Shlomo HaMelech’s Many Marriages
Shlomo HaMelech is regarded by Chazal as one of our spiritual heroes. Yet, he is described in the opening section of Melachim I 11 as one who has committed heinous spiritual crimes, including intermarriage. Still, we celebrate Shlomo HaMelech despite his marrying massive numbers27TABC alumnus Aharon Goldstein (‘19) puts forth a bold suggestion that the number of wives recorded in Sefer Melachim, seven hundred full-fledged wives and three hundred Pilagshim, may be viewed as an exaggeration, Guzma. The Gemara (Chullin 90b and Tamid 29a) specifically notes that hyperbole is a literary technique occasionally employed by the Tanach. Aharon’s suggestion, accordingly, need not be summarily dismissed. However, the massive amount of wives is typical of the enormously ambitious thought process and actions of Shlomo HaMelech. Thus, it is not unreasonable to say that he marries one thousand women. The same man who offers well over one hundred thousand Korbanot at the Chanukat Beit HaMikdash may very actually marry one thousand women. of non-Jewish women.28Da’at Mikra observes that the Tanach records only three children of Shlomo HaMelech. This leaves room to speculate as to whether Shlomo HaMelech maintains any form of conjugal relations with his massive amount of wives. How do we digest and process this information?
Rambam’s Approach
Rambam, in his presentation of Hilchot Geirut (Hilchot Issurei Bi’ah 13), grapples with our question.29He includes Shimshon’s marriage to non-Jewish women as well. Rambam writes that it is inconceivable that Shlomo HaMelech, who is referred to as Yedidyah, “friend of Hashem” (see Shemuel II 12:25), outright marries non-Jewish women.
Yedidyah refers to not only friend of Hashem, but to something much more fundamental. It refers to Shlomo HaMelech’s self-perception and self-definition. He does not view himself merely as a servant of Hashem. Rather, he sees himself as Hashem’s partner.
This is a most appropriate self-definition, as is clear from the teachings of Chazal, that one should strive to be a partner of Hashem (see, for example, Shabbat 10a). A partner of Hashem does not merely wish to obey His laws, but fully internalizes and shares Hashem’s goals and objectives. Shlomo HaMelech, as a partner of Hashem, wishes to achieve worldwide recognition of Hashem, as he famously expresses in Melachim I 8:60: “LeMa’an Da’at Kol Amei Ha’Aretz Ki Hashem Hu HaElokim, Ein Od,” “that all the peoples of the earth may know that Hashem alone is God, there is no other.”
As we explained in another chapter, Shlomo HaMelech marries women from highly influential families30See the earlier chapter, “Shlomo HaMelech Marries Bat Paroh.” TABC students countered that there is no evidence that the women he marries are from influential families, other than Bat Paroh. However, if Bat Paroh wishes to marry Shlomo HaMelech, one may reasonably surmise that other prominent families will be eager to do so as well. Moreover, it is difficult to imagine that someone with such enormous ambition as Shlomo HaMelech would marry women who were not from extraordinarily prominent families. The specific mention of Bat Paroh in Melachim I 11:1-2 might be understood as a Binyan Av, paradigm, for the other wives— just as Bat Paroh is from a very prominent family, so too are all the other wives as well. with the dream of influencing these women to recognize Hashem. Once they recognize Hashem, they will share their newfound God with their families, who in turn will influence their various communities to accept Hashem and His basic moral code, the Sheva Mitzvot Bnei Noach (the Seven Noahide Laws). The Messianic vision of “VeHayah Hashem LeMelech Al Kol Ha’Aretz, BaYom HaHu Yiheyeh Hashem Echad Ushmo Echad, “and God will be king over the whole Earth, on that day there will be one Hashem and His name will be one,” (Zecharyah 14:9) will thereby be realized! Thus, Shlomo HaMelech’s marriages to these many foreign women are an expression of his being Yedidyah, friend or partner of Hashem.
Rambam explains that these women underwent a conversion process, and were, technically speaking, Jewish at the time of their respective marriages to Shlomo HaMelech. Thus, we have cleared Shlomo HaMelech of the terrible sin of intermarriage. Rambam’s position is accepted as mainstream Jewish thought, as it is presented as the normative understanding in the Shulchan Aruch in its discussion of Hilchot Geirut (Yoreh De’ah 268), and is cited by Pashtanim including the Metzudat David (Melachim I 3:1), Ralbag, Malbim, and Da’at Mikra.
