In this chapter, the psalmist pleads with the gates to open up before God:

"שְׂאוּ שְׁעָרִים רָאשֵׁיכֶם, וְהִנָּשְׂאוּ פִּתְחֵי עוֹלָם; וְיָבוֹא מֶלֶךְ הַכָּבוֹד. מִי זֶה מֶלֶךְ הַכָּבוֹד, ה' עִזּוּז וְגִבּוֹר, ה' גִּבּוֹר מִלְחָמָה. שְׂאוּ שְׁעָרִים רָאשֵׁיכֶם, וּשְׂאוּ פִּתְחֵי עוֹלָם, וְיָבֹא מֶלֶךְ הַכָּבוֹד. מִי הוּא זֶה, מֶלֶךְ הַכָּבוֹד: ה' צְבָאוֹת — הוּא מֶלֶךְ הַכָּבוֹד סֶלָה." (תהילים כ"ד:ז-י)

"Lift up your heads, gates, and let the entrances of the world be uplifted. Let the King of Glory enter. Who is this King of Glory? God, strong and mighty; God, mighty in battle.

"Lift up your heads, gates; lift up, entrances of the world. Let the King of Glory enter. Who is He, this King of Glory? God of Hosts, He is the King of Glory." (Ps. 24:7-10)

What exactly are these gates and 'entrances of the world' that refuse to open? Why is the request repeated? And why does the psalm describe God first as a mighty Warrior in battle, and later as the 'God of Hosts'?

According to the Talmud, it was King Solomon who pleaded with the gates. Having completed the holy Temple, the last step was to bring the Holy Ark (aron) into the Holy of Holies. But the Temple gates refused to open up!

What does this Midrash mean? Why did the Temple gates disobey Solomon?

Placing the Ark inside the Holy of Holies was the culmination of building the Temple. Rav Kook explained that Solomon's difficulties in completing the Temple signified that the Jewish people were not spiritually ready for the Temple and its positive influence on the entire world.

Divine service is based on those human faculties through which the soul receives the divine light. Like prayer, most aspects of the Temple service correspond to our emotional and imaginative powers.

These emotions, however, need to be governed by the mind and the intellect. Thus the Temple was completed with the placement of the Ark — containing the Torah, the source of enlightenment and reason for the world.

When a person has not perfected himself, there is a rift between his mind and his emotions. Intellectually, one may understand the correct path, but the heart and desires are not fully controlled by the mind. The disparity, if not corrected, will eventually lead to a spiritual decline.

This dissonance can also exist on the national level. The people at that time had not reached spiritual perfection. Their lofty state was only temporary. In the depths of their collective souls already lay the seeds of corruption that would later cause the Temple's destruction.

The Temple gates' refusal to accept the Ark is a metaphor for this lack of readiness. The people's emotions were not thoroughly pure; they had not sufficiently developed their powers of reasoning. They had not analyzed the details and clarified the paths needed to guide the heart and its desires.

King Solomon sought a way to bring the Ark and the Temple together, a method to unite the mind and the heart. Usually, the pure intellect aspires to benefit all peoples, without differentiating between nationalities. It is the heart that feels an emotional attachment to one's people, and seeks its success in particular. Yet with regard to the Jewish people, these two desires do not conflict. Honor and respect accorded to Israel leads to universal recognition of God and the ideals of the Torah, so that the entire world benefits through the resulting enlightenment.

Solomon turned to the Temple gates, guarding the national interests of Israel. "Lift your heads!" "Open up, and let God enter!" When the gates of Israel open up, the "entrances of the world" will also open. The heart, full of love and concern for the Jewish people, will then complement the intellect, aspiring to benefit the entire world.

The Temple is a source of universal enlightenment, a "house of prayer for all the nations." There are two ways in which Israel can influence the world; King Solomon alluded to both in his pleas.

At a time when many forces in the world oppose the Jewish people and the Torah, we can identify the overall progress towards the ultimate goal by recognizing God's power and strength when protecting His people. The unique story of a people surviving (and outlasting) many powerful nations who sought to subjugate and destroy it throughout the ages, reflects formidable divine providence and intervention in the history of the nations.

Not only did Israel survive the centuries, but often succeeded in subduing other nations, enabling the world to recognize the nobility of its Torah and divine ideals. The unique survival of Israel throughout centuries of hostility and warfare reflects the divine attribute of strength and might. "God is mighty in battle." 

There exists a second, gentler method by which Israel influences the world. Not in the uproar of battle, but in the "still, small voice." Slowly, quietly, the holiness spreads from the enlightened source of Israel. The 'entrances of the world' are not forcibly opened by the gates of Jerusalem, the city of peace. They lift themselves up.

Each nation will rise to the sublime goal, but the foundation of truth will correspond to its own predisposition. The ethical hues will be numerous and varied, as each nation accepts the imprint of Torah on the foundation of its natural tendencies. The Holy King will be revealed as the "God of Hosts," the Lord of many diverse peoples. Each nation strives towards its own sublime goal, but together they unite towards the one universal goal, in accordance with the divine will of their Creator.

(adapted from Ein Eyah vol. III: pp. 83-85 on Shabbat 30)

Copyright © 2006 by Chanan Morrison