Julian Ungar-Sargon

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Daf Ditty

A wide-ranging commentary on the daily page of Talmud.

Moed Katan 9: Solomon's Closed Gates

jyungar January 21, 2022

For the source text click/tap here: Moed Katan 9

To download, click/tap here: PDF

Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: When King Solomon sought to bring the Ark into the Temple the gates clung together and could not be opened. Solomon uttered twenty-four songs of praise, yet his prayer was not answered.

He then recited a verse invoking the merits of his father Dovid "remember the good deeds of David Thy servant." Upon witnessing this phenomenon, the enemies of Dovid were humiliated, and the Jewish People knew that Hashem had forgiven Dovid for the sin of Bathsheba, and the gates finally opened.

This stunning aggadah of the resistance of the Temple gates and the King's access to the structure he tirelessly built, points to the rabbinic imaginative guilt for the sin of Dovid Hamelech and how his indiscretion haunted his son's completion of the Beis Hamikdash's inauguration.

We explore some interesting recent archeological finds regarding the Temple doors, as well as Newton's obsession with the Temple Architecture .

Newton's interest in the Temple was fueled, in part, by his belief that the Temple would serve as the "site of revelation" for the apocalypse.

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Julian Ungar-Sargon

This is Julian Ungar-Sargon's personal website. It contains poems, essays, and podcasts for the spiritual seeker and interdisciplinary aficionado.​