Of course, the question that emerges is why Melachim I 11:1-2 condemns Shlomo HaMelech for marrying non-Jewish women. Here, Rambam utilizes the interpretive technique of Ma’aleh Alav HaKatuv,31As do Chazal regarding Melachim I 11’s condemnation of Shlomo HaMelech for worshipping Avodah Zarah, as we discuss in the later chapter “Shlomo HaMelech’s Fall.” that Sefer Melachim regards his marriage to these women as the equivalent of his marrying non-Jewish women. This is due to the sub-par conversion undergone by his wives.
Support for Rambam
Da’at Mikra supports Rambam’s assertion from Tehillim 45 (especially 45:11), which describes a foreign princess accepting Hashem as her God upon her marriage to the Jewish king. We suggest that a comparison of Divrei HaYamim and Melachim also may have led Rambam to his conclusion. While Sefer Melachim condemns Shlomo HaMelech as guilty of marrying non-Jewish wives, this sin is not at all recorded in Divrei HaYamim. In this later Sefer, Shlomo HaMelech is presented blemish-free.32As we develop in the chapter, “A Pristine Version of Shlomo HaMelech in Divrei HaYamim.” While his marriage to Bat Paroh is recorded in this Sefer, it is not condemned at all.
Rambam’s approach to Shlomo HaMelech’s marriages might stem from a reconciliation of these two dramatically different presentations of Shlomo HaMelech. Both of these presentations are true. On the one hand, these marriages emerge from noble intent and do not, technically speaking, violate Halachah. On the other hand, these marriages are in fact highly problematic, and therefore should be seen as the equivalent of intermarriage.
Subpar Conversions
Rambam records that the mainstream Batei Din, what he refers to as the Beit Din HaGadol, refused to administer these conversions. Instead, Shlomo HaMelech assembled what Rambam refers to as Hedyotot (ordinary individuals) to convert his wives. We should note that it is to Shlomo HaMelech’s credit that he does not attempt to bully the Beit Din HaGadol into acting in accordance with his agenda. This positive stance stands in stark contrast with other Jewish kings such as Hordus (Bava Batra 3b-4a) and Yannai (Berachot 48a, Kiddushin 66a, and Sanhedrin 19a), who try to bully leading rabbis to buy into their Halachically deviant agendas. One may wonder, though, why the Beit Din HaGadol tolerates the actions of the inferior Hedyot courts. Perhaps they refrain from protesting since, technically speaking, the Hedyotot do not outright facilitate blatant Halachic violations.
The Beit Din HaGadol does not buy into Shlomo HaMelech’s spiritual plan for his wives. They likely regard it (rightfully so, as time eventually painfully reveals) as overly ambitious and unrealistic. Shlomo HaMelech, undeterred by this rejection, locates scholars of lesser stature, who are willing to conduct such conversions. For better or worse, as is well-known, such a situation prevails today as well in the Orthodox world. There are Batei Din that maintain rigorous and high standards for the conversions they administer, and there is also no shortage of Orthodox rabbinic courts that set a much lower bar of admission for converts.
The Hedyotot who convert Shlomo HaMelech’s wives are not equivalent to today’s conservative rabbis. Following the rulings of Rav Moshe Feinstein and Rav Ovadia Yosef, conversions conducted under the auspices of Conservative rabbis enjoy no Halachic validity. The test case that demonstrates this stance of the mainstream Orthodox rabbinate is that if a woman who was married to a man who underwent a Conservative conversion is unable to receive a Get, mainstream Orthodox rabbinic courts will permit her to marry without one.33Ordinarily, a Get is conducted by mainstream Orthodox rabbis even if the conversion was conducted by a non-Orthodox conversion board (as long as the woman immersed in a Mikvah) to avoid the impression that we may permit women to remarry without a Get (“SheLo Yomeru Megarshim Neshoteihem BeLo Klum”). In case of great need, such as the recalcitrance of the divorcing husband, we dispense with this concern. This author heard this explanation from Rav Gedaliah Anemer zt”l of Silver Spring, Maryland in the name of Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky.
