{"id":62193,"date":"2019-09-02T17:03:48","date_gmt":"2019-09-02T14:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=62193"},"modified":"2023-03-28T18:16:47","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T15:16:47","slug":"moral-imperatives-and-the-paradox-of-tolerance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/moral-imperatives-and-the-paradox-of-tolerance\/","title":{"rendered":"Moral Imperatives And The Paradox Of Tolerance"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[429,425,838],"acf":{"old_id":"62193","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":46656,"related_cahpter":"298","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Solomon has trouble in figuring out where to draw the line","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From previous chapters of 1 Kings we learn of the great regard in which King Solomon is held by God Himself, as well as on the world stage. That landscape makes the sudden downfall of King Solomon in this chapter all the more stunning, and nearly incomprehensible, with the suggestion of this revered and holy King devolving to the level of idol worshipper.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Gemara (Shabbat 56b) as well as many commentaries (Rashi, Radak and Ralbag among them) explain that King Solomon himself did not participate in idol worship but his 700 wives and 300 concubines did. The implication that that King Solomon was guilty by association goes even further, with the Gemara and commentaries taking King Solomon to task for failing to take action to oppose the behavior of his wives. That apparent complicity was deemed by God as tantamount to participation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The narrative of the construction of the Temple describes a global economy in which King Solomon was deeply embedded. Through trade with neighboring countries for building materials and employment of foreign labor, the Jewish nation both physically and spiritually did not exist in a bubble. The presence of differing and often conflicting moral practices would likely have been pervasive, and King Solomon had the unenviable task of walking the line between building and leading a Torah-based nation while pragmatically needing to maintain allegiances with nations and leaders who modeled practices that were wholly contradictory to Torah.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">King Solomon faced an age-old challenge that remains relevant for every nation, leader and individual today: \u201cWhat can I accept? What can I overlook? And where do I draw the line?\u201d Looking through the lens of King Solomon\u2019s personal and professional environment one can understand how he became desensitized to the gravity of idol-worship. But this particular line had already been drawn by God. There are few things for which our Torah requires a zero-tolerance policy, but idol worship is one of them (along with murder and adultery).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Modern western societies often demonstrate 20<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> century philosopher Karl Popper\u2019s paradox of tolerance: upholding tolerance by being intolerant of intolerance. But Torah spins it differently, insisting on some absolute moral imperatives of which we are commanded to be intolerant, and actively protest infractions of them. The risk of not doing so is being held accountable as though we committed those deeds ourselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: Willem de Poorter, The idolatry of King Solomon, c. 1640 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":62194,"id":62194,"title":"1kings11-solomon and wives","filename":"1kings11-solomon-and-wives.jpeg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings11-solomon-and-wives.jpeg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/moral-imperatives-and-the-paradox-of-tolerance\/1kings11-solomon-and-wives\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"1kings11-solomon-and-wives","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":62193,"date":"2019-09-02 14:03:33","modified":"2021-04-13 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