{"id":27646,"date":"2011-07-19T00:29:38","date_gmt":"1970-01-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/production.ou.org\/holidays\/the-three-weeks\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/"},"modified":"2016-08-26T13:07:37","modified_gmt":"2016-08-26T13:07:37","slug":"the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/","title":{"rendered":"The First \u201cBeit HaMikdash\u201d: The Temple of Shlomo"},"content":{"rendered":"

The First Beit HaMikdash<\/strong> was actually built in the time of Shlomo HaMelech, King Solomon. Shlomo was the son of King David, who had conceived the idea of building a Temple for Hashem.<\/p>\n

The Construction<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The Bible tells us of the construction of this Temple in the Book of Melachim 1. Interestingly, whereas the Mishkan was built totally by the Jewish People, and with materials contributed by the Jewish People, the first person that Shlomo turns to when discussing his great Project is Chiram, King of Tzor.<\/p>\n

There is good reason for this. Chiram is in possession of rare forests, of majestic cedars of Lebanon, and cypress trees that are unequalled anywhere in the world. They would be perfect for construction of a structure that Shlomo wants to be not only one of the Wonders of the World; he wants it to be \u201cout of this world,\u201d so to speak, to be a resting place for the Divine Presence.<\/p>\n

Shlomo tells Chiram that David, whom Chiram had loved, had wanted to build a Temple, but had not been allowed to do so, because of all the wars he\u2019d been involved in. But now G-d had granted Shlomo all the ingredients for success: great wisdom, great riches and, most of all, peace on all sides, that would allow him to apply all his energy to its construction.<\/p>\n

They agreed that Chiram would supply Shlomo with cedar and cypress timber and Shlomo would supply Chiram with vast amounts of foodstuffs. And Chiram\u2019s unmatched woodcutters would cut down and ship the timber to the Land of Israel.<\/p>\n

Shlomo also levied a tax on the Jewish People to provide thirty thousand laborers on a rotating basis, to assist Chiram, seventy thousand to bear burdens and eighty thousand to do quarry work.<\/p>\n

As the completion of the construction approached, HaShem came to Shlomo and said, \u201cIf you will not forsake My Torah, I will invest My Presence in your Temple, and I will not abandon the People of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

When all the work was done, Shlomo had the Ark of the L-rd brought up from \u201cIr David,\u201d the City of David, where it had been reposing. Then, amid a ceremony involving the sacrificing of untold numbers of sacrifices, Shlomo reminded the People that it was his father, David, whose idea he had brought into reality.<\/p>\n

Shlomo blessed the People, and promised that he would observe the condition that had been set for the permanency of the Temple; namely, that he and the People would not forsake the Torah.<\/p>\n

He prayed to G-d, \u201cBut will G-d in truth dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You, how much less this house that I have built!\u2026But may Your \u201ceyes\u201d be open towards this place night and day\u2026to hearken unto the prayer that Your servant shall offer towards this place\u2026May You hear in Heaven Your dwelling place, and when You hear, forgive\u201d (Melachim 1, 8:27-30).<\/p>\n

The Sins<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

According to the Talmud (Yoma 4b), the reason for the destruction of the First Temple was the pernicious and ineradicable performance of the following catalogue of sins: idol-worship, sexual immorality, and bloodshed.<\/p>\n

This, despite the warnings delivered by Prophet after Prophet until we are told in the Book of Yirmiyahu that the Prophet has been instructed to tell Tzidkiyahu, the last King of Yehudah, that there will be no escape from Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, who will burn Yerushalayim with fire.<\/p>\n

The Destruction<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

In 586 B.C.E., some 420 years after the First Temple was built, the Prophecy of Destruction was realized. The Prophet who was an eye-witness to the tragedy describes it in Megilat Eichah, The Scroll of Lamentations:<\/p>\n

