At Peace

The Haftorah for Parshas Terumah is taken from Sefer Melachim and discusses the preparations made by Shlomo Hamelech for the construction of the Bais Hamikdash as well as some of the details of the construction itself. As the Parsha discusses the Meleches Hamiskan, it is not difficult to understand why this particular Haftorah was selected. As we learn the Haftorah, of course, we must be on the lookout for the timeless messages that can be found even as the subject matter seems somewhat foreign.

The first Passuk of the Haftorah tells us about the wisdom of Shlomo Hamelech: “V’Hashem Nasan Chachma LiShlomo K’Asher Diber Lo.” Hashem gave Shlomo the wisdom that he had requested, making him the Chacham MiKol Adam. The next part of the Passuk seems somewhat unrelated: “VaYehi Shalom Bein Chiram U’Bein Shlomo Vayichrisu Bris Shneihem” Shlomo, says the Passuk, attained peaceful relations with Chiram and the two signed a treaty attesting to this status.

The very next Passuk tells us about a tax, in the form of mandatory labor, that Shlomo put upon the people for the purposes of building the Bais Hamikdash and from there on we learn about the Binyan HaBayis. This Passuk, then, seems to serve as something of an introduction to the construction of the Bais Hamikdash. Now, the Chachma of Shlomo was certainly a necessary component of his building the Bais Hashem, just as the Torah speaks about the Chachmei Lev who built the Mishkan. What then of the second half of the Passuk? How is the peace accord reached between Shlomo Hamelech and Chiram related to the Binyan Bais Hamikdash?

Although we do associate Shalom with the Bais Hamikdash, as we know that the Churban came about because of Sinas Chinam, a lack of harmony, that was discord within Klal Yisroel. There is no reason to assume that Shalom between Bnei Yisroel and their neighbors would be a prerequisite for Binyan Bais Hamikdash, leading one to wonder why this Passuk serves as such an introduction.

It certainly does seem that there was some significance to the treaty between Shlomo and Chiram, however.

The earlier Pessukim in this Perek discuss the era of Shlomo Hamelech, which was a golden age in the history of Klal Yisroel, that seems to have come with relative peace. The Navi tells us “Vayashev Yehuda V’Yisroel LaBetach”, they lived in security, and that the other kings would send emissaries to hear the Chachmas Shlomo. Why then, asks Radak, was the peace between Shlomo and Chiram noteworthy? It seems that Bnei Yisroel were enjoying a period of stable geopolitical relations, why does the Navi go out of its way to mention the peace between Shlomo and Chiram specifically?

Perhaps an even more pressing question is why there was a treaty at all. The preceding Pessukim, speak at length about the productive and cordial relationship between Shlomo and Chiram. Chiram was the Melech Tzur, and Shlomo required the expertise of his wood-choppers to help cut the wood for the Bais Hamikdash, and he asked Chiram to provide them. The Passuk tells us how Chiram reacted to this request: “Vayehi K’Shmoah Chiram Es Divrei Shlomo Vayismach Me’od”, he was thrilled at the prospect, and they came to an agreement very quickly. In fact, Chiram’s admiration for the Melech Yisroel seems to have been long-standing, as the Passuk first introduces him by saying “Ki Ahav Haya Chiram L’Dovid Kol HaYamim”. Chiram loved Dovid, and was now very happy that Shlomo was assuming his father’s throne.

This all being the case—that Chiram and Dovid enjoyed good relations and Shlomo now seemed to be capitalizing on that bond—why was a peace treaty even necessary? Such an accord usually follows war or strife, why would Shlomo sign a treaty with Chiram now?

In order to understand why Shlomo had to make a treaty with Chiram, and why this was an important step prior to Binyan Bais Hamikdash, it may be helpful to know just who Chiram was.

In Parshas Vayeshev, after Mechiras Yosef, the Torah tells us: “VaYered Yehuda M’Es Echav VaYet Ad Ish Adulami U’Shemo Chira.” Yehuda left his brothers, and eventually came accress an “Ish Adulami” whose name was Chira. Rashi there explains that Yehuda and Chira became business partners, and we see that Chira stayed in Yehuda’s life, as later, after his sons and wife were Niftar the Torah tells us that Yehuda went to sheer his sheep together with “Chira Re’ehu HaAdulami”, his friend Chira the Adulami.

