord, to Your resting place," hints at the idea of "existing (kayyam) forever," that is to say, rest Your Shekhina forever in the place that You chose for Your rest.

There is an interesting parallel between psalm 132 in Tehilim and Shelomo's prayer: "Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into Your resting place, You, and the ark of Your strength; let Your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with victory, and let Your pious ones rejoice in goodness" (II Divrei Ha-yamim 6:41). Here too with the ark's introduction into the Holy of Holies, its permanent place, there is the invitation: Rest in the place that has been established and rest Your Shekhina there for all time, rest on the ark of the covenant in the place of Your rest in the Holy of Holies. And similarly in the parallel section in the book of Melakhim: "Blessed is the Lord that has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised, there has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised by the hand of Moshe His servant" (I Melakhim 8:56). The language here speaks of rest for the people of Israel, and we may be dealing with rest from the enemies.[2] David said as follows:

Is not the Lord your God with you? And has He not given you rest on every side… Arise, therefore, and build the sanctuary of the Lord God. (I Divrei Ha-yamim 22:18-19)

The Temple – A House of Rest for the Ark

David describes his intentions in practical terms in Divrei Ha-yamim as follows:

Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and I had made ready for building. (I Divrei Ha-yamim 28:2)

After the journeys and the wars, not only does the ark reach its rest, but the Temple as a whole is defined as a house of rest for the ark. The ark, as it were, leaves its mark in the matter of rest on the entire Temple and turns it into a house of rest.

The Ralbag (ad loc.) writes:

He called it a house of rest because its place will be there forever, and God will not choose a different place.

The meaning of rest is connected to the permanence of God's choice of a place and to the fact that after that choice was made God did not choose any other place. This is in addition to the rest from the enemies and from the various journeys.

Jerusalem As A Place Of Rest

In the continuation of Tehilim 132, it says:

For the Lord has chosen Zion: He has desired it for His habitation. This is My resting place forever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. (13-14)

The psalmist is confident that his request will be accepted because God chose Zion, and when it says: "This is My resting place forever," it means that Jerusalem is God's rest – the place of His Shekhina and his eternal seat.

Shelomo – A Man of Rest

When David discusses his preparations for building the Temple, he says:

But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, You have shed blood abundantly, and have made great wars: you shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed much blood upon the earth in My sight. Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Shelomo, and I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for My name; and he shall be My son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever. (I Divrei Ha-yamim 22:8-10)

The Metzudot David (ad loc.) explains: "'A man of rest' – he will desire rest and provoke nobody." Similarly the Malbim: "'A man of rest' – by his nature, and he will not provoke a war." That is to say, there is a promise here that Shelomo will merit rest from all sides, and will not have to fight enemies.

It is clear that the phrase "and I will give him rest from his enemies round about" corresponds to what the Torah says: "And when He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety; then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there" (12:10-11). It is possible that there is a connection between "and I will give him rest" (va-hanichoti) and the fact that this will be done by a man of rest (menucha).

The name Shelomo is also expounded as relating to peace (sholom), a synonym for rest and quietness. The Metzudat David comments on the phrase "peace and quietness" in God's promise to David: "His name is a sign for the peace."

That is to say, in contrast to David, who spilled much blood, and is therefore barred from building the Temple, Shelomo his son will be a man of rest; he will enjoy peace with all his enemies, he will not have to shed blood, and therefore he will build a house for God.

Emphasizing the rest from the enemies to be enjoyed by Shelomo who will build the Temple accords with what the Gemara says in Sanhedrin: "Three commandments were given to Israel when they entered the land: to appoint a king, to cut off the seed of Amalek, and to build themselves the Temple" (20b).

Regarding the priority that is to be given to cutting off the seed of Amalek to the building of the Temple, the Gemara says:

Hence, when it is written: "And when He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, then it shall come to pass that the place which the Lord your God shall choose," it is to be inferred that the extermination of Amalek is first. And so it is written of David: "And it came to pass when the king dwelt in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from his enemies round about," and it is written: "That the king said to Natan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedars."

Destroying the enemy comes before building the Temple, and as we noted above, this is because rest from the enemies is a prerequisite for building God's house.

It is interesting to see that in the future as well in the eschatological prophecies of Yeshayahu (2:2-4) and Mikha (4:1-3), it says:

But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall stream towards it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Yaakov; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for Torah shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge between many peoples, and decide concerning strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, nor shall they learn war any more.

The desire of the nations to receive the Torah on Mount Moriya and to accept God's kingdom is contingent on world peace, when everybody will recognize that there is a supreme King, and therefore there is no place for war. In our context as well peace and rest from the enemies are conditions for the building of the Temple.

In the next shiur, we will discuss the second part of Rabbi Shimon's position, namely that Shilo is "the inheritance," and the positions of the other Tannaim, that both "the rest" and "the inheritance" are Shilo, or that they are both Jerusalem. We will complete our discussion of the relationship between rest and inheritance by examining the nature of the structure of the Mishkan in Nov and in Giv'on – a temporary structure like the Mishkan in the wilderness, or a permanent structure between the Mishkan and the Mikdash.

 

(Translated by David Strauss)

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