\u201cHow does the city sit solitary, that was full of people!<\/em>
\n How is she become as a widow!<\/em>
\n She that was great among the nations,<\/em>
\n And princess among the provinces,<\/em>
\n Has become a handmaiden!\u201d (Eichah 1:1)<\/em><\/p>\n

and further, as the Prophet speaks of the G-d Who is now, as a last resort, punishing His wayward children, (Eichah 3:1-4)<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the man that has seen affliction<\/em>
\n By the rod of his wrath.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201dHe has led me and caused me to walk<\/em>
\n In darkness and not in light.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201dSurely against me He turns His hand<\/em>
\n Again and again all the day.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMy flesh and my skin has He worn out;<\/em>
\n He has broken my bones.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The First Beit HaMikdash was actually built in the time of Shlomo HaMelech, King Solomon. Shlomo was the son of King David, who had conceived the idea of building a Temple for Hashem. The Construction The Bible tells us of the construction of this Temple in the Book of Melachim 1. Interestingly, whereas the Mishkan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":856,"featured_media":41242,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[360,359],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fast-of-tisha-bav","category-the-three-weeks"],"yoast_head":"\nThe First \u201cBeit HaMikdash\u201d - The Temple of Shlomo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The first Beit HaMikdash was built by King Shlomo and was destroyed 410 years later by the Babylonians for the sins of idolatry, immorality, and bloodshed.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The First \u201cBeit HaMikdash\u201d - The Temple of Shlomo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The first Beit HaMikdash was built by King Shlomo and was destroyed 410 years later by the Babylonians for the sins of idolatry, immorality, and bloodshed.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jewish Holidays\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OrthodoxUnion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"1970-01-01T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-26T13:07:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Beit-HaMikdash-8-e1472216570947.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1548\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1033\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"OU Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"OU Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/\",\"name\":\"The First \u201cBeit HaMikdash\u201d - The Temple of Shlomo\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Beit-HaMikdash-8-e1472216570947.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"1970-01-01T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-26T13:07:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/1aba293e6873a147acefd0da6e06f5d9\"},\"description\":\"The first Beit HaMikdash was built by King Shlomo and was destroyed 410 years later by the Babylonians for the sins of idolatry, immorality, and bloodshed.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Beit-HaMikdash-8-e1472216570947.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Beit-HaMikdash-8-e1472216570947.jpg\",\"width\":1548,\"height\":1033,\"caption\":\"Beit HaMikdash\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The First \u201cBeit HaMikdash\u201d: The Temple of Shlomo\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/\",\"name\":\"Jewish Holidays\",\"description\":\"Learn about Jewish holidays\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/1aba293e6873a147acefd0da6e06f5d9\",\"name\":\"OU Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14ca4bcffd34ffa6e127e70edabea164bd9f57cfbcc0d75898ec3d749b486277?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14ca4bcffd34ffa6e127e70edabea164bd9f57cfbcc0d75898ec3d749b486277?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"OU Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/author\/mindylehmannou-org\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The First \u201cBeit HaMikdash\u201d - The Temple of Shlomo","description":"The first Beit HaMikdash was built by King Shlomo and was destroyed 410 years later by the Babylonians for the sins of idolatry, immorality, and bloodshed.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The First \u201cBeit HaMikdash\u201d - The Temple of Shlomo","og_description":"The first Beit HaMikdash was built by King Shlomo and was destroyed 410 years later by the Babylonians for the sins of idolatry, immorality, and bloodshed.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/","og_site_name":"Jewish Holidays","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OrthodoxUnion","article_published_time":"1970-01-01T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-08-26T13:07:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1548,"height":1033,"url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Beit-HaMikdash-8-e1472216570947.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"OU Staff","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"OU Staff","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/","name":"The First \u201cBeit HaMikdash\u201d - The Temple of Shlomo","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Beit-HaMikdash-8-e1472216570947.jpg","datePublished":"1970-01-01T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-26T13:07:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/1aba293e6873a147acefd0da6e06f5d9"},"description":"The first Beit HaMikdash was built by King Shlomo and was destroyed 410 years later by the Babylonians for the sins of idolatry, immorality, and bloodshed.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Beit-HaMikdash-8-e1472216570947.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Beit-HaMikdash-8-e1472216570947.jpg","width":1548,"height":1033,"caption":"Beit HaMikdash"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/the_first_beit_hamikdash_-_the_temple_of_shlomo\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The First \u201cBeit HaMikdash\u201d: The Temple of Shlomo"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/","name":"Jewish Holidays","description":"Learn about Jewish holidays","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/1aba293e6873a147acefd0da6e06f5d9","name":"OU Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14ca4bcffd34ffa6e127e70edabea164bd9f57cfbcc0d75898ec3d749b486277?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14ca4bcffd34ffa6e127e70edabea164bd9f57cfbcc0d75898ec3d749b486277?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"OU Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/author\/mindylehmannou-org\/"}]}},"acf":[],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/856"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27646"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41241,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27646\/revisions\/41241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}