Musar su I Re 11:4

I must confess that I have been troubled for many years by what happened to king Solomon. How is it possible that a man who is described as having been wiser than anyone (Kings I 5,11) and beloved of his G–d, could become so bereft of wisdom when he became old that he is described in the Book of Kings I 11,4 as having been misled by his wives to follow idols, in particular the cult of "Ashtoret the idol of the Tzidonites and Milkom the abomination of the Ammonites?" Such conduct would be totally incomprehensible if an ordinary Israelite had engaged in it, how much less could one credit such behaviour to the wise king Solomon? Besides, most of the Book of Proverbs authored by Solomon in his prime is devoted to warnings of the wiles of women! Once I reminded myself that the one thousand wives and concubines Solomon is reported as having wed or consorted with were predominantly of non-Jewish descent, the veil was lifted from my eyes. The genuine Kabbalists have said that the total number of levels of impurity leading to the highest level of impurity is one thousand. These levels of impurity are referred to collectively as נכריות, "foreign-born wives." [I believe that Rekanati here deliberately leaves open the question of whether the number one thousand mentioned as the number of Solomon's wives is to be understood allegorically. Ed.] Solomon's very wisdom was the cause that he investigated the significance and influence of all these various levels of the original serpent's pollution. When the Book of Kings describes Solomon of having "walked after Ashtoret the idol of the Tzidonim," it does not say that Solomon served or worshipped such idols. The meaning is that 'he went to investigate the philosophical basis of that cult.' In the process, he became more involved than necessary for the purpose of his investigation. This was accounted a sin on his part. Whereas it was incumbent upon Solomon to understand the nature of that cult, it was wrong of him to develop any kind of attachment to it." Thus far the Rekanati.