The Medrash Rabba there tells us who this Chira was: “Chira Hu Chiram SheHaya Biyimei Dovid.” Chiram Melech Tzur, who was an admirer of Dovid Hamelech, was the same Chira that was associated with Yehuda. In fact, the Medrash tells us: “Lamud Haya HaIsh HaZeh Lihiyos Ohev L’Shevet Hazeh,” there was a close association between Chira and Shevet Yehuda for generations.

With these Divrei Chazal in mind, our questions become even perhaps more pressing. First, if Chiram was an old friend of not only Dovid Hamelech, but Shevet Yeduah in general, all the way back to its namesake, why was a Bris necessary? Why, prior to building the Bais Hamikdash, did Shlomo Hamelech see fit to make peace with someone who had always been a friend of the Bais Hamalchus?

In order to understand this relationship, let us look a little closer at its origins.

As we noted, Rashi tells us that Yehuda and Chira were business partners, but the meaning of the word “VaYet” as in “VaYet Ad Ish Adulami” is not so readily understood. The Be’er Mayim Chaim explains that this word comes from the same word as “Natah” which means planted or established, and uses this understanding to give us some important context to this Passuk.

After Mechiras Yosef, the brothers removed Yehuda from his position of leadership, as Rashi there explains. They felt that Yehuda’s advice to sell Yosef was the cause of their father’s pain, and they no longer had confidence in him. In fact, Chazal tell us, in Bamidbar Rabba, that Shevet Yehuda was precluded from leadership throughout Galus Mitzrayim as well, as a result of Mechiras Yosef.

Therefore, explains the Be’er Mayim Chaim, when Yehuda met Chira he was not only physically distant from his brothers, but emotionally as well. In fact, so far was he from where he had been that he saw value in the Ish HaAdulami: “VaYet Ad Ish Adulami”, Chiram was established in the eyes of Yehuda as an “Ish”, a man. Had he been with his brother, writes the Be’er Mayim Chaim, Yehuda would have seen Chiram as a “Efes V’Tohu”, completely worthless, but in his diminished state of “VaYered Yehuda M’Es Echav” he saw Chira as an “Ish.”

This was the Chira that Yehuda became friendly with, who remained at his side throughout those difficult years, and was later known as Chiram Melech Tzur. The relationship that Chira shared with Yehuda’s progeny, all the way to the days of Dovid Hamelech, was then based on this original bond, the “VaYet Ad Ish” of Yehuda himself.

Perhaps this is why Shlomo Hamelech felt that a treaty was necessary at this juncture.

The relationship between Chiram and Shlomo’s forefathers was no doubt based on the esteem in which Yehudah help Chiram, but now, as the he wished to build the Bais Hamikdacs, Shlomo perhaps felt it was time to end it. In order for us to build Bais Tifartenu, a Makom for true Hashra’as Hashechina We could no longer see members of the Umos Haolam as equals, in the realm of Ish. Bnei Yisroel had to recognize that we are not the same as others, that we are in fact elevated from them. Even the Chashuvim of the Umos HaOlam are “Efes V’Tohu” when compared to members of the Am Hanivchar, and this recognition is a prerequisite for Binyan Bais Hamikdash.

And so, Shlomo HaMelech, made peace with Chiram. This may seem counterintuitive, but in fact, as the Passuk attests, it was a product of Shlomo’s unmatched Chachma.

One does not make a peace treaty with a family member, an expectation of tranquility is assumed. Only when there is a possibility that one party may in fact try to harm the other must the terms of peace be spelled out. And so, in making formal peace with Chiram, Shlomo Hamelech sought not to bring him closer, but to push him farther away. He wished to show that Chiram is not an equal, he is not an “Ish”, he is an outsider, with whom a treaty is prudent.

This is why the Navi specifically mentions the peace with Chiram, though Shlomo Hamelech was at peace with all his neighbors: for it was this treaty that prepared us most for the Bais Hamikdash. It ended a generations-long relationship with a man that should have been seen as Efes V’Tohu, but because of circumstance was brought closer to Am Yisroel.

If we wish to bring the Shechina into our lives, bringing a greater measure of Kedusah, we would do well to remember this message. We are members of the Am Hanivchar, the only ones who can even attempt a relationship of V’Asu Li Mikdash V’Shachanti B’Socham, and the more we look at others as Efes V’Tohu, and treat them as outsiders the closer we come to the goal of B’Soch Kol Echad V’Echad.