YINR 929: Tanach Yomi

About YINR 929: Tanach Yomi

A short thought for each chapter/perek in Tanach for Tanach yomi/daily Bible study by Josh Blechner

Publisher

Josh Blechner

Category

religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

28 Aug 2025

Latest episode

15 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

297 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   15 Oct 2026

   I Kings 8: Party on Shlomo

   It is party time in Jerusalem. The Temple iscomplete. The Ark and some of the vessels are now in their new (hopefully)permanent home in the Temple. Shlomo composes an epic prayer asking God tolisten to the supplications of the people in the Temple. The people gathertogether in the Temple courtyard and sacrifice so many animals that everyoneloses count. “So Solomon and all Israel with him—a great assemblage, [coming]from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt—observed the Feast at that time beforethe LORD our God, seven days and again seven days, fourteen days in all” (verse65).  Why does the verse say they ate anddrank for seven days and yet another seven days? Why not just say fourteendays? The Talmud in Moed Katan 9a explains that these were two distinct sevenday periods. The first was for the dedication of the Temple, and the secondseven was for the Holiday of Sukkot. The reason the two weeks are separate isto teach the principle of not mixing two happy occasions together. For example,one should not schedule a wedding on a holiday. The Talmud posits that perhapsthe fact that Shlomo did not have the dedication ceremony on Sukkot was becausethe Temple was finished earlier, and slowing down the building would be aviolation of the principle that one should not delay in doing mitzvot. In theend, the Talmud concludes that the fact that the verse lists the two seven-dayperiods separately is proof that the issue here is mixing happy occasions. Itis also possible that the celebration was meant to last seven days. Both thePassover and Sukkot holidays are seven days, as was the dedication of theTabernacle. Perhaps the text is explaining that the people were so overjoyedwith the completion of the Temple that they decided to stay an additional sevendays. This structure would mimic the idea of Shmini Atzeret- a holiday that isadded on to Sukkot as a bonus day for celebration. Here, the book of Chroniclesprovides a little more context: “On the twenty-third day of the seventh monthhe dismissed the people to their homes, rejoicing and in good spirits over thegoodness that the LORD had shown to David and Solomon and His people Israel” (IIChronicles 7:10). Radak, Metzudat David, and Malbim all emphasize that theverse deliberately preserves the distinction between the two seven-day periods.The people were not simply celebrating for fourteen consecutive days. Rather,they experienced two different occasions of joy: first the dedication of theTemple and then the festival of Sukkot. Perhaps this is why the Navi resistscombining them into a single number. The completion of the Temple was not meantto replace the existing holidays of the Torah, but to stand alongside them. Thepeople therefore celebrated the new House of God for seven days and thenimmediately turned to celebrate one of God's oldest festivals for anotherseven. In this way, the Temple was woven into the existing fabric of Jewishlife rather than becoming a celebration unto itself

2. 

   14 Oct 2026

   I Kings 7: 13 going on 7

   In chapter six, the texts states that the building of the temple took seven years. According to chapter 7, Shlomo took 13 years to build his palace. The commentators are almost unanimous explaining that this discrepancy is meant to praise Shlomo. While he took 13 years to build his palace, which is extensively detailed in this chapter, he rushed the building of the Temple to make sure it was completed in a much shorter seven years. Abarbanel is the lone dissenter, but not on the praise part, just that the 13 years encompassed the building of all of Shlomo’s palaces. But why would the text go to such a detail about Shlomo’s house? On its face it may be to show his wealth. Like an HGTV design show, the text goes in meticulous detail about all the extravagant design elements in Shlomo’s palace. However, it is also possible that the text describes this to Shlomo’s detriment. That is, Shlomo only took seven years to build a Temple, but when it came to his own house, he was very meticulous taking 13 years to build it. In the description of his wealth in chapter 5, the text brings up his many stables, and in chapter 7 that he built a whole separate palace for the daughter of Pharaoh. Both hint at the violation of the Torah prohibition for kings not to have too many wives and to many horses. In fact, these will also end up being part of Solomons downfall later on.

3. 

   13 Oct 2026

   I Kings 6: Illegal Building Permit

   Four hundred and eighty years after the Israelites left Egypt, Shlomo begins to build the Temple. Back in Exodus, God was very clear with Moshe about the plans for the Tabernacle. “and let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. Exactly as I show you—the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings—so shall you make it” (Exodus 25:8-9) (וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם׃ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי מַרְאֶה אוֹתְךָ אֵת תַּבְנִית הַמִּשְׁכָּן וְאֵת תַּבְנִית כָּל כֵּלָיו וְכֵן תַּעֲשׂוּ). Shlomo does not get any similar directive. Why does God not give Shlomo detailed plans like was given to Moshe? Unlike the Mishkan, whose design was dictated in painstaking detail by God, the Temple appears in Kings as a human initiative inspired by divine promise. Why the difference? In the last chapter he told Hiram that his father wanted to build the Temple, but God told David he could not because he was surrounded by war. “But now the LORD my God has given me respite all around; there is no adversary and no mischance. and so I propose to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD promised my father David, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for My name’” (5:18-19) (וְעַתָּה הֵנִיחַ ה׳ אֱלֹהַי לִי מִסָּבִיב אֵין שָׂטָן וְאֵין פֶּגַע רָע׃ וְהִנְנִי אֹמֵר לִבְנוֹת בַּיִת לְשֵׁם ה׳ אֱלֹהָי כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר ה׳ אֶל דָּוִד אָבִי לֵאמֹר בִּנְךָ אֲשֶׁר אֶתֵּן תַּחְתֶּיךָ עַל כִּסְאֶךָ הוּא יִבְנֶה הַבַּיִת לִשְׁמִי). Shlomo on his own decides to build the Temple based on what Natan told David back in II Samuel. God does not direct Shlomo to build the Temple, nor does God provide the details. God first appears well into the construction when he tells Shlomo: “’With regard to this House you are building—if you follow My laws and observe My rules and faithfully keep My commandments, I will fulfill for you the promise that I gave to your father David. I will dwell among the children of Israel, and I will never forsake My people Israel.” (verses 12-13) (הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בֹנֶה אִם־תֵּלֵךְ בְּחֻקֹּתַי וְאֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַי תַּעֲשֶׂה וְשָׁמַרְתָּ אֶת־כָּל־מִצְוֺתַי לָלֶכֶת בָּהֶם וַהֲקִמֹתִי אֶת־דְּבָרִי אִתָּךְ אֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתִּי אֶל־דָּוִד אָבִיךָ׃ וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלֹא אֶעֱזֹב אֶת־עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל). God uses the same language from Exodus- “I will dwell amongst them,” but this time the promise only happens after the building is substantially completed. The difference could be how God sees the nation each time. In the wilderness, the people had been freed from slavery and they had just worshipped the Golden Calf. The young nation was in no position to do anything on their own. God needed to hand hold at the time. God showed the people exactly what type of Tabernacle God wanted. This was also a way to avoid having the people create another idol. They had to know this was from God. During the time of Shlomo, the people were more established. God wanted the Temple to come organically from the people. This includes the design in addition to the desire. Shlomo on his own came to the conclusion that it was time to build the Temple his father could not build, and he set about putting all the effort into doing so. Once God saw that, then God was able to make the same promise he made to the people back in wilderness 478 years before.

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