1 Melachim (1 Kings). Speaker: Rabbi Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld ז”ל. Topics: Dovid HaMelech Transfers the Kingship to His Son, Shlomo HaMelech (King Solomon).
00:00 – In his later years, Dovid HaMelech took Avishag as a concubine. He already had the permitted number of wives but he did not divorce any of his previous wives in order to marry her because 1) the Torah does not favor divorce, although it’s permitted; and 2) this union was not physical.
03:55 – Adam HaRishon gave 70 years of his own life to Dovid HaMelech. Why that number?
07:12 – There are ten sefiros -conduits – of kedushah – holiness: three upper levels and seven lower. Adam gave 70 years corresponding to the seven lower sefiros.
08:37 – However, since these 70 years were spiritually incomplete, the tikkun (correction/completion) of these years came from: Avraham Avinu (five years), Yaakov Avinu (28 years), and Yosef HaTzaddik (37 years). Why did Yosef give so many years, while no years were given by Yitzchak?
11:18 – There are two moshiachs (promised future kings of Israel): Moshiach ben Yosef and Moshiach ben Dovid.
13:40 – Dovid HaMelech lived 70 years, passing away in the afternoon of his 70th birthday, (Shavuos).
15:18 – On Dovid HaMelech’s last day of life he advised his son Shlomo about how to insure that Adonyahu and Yoav would not be able to take over the kingdom.
16:58 – Nasan HaNavi (Nathan the Prophet) advises Dovid HaMelech‘s wife, Batsheva to intercede on behalf of her son Shlomo.
19:42 – Dovid HaMelech’s final words and requests.
21:14 – Shlomo HaMelech’s first acts as king included fulfilling his father’s commands to bring Yoav and Shimi Ben Gera to justice.
*23:51 – Yoav fled to the mishkan (tabernacle) but it did not serve as a sanctuary. Dovid HaMelech had placed a curse on Yoav and his family, but that curse eventually plagued the descendants of Dovid HaMelech. Whoever wishes evil for another endangers himself. It is better to be cursed than to curse.
24:56 – Shmiras HaLoshon – guarding one’s speech: Speech has irrevocable power, and misusing it brings serious and far-reaching consequences, even for a tzaddik and his descendants.
31:29 – Adonyahu asks permission to marry Avishag.
*39:03 – Shlomo HaMelech was crowned while his father, Dovid HaMelech was still alive. A question of Torah law arose when Dovid HaMelech was nistalek – passed away – on Shabbos because it is forbidden to move a dead body on Shabbos. The expression “Better to be a live dog than a dead lion” alludes to the power of tefilas chatzos – the midnight prayer – to counteract negative forces. How Dovid HaMelech’s histalkus on Shabbos can strengthen our faith that a tzaddik never abandons Am Yisrael.
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