Overview

It was one of the greatest moments in Jewish history. Almost five centuries had passed since the birth of the Jewish people with the exodus from Egypt. Since their arrival in the Land of Israel, the Jews had lived in their respective tribal territories with almost no central infrastructure to unite them as a people. With the appointment of King Saul, and later King David, the Jews now had a united kingdom equal to that of their neighbors.

Spiritually, however, there was still no focal point. True, there was the Tabernacle in Shiloh (later in Nob and Gibeon), but this was still a temporary situation. Worship and sacrifices were still allowed anywhere else, due to the lack of permanence in the Tabernacle. King David had eventually transferred the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, but it was essentially in transit without a permanent residence.

Even politically, there was not much rest in the country during the reign of King David. David was constantly fighting with Israel’s various enemies, which indeed was the reason why G‑d did not allow him to actually build the Temple.

Now, for the first time in history, everything came together: The Jews were united politically as one nation, and King Solomon, David’s son and successor, had now led them in the project of building the Temple. Israel was dwelling in peace, with many of their enemies now subservient to them. As a result of all this, the people were living in great prosperity and economic comfort. Indeed, in many ways this time is considered to be the zenith of all Jewish history.

The story of this haftarah is that of the dedication of the First Temple. The celebration began seven days before the Sukkot festival, and continued with the following seven-day celebration of Sukkot. An immense crowd gathered from the entire country to behold the awesome sights and to join in the festivities.

The height of the celebration was when the Ark was brought into the sanctuary by the Kohanim. The king addressed the people and then, while kneeling in front of the altar, offered a lengthy and moving prayer on behalf of the people. Upon finishing, he once again turned toward the huge crowd and blessed them. “Blessed be G‑d, who has given rest to His people Israel,” the king began. He continued in bestowing blessings for the fulfillment of his earlier prayer to G‑d and for the people to always remain faithful to Him. In this way, the entire world would know that there was no other being who controlled heaven and earth. [In many siddurim (prayerbooks), some of the verses from Solomon’s blessing are said each day as part of the weekday morning service.]

The verses then describe the huge numbers of cattle and sheep brought as sacrifices of thanksgiving by Solomon himself: 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. The volume of sacrifices far exceeded the capacity of the altar in the Temple. To this end, Solomon gave legal sanctity to the entire Temple courtyard, thus halachically allowing for sacrifices to be brought in the entire vicinity of this open space.1

Thus passed the fourteen days of celebration. Finally, on Shemini Atzeret, the last day of the festival season, the king appeared to the people and bid them farewell. The people blessed the king and then, on the next day, began their journey home “rejoicing and delighted of heart.”