EE & R, 2_13: Knowing Hashem: The Temple Yaakov Didn’t Build

(For the previous installment of "Exodus, Exile and Redemption," click here. For ToC, click here.)

Yaakov’s journey on the Path to Knowledge was fraught with challenges. Having failed to embrace the divine invitation to know Hashem extended in the revelation “I am Hashem” (Genesis 28:13), he became uncertain of the protection such knowledge would surely bring: “Behold, I am with you, and I will protect you everywhere you go” (ibid., 15). Yaakov feared his brother Esau out of concern that sin might cause the great promise of Hashem to be revoked.¹ This hesitation to trust Hashem’s promise mirrored another unfulfilled commitment: Yaakov’s own promise to construct a Temple for Hashem.

Yaakov made a vow upon awakening from his prophetic dream. He said:

If God will be with me and guard me on this way that I am going and give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and I return safely to my father’s house, then Hashem will be my God, and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give you a tenth. (ibid., 20-22)

Yet, despite his safe return to his father’s house, we don’t find Yaakov establishing a house for God. Why not?

Fast forward about 700 years to King David’s speech at the founding of the Holy Temple building project. Here, we find clues explaining why Yaakov, despite being the original promisor, did not undertake the building of God’s house. As we shall see, the key lies in Yaakov's conduct – particularly in his acts of subtle deception. The same conduct that hindered his full comprehension of Hashem also rendered him unfit to fulfill his vow of building the Temple.

David said:

Blessed are you, Hashem, God of our ancestor Yisrael… And wealth and honor come from You… For all things are from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You…  all this abundance that we have readied to build You a house for Your holy name is from Your hand and belongs to You. And I know, my God, that You examine the heart and are pleased with uprightness (meisharim). I, in the uprightness (yosher) of my heart, have willingly offered all these things, and now Your people who are here I have seen giving joyfully and willingly to You. Hashem, God of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yisrael our fathers, keep this forever as the inclination of the thoughts of the heart of Your people, and confirm their hearts toward You. And to Shlomo my son give a whole heart… (1 Chronicles 29:10-19)

David, evoking the legacy of his forebear Yisrael, defined the attitude toward wealth that must underpin the financing of the Temple. Wealth comes from Hashem, to Whom we can only give back; and the money offered to Him, Who examines hearts and desires uprightness, must be given with an upright heart. This forms the essential foundation for any contribution to Hashem’s house.

Yaakov, too, declared that he would give back to Hashem from what Hashem gives to him. However, he proved unable to do so with an upright heart – the precondition for building Hashem a house. As discussed (here), Yaakov didn’t conduct himself with perfect uprightness: Before transforming into Yisrael, he did not yet embody yosher; his path was marked by complexity and a certain moral crookedness. The wealth amassed through Yaakov’s ethically ambiguous dealings with Laban was unsuitable for use in the sacred project of building Hashem’s Temple.

The house of Hashem must be founded on knowledge of Hashem, for there is no place in the world for Him but where He is known.² Without attaining the promise of “I am Hashem,” Yaakov couldn’t fulfill his own promise; the Temple project had to wait for David, who would offer his wealth with an upright heart.

What became of the wealth Yaakov had consecrated for the Temple project? He gave it to Esau as a bribe, as Chazal say:

The angel said to him: “Didn’t you say to me – ‘Of all that You give me I will surely give you a tenth’?” What did Yaakov do? He took all the cattle in his possession… and he gave a tithe of them… When Yaakov passed to come into the land of Canaan, Esau came to him from Mount Seir in violent anger, contriving to slay him… Yaakov took all the tithe of his possessions and sent it by the hand of his servants, and gave it to Esau… The Holy, blessed be He, said to him: “Yaakov! That which was holy you have made profane?” He replied to Him: “Master of all worlds! I flatter the wicked, so that he should not slay me” … The Holy, blessed be He, said to him: “Yaakov! Is it not enough for you that you have made profane that which is holy? … By your life! It shall be according to your words: He shall rule over you in this world”…³

The holy funds were desecrated, being utilized as a bribe to appease the enraged Esau. Two interrelated consequences resulted from Yaakov’s failure to attain true Knowledge: First, his tainted wealth was unfit for use in the Temple he had vowed to build. Second, his lack of spiritual insight eroded his confidence in Hashem’s promised protection, resulting in him fearing the wicked Esau, to whom he dispensed the tainted wealth.

(For the next installment of "Exodus, Exile and Redemption," click here.)

1. As explained here.

2. A deeper understanding of this will be presented in the next chapter.

3. Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer, chapter 37.