Adoniya's Rebellion

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1. The Difference Between Individual Style and Common Values

   Haftarot: Hayei Sarah

   Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein

   The messages that stem from the story of selecting an heir for David - whether Adoniah or Shlomo - is that the moral legacy is the only one that will survive over time.

2. Double Danger

   Haftarot: Va'yehi

   Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein

   The king possesses a unique personal status, but is also a national figure. David's deathbed instructions to Shlomo are examined based on both elements.

3. Struggle for the Throne

   Rabbi Alex Israel

   Two approaches exist to the story of the contention over David's throne. One approach describes a political struggle with rivalries and palace intrigue, ultimately being resolved the moment the king has designated his heir. Even if another powerful candidate exists, there is an absolute transfer of power.

   A second, more spiritual approach, subtly takes the reader back to the sin of David and Bat Sheva. David's withdrawal from public life in the aftermath of the sin has created a situation in which he has not designated a successor. The ultimate choice of Shlomo - Bat Sheva's son - as the heir to the throne sends a clear message that David has paid for his various sins.  Shlomo ascends the throne clear of past complications; there is no residual stain on his monarchy.  

    

4. Generating Stability

   Rabbi Alex Israel

   The first half of chapter 2 articulates David's final will and testament to Shlomo, and the second describes how Shlomo acts to secure his position as king.

   While David stresses the importance of keeping the Torah, the bulk of David's message relates to potential threats to Shlomo's ability to govern. David knows that once he has left the scene, political forces will be unleashed, factions that have remained concealed due to David's presence and authority. Interest groups will move quickly to maneuver or even unseat the young, fledgling king and Shlomo proves to know how to respond with wisdom.

5. Chronology, Structure, and Two Judean Kings

   Rabbi Alex Israel

   In many of the Elisha stories the king in the story is not identified. While many assume that the anonymous king is Yehoram, Ahav's son, because of the sequence of the chapters, the good relationship between Elisha and the king in some of the stories and the ease in which Aram lays seige to Shomron indicate that the kings in the story belong to Yehu's dynasty. Two possible explanations are offered as to the non-chronological order of the Elisha's stories.

   Yehoram, King of Yehuda, strays from the path of Yehoshafat his father and adopts the path of the House of Ahav, of which his wife Atalya is a daughter. Besides the spiritual turmoil that his rule brings, Yehoram murders all of his brothers who he views as a threat to his rule and loses control over areas that have been under the rule of Yehuda since David's reign. How does Eliyahu send Yehoram a castigating letter long after his disappearance?

6. Nusach Ha-mikra – Accuracy of the Biblical Text

   Part 7 - Textual Amendments

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   An examination of several proposals to amend the biblical text shows that while the amendment might make sense on a superficial level, they miss various literary messages in the text. Therefore, the greatest degree of caution must be exercised in this area.

7. The Sins of Biblical Figures

   Part 2

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   Two fundamental approaches exist regarding three incidents involving Avraham: one maintains that the plain reading of the text suggests that the acts in question were wrong – perhaps even serious sins – and are recorded with a view to instructing the readers how not to behave. The other view seeks to cast their actions in a positive light and regards them as a model for emulation.

   Those who seek a favorable interpretation of all questionable actions of biblical characters rely, as one of their central sources, on a well-known discussion in Massekhet Shabbat (55b-56b) which lists six figures who seem, according to the plain text, to have committed various transgressions – some of them extremely serious ones. In each case, Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani teaches, in the name of Rabbi Yonatan, that "anyone who says that so-and-so sinned, is simply mistaken."