Rather, we should Shlomo HaMelech’s wives’ conversions as parallel to the conversions conducted by Orthodox rabbinic courts who do not maintain high standards for their conversions. It is not a simple matter to dismiss such conversions as invalid. For example, if a Jewish woman married a man who was converted by such a Beit Din, and the man refused to give a Get, mainstream rabbinic courts will not readily dismiss the conversion as invalid.34A classic example is Rav Yosef Shalom Eliashiv’s vehement rejection of Rav Shlomo Goren relieving the Mamzeirut status in the famous “Ach Ve’Achot” case, on the basis of invalidating the weak Orthodox conversion of the mother’s first husband. Also see Rav Moshe Feinstein on this issue (Teshuvot Igrot Moshe Even HaEzer 3:4).
Despite the possible technical Halachic admissibility of Shlomo HaMelech’s wives’ conversions, Sefer Melachim makes it clear that such conversions constitute very bad Halachic policy. Unlike Rut, who converts to “seek refuge under Hashem’s wings” (Rut 2:11-12), when someone converts with an alternative motive, the long-term results are likely to be disastrous. This is certainly the case with Shlomo HaMelech’s wives. While they refrain from idolatry for a while, once Shlomo HaMelech ages, Bat Paroh and her co-wives take advantage of his weakness and revert to the idolatry of their youth.
High conversion standards serve the best long-term interest of both the Jewish community and the converts themselves. High conversion standards help pave the way for a life-long embrace of Judaism. When a convert decides after a number of years to revert to the ways of his past, it most often causes a severe disruption in the lives of their spouses and children, not unlike the severe problems that emerge after Shlomo HaMelech’s wives turn their backs on Hashem. While high conversion standards do not guarantee positive future results, they afford the best chances for the creation of a life-long commitment to Torah. In addition, while there have been some cases of spiritual success with those who converted under weak Halachic standards, overwhelming anecdotal evidence demonstrates that the percentage of success is exponentially higher among those who have surpassed more rigorous conversion standards.
Giyur LeChumrah
On occasion, those who have undergone a conversion under weaker Halachic standards (and in the case of female converts, their children), may wish to upgrade their conversions to meet higher standards. This is referred to as Giyur LeChumrah, or a conversion due to stringency. This author was privileged in the summer of 2017 to convene a Beit Din under the auspices of the Beth Din of Elizabeth (with the approval of the Av Beth Din, Rav Elazar Mayer Teitz) to conduct such a ceremony for a mother and her children.
One may surmise that Shlomo HaMelech hopes that the women he converts under the auspices of less than stellar rabbinic courts will grow spiritually, and eventually qualify for Giyur LeChumrah with the Beit Din HaGadol. Alas, this dream is not realized.
Qualification of Teshuvot Dvar Avraham
In an early twentieth century ruling, Rav Avraham Duber Kahana Shapiro (Teshuvot Dvar Avraham 3:28) noted that in the changing circumstances of the East European Jewish community after World War I, when large numbers of Jews tragically began to stray from Torah observance, there was an even greater reason to cast doubt on agenda-driven conversions. In the time of Shlomo HaMelech, when the community’s level of observance was de rigueur, even agenda-driven converts resolved to observe Mitzvot, since this was an expected part of Jewish life. However, one can hardly assume that those who convert to marry a non-observant Jew will observe Mitzvot. If so, the conversion is missing Kabbalat Mitzvot, commitment to observe Mitzvot. This consideration adds yet another reason to adopt high standards for conversion in modern times.
We should note that even in those Batei Din who adopt high standards for conversion, converts who have or intend to have Jewish spouses are not necessarily disqualified. However, they must succeed in convincing the Beit Din that their commitment to Judaism exceeds that of Shlomo HaMelech’s wives and that their level of observance will remain intact even if their romantic relationship with a born Jew falls apart.
Conclusion
Taken at face value, Shlomo HaMelech in Sefer Melachim seems guilty of serial intermarriage. However, we have noted that the matter is far more nuanced and complex. Though his wives technically convert to Judaism, nonetheless, these conversions do not emerge from a spiritually healthy place, never improve, and even deeply deteriorate after their inauspicious start. An honest appraisal of these conversions leads us to conclude that rigorous conversion standards are in everyone’s long-term best interests.