Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim:
I Kings 11:2: “Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel; You shall not go in to them neither shall they come in unto you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their god. Solomon clave unto those in love.”
Yesterday in a Bible Study we looked at this verse. The last phrase caught my interest. “Solomon clave unto those in love.” In English what caught my eye was the word love. Because Solomon loved foreign women his heart was turned away from God. In Hebrew what caught my attention was the word “clave.” In the Hebrew this word is “devak” It is where we get the word “Devekut.” Devekut is often used to express the ultimate in closeness to God. When one enters into a Devekut with God he is joining his whole heart, his being, his desires and intentions with God and becomes one with God in purpose, desire and expression. His heart and the heart of God becomes one. There have been reports in history of rabbis who have entered into this deep meditation and closeness to God and have died while in this state. They call it the kiss of God. It is believed to be the state Enoch was in when he was taken to heaven. He was so close to God that he did not want to move away, so God just brought him into his eternal state.
This is the same word used in Genesis 2:24 where we learn that a man shall leave “cleave” to his wife and they become one flesh. However Scripture makes it clear that this devekut is to only be shared with a woman who is one in spirit with her husband and worship the same God. A man was created to share this “devekut” this intimate closeness with only his wife who worshipped God and with God Himself. When a man and woman enters into a devekut together or intimacy together, God must be a part of this intimacy. They are of so like mind in their relationship with God, that God becomes a natural part of that relationship. This is meant to make the relationship special, something that can only be shared with one person and God. Yet, here in I Kings 11:2 Solomon shared this with 1,000 women. He shared something that was only meant to be shared with God and the one woman that God created for him.
Not only did he share this with many women, but it was also the women he shared it with that created the rift between him and God. These were foreign women who worshipped pagan gods. If Solomon became “one” with them they were to become “one ’ with his god or he would become “one” with their god. The Bible tells us that it was the latter.
Last night during the study I tried to look at Devekut esoterically. The word is spelled Daleth, Beth, Qof. I knew the Daleth represented a doorway to the Beth or the heart as Beth represents, but I could not remember what the “Qof represented. Try as I might I could not remember the meaning behind “Qof” even after the Hebrew Alphabet had been an imtimate part of my life for the last 40 years.
I went to bed last night very disturbed over my lack of recall and fearful that dementia was setting in. In the middle of the night I felt something on my chest. I looked up and saw Qof dancing on my chest. He was singing a song:
You do not know my name
How could you not, Oy Vy
To not know, for shame
My name from God it came
And yet it is so tame.
That my name will bring no fame,
But you can guess my name just the same.
I reach out to grab Qof and he just jumped off my chest taunting me. I jump out of bed and grab hold of Qof with both hands. I hear a little squeak and a weak voice say: “I am so fragile and yet Christians are so rough. I break easy, and a Christian’s disregard of me makes my stomach queasy.” “Just tell me your name and let’s make this easy.“ I reply. “Good grief” I declare, “You have me talking like you.“ I began to squeeze Qof harder demanding he tell me his name when he said in a strained, weak voice: “I’m, must separate myself from you.” Suddenly there was a cloud of smoke and he was gone. But instead of the word “Poof!” appearing in the smoke, I saw the word: “Kodesh” which means separate or holy.
Qof’s name is holiness. Devekut or Daleth, Beth Qof means a doorway (Daleth) of the heart (Beth) which leads to holiness (Qof) or Qof’s shadow which is to project our unholiness upon others or allow their unholiness to project upon us. Solomon by “cleaving” (Devekut) to foreign women caused them to project their unholiness upon him, turning him away from God.
Devekut not only is projected on God, but it can be projected on a lover, money (the love of money is the root of evil) upon our job, our investments, our hobbies and even the spiritual image we attempt to portray. All these will turn our hearts away from God and cause us to separate ourselves from God.
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