역대상 17:4 미드라쉬: Pesikta Rabbati, Devarim Rabbah, Vayikra Rabbah & Esther Rabbah

... Teach us, our master, from when does the mitzvah of the Channukah lamp begin? Our rabbis taught – from when the sun sets until the majority of people are gone from the marketplace. And where are they to be lit? If one lives on an upper floor with a window facing the public domain, light there. If it is a time of danger, light within your house [and it is forbidden to do work by its light. R’ Asi said] it is forbidden to see by its light. Why do we light Channukah lamps? When the Hasmonean High Priest defeated the Greeks, as it says “For I bend Judah for Me like a bow; I filled [the hand of] Ephraim, and I will arouse your children, O Zion, upon your children, O Javan; and I will make you as the sword of a mighty man,” (Zechariah 9:13) they entered the Holy Temple. They found there eight iron stakes, fixed them in the ground and lit lamps upon them. Why do we read the Hallel psalms of praise? Because it is written “The Lord is God, and He gave us light.” (Tehillim 118:27) Why don’t we read it on Purim? It is written “…to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish the entire host of every people and province that oppress them…” (Esther 8:11) and we don’t read it except to mark the fall of a kingdom and the kingdom of Ahasuerus still stood. But when the Holy One destroyed the kingdom of Greece they began to sing hymns and praises and to say that in the past we were servants to Pharoah, servants to Greece and now we are servants to the Holy One “Praise, you servants of the Lord…” (Tehillim 113:1) How many channukot (dedications) were there? There were seven. The dedication of heaven and earth, as it says “Now the heavens and the earth were completed…” (Bereshit 2:1) What dedication was there then? “And God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to shed light upon the earth.” (Bereshit 1:17) The dedication of the wall, as it says “And in the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem…” (Nechemiah 12:27) The dedication of those who came up from the exile, as it says “And they offered up for the dedication of this House of God…” (Ezra 6:17) The dedication of the priests, which we light for. The dedication of the world to come, as it says “And it shall come to pass on that day, that I will search Jerusalem with candles…” (Tzephaniah 1:12) The dedication of the princes “This was the dedication offering of the altar…” (Bamidbar 7:84) The dedication of the Sanctuary, which this is speaking of “A psalm; a song of dedication of the House, of David.” (Tehillim 30:1) Another explanation. There are seven channukot. The dedication of the creation of the world, as it is written “Now the heavens and the earth were completed…” (Bereshit 2:1) Completion is the language of dedication, as is written “All the work of the Mishkan of the Tent of Meeting was completed…” (Shemot 39:32) The dedication of Moshe, as it is written “And it was that on the day that Moses finished erecting the Mishkan…” (Bamidbar 7:1) The dedication of the House, as it is written “A psalm; a song of dedication of the House, of David.” (Tehillim 30:1) The dedication of the Second Temple [as it says “And they offered up for the dedication of this House of God…” (Ezra 6:17) and the dedication of the wall] as it says “And in the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem…” (Nechemiah 12:27) The current one of the House of Hasmonean. The dedication of the world to come, because even that has lights, as it is written “And the light of the moon shall be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven-fold as the light of the seven days…” (Isaiah 30:26)

This is what the verse said: “Acting with righteousness and justice is preferable to the Lord, more than an offering” (Proverbs 21:3). “Like an offering” is not written, but “more than an offering.” How is this so? Offerings are sacrificed and practiced only when the Temple is standing, but righteousness and justice are practiced when the Temple is standing and when the Temple is not standing. Another matter, offerings atone only for unwitting sinners, but righteousness and justice atone for both unwitting and intentional sinners. Another matter, offerings are practiced only in the lower worlds; righteousness and justice are practiced both in the upper worlds⁴In Heaven. and in the lower worlds. Another matter, offerings are practiced only in this world, but righteousness and justice are practiced both in this world and in the World to Come.
Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: When the Holy One blessed be He said to Natan: “Go and say to David My servant: So says the Lord: It will not be you who will build for Me a house in which to dwell, for I have not dwelled in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, I have been [going] from one tent or another, and from a Tabernacle” (I Chronicles 17:4–5). Anyone who sought to curse David, what would he say? ‘It would be good if the Temple would be built.’⁵That could happen only if David were to die. You may know this is so, for what did David say? ‘“I rejoiced when they said to me: Let us go to the House of the Lord” (Psalms 122:1)⁶Despite their attempts to provoke me, I rejoiced when I thought about going to the House of the Lord. – they seek to taunt me, saying: You will not build it.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘By your life [I swear], I will not deduct even one moment from your life.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “When your days are completed and you lie with your fathers, I will establish after you your offspring, who will emerge from your loins, and I will establish his kingdom” (II Samuel 7:12). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘The righteousness and justice that you practice are more beloved to Me than the Temple.’ From where is this derived? It is as it is stated: “David performed justice and righteousness [for his entire people]” (II Samuel 8:15). What is meant by “justice and righteousness for his entire people”?⁷Righteousness (tzedaka) connotes acting with kindness, which would seem to be the opposite of strict justice. Rabbi Yehuda and Rav Naḥman, one said: He would adjudicate a judgment, acquit the innocent party and condemn the guilty party, and if the guilty party did not have the means to pay [what the court had ordered], David would pay from his own money. That is “justice and righteousness.” Rav Naḥman said to him: If so, you would be encouraging Israel to engage in deception.⁸A poor man could conspire with another person to bring a suit to court, just to get money from David. What, then, is meant by “justice and righteousness”? He would adjudicate a judgment, acquit the innocent party and condemn the guilty party – that itself is “justice and righteousness,” as [in doing so] he removes the stolen money from his [the guilty one’s] possession.⁹In this manner, David was actually doing a favor for the guilty party by ordering him to pay. The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘My children, since justice is so beloved before Me, be careful with it.’

... Another explanation. “And all the work that king Solomon had wrought in the house of the Lord was finished.” (Melachim I 7:51) What does ‘all the work’ mean? It was built by itself, rising and floating up – thus it does not say when the house was built, but rather “And the house, when it was in building…” (Melachim I 6:7) “…was built of stone finished at the quarry (masa)…” (ibid.) What does ‘finished at the quarry’ (masa nivne) mean? R’ Brechia said: the stone picked itself up (nosah atzma), rose up and was built by itself. This is what Shlomo said in his song “I have surely built You a house to dwell in…” (Melachim I 8:13) He says ‘I have surely built’, meaning ‘I built a building and the stones rose up and flew into place themselves’. If you are shocked that the Holy One would do such a thing for a single righteous person, “And a stone was brought and placed on the mouth of the pit…” (Daniel 6:18) And where did they get a rock in Bavel? Our Rabbis said that it rolled all the way from the land of Israel and came in an instant. So if the Holy One did such a thing for flesh and blood, are you surprised that He would do so for the building of a house to the Holy One?