A 16-year-old sleeps until ten — and that's enough to be tied to a pillar and receive a beating with a sandal? The Gemara (Talmud) tells the story, and the Midrash (homiletic teachings) does not soften it. Bathsheba did not only dream of a God-fearing son; she made vows and sacrificed herself before King David so that Solomon would be a worthy king for Israel, and she did not intend to give up on her son, Solomon. What is the boundary between a mother's vision and demanding education? This article does not come only to educate — it comes to scream, to ask, and to awaken us to uncompromising attention to our children's education.

The Daily Strengthening from the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a - Tuesday, 19 Tammuz 5785

¹When Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh (Midrash Mishlei 31), it was night and the Tamid (daily sacrifice) was offered at four hours [into the day]. What is 4 hours? That Solomon once slept until 10 AM.

So, does he need to be beaten for this? If a child sleeps until 10 (should he be given a beating for it)?

The Rav asks Rabbi Nachman who is beside him: Did you ever give a beating to your child?

You never gave a beating to your child in your life! So why does Bathsheba give her child a murderous beating?

It is written in the Gemara ²Sanhedrin (page 70b) that Bathsheba broke Solomon's bones; she beat him with a sandal. I went to the welfare office and complained; I couldn't see this—beating a child? So what if he continues to sleep until 10?

The Rav asks one of the participants of the lesson: Until what hour do you sleep?

Until 7.

It’s impossible to understand this, such a sweet little 16-year-old boy (to beat him?), so he slept once for four hours [past the time], it happened once in a lifetime. If it happened a second time, fine, but once in a lifetime? To give murderous blows? To break his bones?

This teaches that his mother forced him against the pillar... "which his mother disciplined him." Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai: This teaches that his mother forced him against the pillar. A 16-year-old boy is tied to a pillar? This isn't education! This isn't how you educate! She tied him to the pillar and said to him, "What, my son? And what, the son of my womb?" (Proverbs 31:2). I vowed that you would be God-fearing, that you would wake up for prayer. Everyone made vows that they would have a son worthy of the kingdom, but I vowed that I would have a son worthy of prayer and Torah. I entered and pushed myself (before King David so that I would have) a son who is diligent and clarified.

Because if the son is diligent, then the son is sent to learn Torah. Meaning, if there is a father and a son and the son is sharper and more diligent than the father, then the son is sent to learn Torah before the father. But, if the son sits at Nechama's bakery all day—and this is what happened to Yanky, who ate at Nechama's and returned home after half a year, he learned nothing, he was at Nechama's and ate cakes all day. The father said to him: You stay and support the house, because in the past there weren't kollels (institutes for full-time Torah study) like today; one would learn and one would provide.

There are ten brothers; nine provide, nine learn. In short, the mother said to him: You were at Nechama's all month, so now sit at home and I will go now.

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1. "The words of Lemuel, king of Massa, which his mother disciplined him" (Proverbs 31:1) - Rabbi Yochanan said: This teaches that his mother bent him over the pillar and said to him: (Proverbs 31:2): "What, my son? And what, the son of my womb? And what, the son of my vows?" - You are a son whom I vowed to Hashem - (Proverbs 31:3): "Do not give your strength to women" - Why? So they do not weaken you and steal your mind. (Proverbs 31:4): "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes to crave strong drink," (Proverbs 31:5): "Lest he drink and forget the law (mechokak), and pervert the justice of any of the afflicted" - What is 'mechokak'? Rabbi Simon said: These are the words of Torah, as it is said (Exodus 32:15): "written on both sides." Another explanation for "the discipline which his mother taught him" - Rabbi Ishmael said: On that same night that Solomon completed the Holy Temple, he married Pharaoh's daughter, and there was rejoicing and joy in the Temple, and the rejoicing of Pharaoh's daughter rose above the rejoicing of the Temple. This is as the proverb says, "The whole world flatters the king." At that moment, the thought arose before Hashem to destroy it, as it says (Jeremiah 32:31): "For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My fury..." And Rabbi Levi said: Regarding the morning Tamid (daily sacrifice) which was offered at four hours. How did Pharaoh's daughter do it? She spread a kind of canopy [above his bed], and fixed in it a kind of stars and constellations. Whenever Solomon wanted to get up, he would see the stars and constellations, and he would sleep until four hours. Rabbi Levi said: On that day, the Tamid was offered at four hours. [And regarding that hour we learned: It happened that the morning Tamid was offered at four hours, and Israel was distressed, for it was the day of the Temple's dedication, and they could not perform the service because Solomon was sleeping, and they were afraid to wake him because of the awe of the kingdom. They went and informed Bathsheba his mother, and she went and woke him and rebuked him, as it is written: "the discipline which his mother taught him."]
2. (Sanhedrin 70b) "The words of Lemuel, king of Massa, which his mother disciplined him" - Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai: This teaches that his mother forced him against the pillar and said to him: "What, my son? And what, the son of my womb? And what, the son of my vows?" "What, my son?" Everyone knows that your father was God-fearing; now they will say his mother caused him [to be otherwise]. "What, the son of my womb?" All the women of your father's house, as soon as they become pregnant, no longer see the king's face, but I pushed and entered so that I would have a son who is diligent and clarified. "What, the son of my vows?" All the women of your father's house were vowing, "May I have a son worthy of the kingdom," but I vowed and said, "May I have a son who is diligent and filled with Torah and worthy of prophecy." "It is not for kings, Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine" - She said to him: What do you have to do with kings who drink wine and become intoxicated and say, "Why do we need God?" "Nor for princes to crave strong drink" - Should he to whom all the secrets (razei) of the world are revealed drink wine and become intoxicated? Some say: Should he for whom all the princes (roznai) of the world rise early at his door drink wine and become intoxicated?