The Shir HaMa’alos, Psalm 132,
is King David’s personal prayer that he be permitted to build the Temple. The
psalm is associated with two episodes. The first as explained by the Malbim is
when David brought the Ark of the Covenant into the Holy of Holies after
transporting it a distance with great travail. The later episode is like the
Ibn Ezra who says Psalm 132 was likely to have been written after King David gathered
with the elders of Israel when a pestilence struck the people and they did not
find a place to offer sacrifices on behalf of the nation because the tabernacle
was in a faraway place.
The Talmud (Zevachim 118b)
enumerates the places that the Mishkan stood. It was in the desert for 40 years
less one, in Gilgal for fourteen years while the land of Israel was being
conquered and divided. After that it was in Shiloh for 369 years. It was in Nob
and Gibeon for fifty-seven years.
This includes the time Ark was
held by the Pelishtim who had captured it after the Israelites brought into
battle thinking it would insure victory. Because it caused them nothing but
trouble the Pelishtim returned it Israel, depositing it in Qiryat Ye’arim with
a gift and, there it stayed for twenty years (see 1 Shmuel 7:2). King David
then had a glorious victory over the Pelishtim and resolved to bring the Ark of
the Covenant to Jerusalem. However he errs in transporting it on a horse drawn
cart, forgetting the law that it can only be carried by the priests. As a
result an accident occurs and one of the workers is killed. David becomes
extremely upset because he cannot bring the Ark to an honored place.
He subsequently recalls the
halacha and with great care, ceremony, and celebration successfully brings the
Ark to Jerusalem. However when he sees that he is dwelling in a cedar palace
and the ark is in a tent of curtains he again becomes upset and seeks to build
a magnificent temple. His request, though, is denied by heaven through the
prophet.
Years later Hashem is angry
with the people of Israel so he stirs up their king against them by telling
David to perform a census. David again errs in holding a direct count rather
than having them contribute a half a shekel each to indirectly get the total.
Because of this G-d strikes the nation with a pestilence. The pestilence rages
but when the angel stretches out his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, David
prays for the nation. HaKadosh Baruch Hu accepts his prayer and ends the
plague. The precise place that the plague ends is the threshing floor of Aravna
the Yebusi. The prophet Gad tells David to build an altar to Hashem there.
David buys the threshing floor, builds the altar, and offers burnt offerings
and peace offerings.
The Meiri explains in Psalm
132 that David thought to build the Beis Mikdash and had made great efforts to
do so until Nathan the prophet told him that he was not the one to do so. However,
he promised him that his son after him would build it, his descendants would be
established as the royal dynasty, and provided they did not sin would actually
rule. After the prophet, though, had him build an altar to Hashem and his
prayers were accepted, David recognized that this was the designated place for
the Temple which had not been previously known. It was then that he wrote this
psalm.
The psalm portrays how
building the Beis Mikdash was almost an obsession for King David. It dominates his
mind to the extent that he literally cannot sleep or sit quietly in his home.
His feelings are so strong that he feels compelled to utter an oath to build
it. Whether he is in a busy city or a tranquil meadow the calling rings in his
ears. In the midst of this he calls upon G-d to manifest Himself in the place
that is most appropriate, and place the Ark of the Covenant there as an
expression of might. David’s vision of the Temple is one in which the cohanim
radiate righteousness and are spurred on by the joyous cries of the devout.
In his prayer King David
invokes his own relationship with G-d, intimating that if he constructed the
Temple it would be a sanctification of G-d’s name, his own service would be
greater, and this influence would extend to future kings of Israel. He then
mentions that Zion is the place Hashem loves and that His desire is that it
should be a place of prosperity that extends to the poor. The verse that the
priests will dress in the image of salvation hints at the idea that the world
was created for the days of messiah. The messiah comes from the line of David
and the horn of David is a symbol for his prestige and strength. The candle of
David is a symbol for his wisdom. So to speak part of the psalm is about making
David the prism through which the light of the Beis Mikdash shines. In the end
this will show up the enemies of David as disgraces while those that emulate him
will display a sparkling crown.
King David represents the
entire Jewish people. Therefore just like the idea of building the Beis Mikdash
consumed his mind, so to should consume our minds. Just like he wished to see the
priests radiate righteousness and salvation so too should we. Just like he
wished to absorb the light of the Temple and shine it on the Jewish people, the
Jewish people should want to absorb the light of Torah and shine it on to all
men.
לע"נ
הסבא אהרן בן יוסף ז"ל נלב"ע כז בטבת תשכ"ו
העלון ניתן לקבל גם בדואר אלקטרוני וגם באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.co.il
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