Solomon Kohan

From the Quicksilver Metaweb.

Jewish mystic, perhaps a Cabbalist, who worked for the Russian king Peter. He helped in transport of the Solomonic Gold, and gave Daniel Waterhouse a ring of the same.

He is apparently another member of Eruditorum, and implies that he is another long lifer, like Enoch. Given his name, i.e. Kohan being the family of the priest-kings of ancient Israel, the implication is that he is King Solomon. Given the properties of long life and healing associated with use of the Solomonic Gold, it seems that King Solomon would have been an obvious person to benefit from these properties.

King Solomon (970-?928? BCE)

Solomon's reign was marked by a constant tension between two conflicting orientations: faithfulness to the God of Israel and fulfillment of the Judaic religious precepts, against pervasive foreign influences that penetrated the kingdom as a result of the obligations imposed by the grandiose nature of the kingdom.

On the summit of Mount Moriah Solomon built a magnificent Temple dedicated to the God of the Israelites, a project which his father King David had not undertaken for various reasons. The exclusive concentration of religious ritual in the Temple, together with the institutionalization of the biblical injunction regarding the pilgrimage festivals, transformed Jerusalem - despite its unpromising natural features - into an important political and commercial center during Solomon's reign.

The resplendent Temple was an expression of the power that resided in Solomon's kingdom and of its beneficent foreign relations. Upon the completion of King Solomon's Temple, famed for its sumptuous splendor, the Ark of the Covenant was placed within its confines. The monumental sanctuary received the symbolic affirmation of the God to whom it was dedicated: "the priests came out of the sanctuary for the cloud had filled the House ofthe Lord and the priests were not able to remain and perform the service because of the cloud, for the Presence of the Lord filled the House of the Lord... "(1 Kings 8:11).

The site was claimed to be the "navel of the world". At the summit of Mount Moriah, traditionally, is the "Foundation Stone", the symbolic fundament of the world's creation, and reputedly the site of the Temple's Holy of Holies, the supreme embodiment of the relationship between God and the people of Israel. This is apparently a parallel of the Egyptian concept of the Ben Ben Stone, which was the first land in the Sea of the World, and which is symbolized in Egypt by the Pyramid. It is also said to be the location where Abraham went to sacrifice his son at God's command, and was the holy site of El Elyon, the god of Melchizedek, king of Salem, so the locations status as a holy site dates back at least to the migration of Abraham out of Sumeria.

Solomon also experienced a divine revelation in the form of a vision following the conclusion of the dedicatory service: "I have heard the prayer and the supplication which you have offered to Me. I consecrate this House which you have built and I set Myname there forever "(1 Kings 9:3). The concentration of religious ritual in the Temple, together with the institutionalization of the biblical injunction regarding the pilgrimage festivals, transformed Jerusalem - despite its unpromising natural features - into an important political and commercial center during Solomon sreign.

At the same time, the king's earthly imperial rule involved him in the affairs of the surrounding peoples: "Solomon allied himself by marriage with Pharaohking of Egypt. He married Pharaoh's daughter and brought her to the City of David" (1 Kings 3:1), and built her a palace (1 Kings 7:8). This unique historical evidence of an Egyptian princess leaving her country attests both to Solomon spower and Egypt's temporary weakness.

However, this marriage, and others he made with high-born foreigners for political expediency, inclined the king to the culture and religion of those peoples, causing him to neglect his own God: "At that time Solomon built a shrine for Chemosh the abomination of Moab on the hill near Jerusalem, and one for Moloch the abomination of the Ammonites. And he did the same forall his foreign wives who offered and sacrificed to their gods" (1 Kings 11:7-8).

Astrong impression was also made by the foreign dignitaries who visited Jerusalem, of whom the most famous is probably the Queen of Sheba. She had "heard of Solomon's fame, through the name of the Lord, and she came to test him with hard questions.She arrived in Jerusalem with a very large retinue, with camels bearing spices, a great quantity of gold, and precious stones" (1 Kings 10:1-2).

Maintaining the excessive splendor necessitated the useof forced labor on a vast scale (1 Kings 5:28). This, and the many palaces that Solomon built in the "miloh", the area that he prepared for this purpose on the slopes of Mount Moriah, including the palace for Pharaoh's daughter, turned the people against him"(1 Kings 12:3).

At a spiritual level, the pagan rituals that flourished at his encouragement seemed to dull the divine luster of his monarchy: "And the Lord said to Solomon, Because you are guilty of this - you have not kept My covenant and the laws which I enjoined upon you - I will tear the kingdom away from you... But, for the sake of your father David, I will not do it in your lifetime; I will tear it away from your son..I will give your son one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen." " (1 Kings 11:9-13). The united imperial kingdom of David and Solomon endured for only two generations. Around Solomon there sprang up the myth of extraordinary kingly splendor and superhuman wisdom.

Solomon dies at age 52 in 796 BCE, ruling as king for 40 years -- the best years in all of Israel's history. He is known as chacham mi'kol ha'adam, "wisest of all the men." The Bible relates that kings from all over the world came to hear his wisdom, which included not only Torah wisdom, but also wisdom in secular knowledge and science.

His fame spread through all the surrounding nations. He composed 3,000 parables, and 1,005 poems. He discoursed about trees, from the cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows from the wall. He also discoursed about animals, birds, creeping things and fish. Men of all nations came to hear Solomon's wisdom, as did all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom. (1 Kings 5:11-14)

The Kohanim

In the times of the Holy Temple, the heredital status was something that was proudly preserved by the Kohanim, the priestly families. The Kohanim had the responsibility of conducting the service in God's temple, and acting as spiritual leaders of the people.

Since the Temple's destruction, however, the opportunities available for Kohanim to serve the nation have diminished considerably. In fact, nowadays, the only time a Kohen really fulfills this role is in performing a Pidyon HaBen, and reciting the priestly blessing:

"May God bless you and keep you. May God shine his countenance upon you and be gracious to you. May God raise his countenance upon you and give you peace."

The Ohr HaChaim explains the first verse to mean that the quantity of success bestowed upon you should be so great that it needs special guarding. The second verse is a blessing that we should be very close to God, and be infused with the drive to do good. The final verse affirms the hope that all impediments we have caused in our relationship with God should be put aside, and that we should attain true peace through our wholeness with God.

Today, it has become the custom for parents to use these beautiful words to bless their children every Friday night at the Shabbat table.

It is perhaps not coincidental that the oldest archaeological discovery of a biblical verse were the words of the priestly blessing found on an amulet, dating back 2,500 years.

In practice today, this blessing is recited by the Kohanim at the daily morning service in Israel, and on holidays in the Diaspora. (Sefardi Jews say the blessing every day even in the Diaspora.)

The actual procedure of the priestly blessing, however, involves more than the simple utterance of words. Indeed, in Jewish mystical tradition, the positioning of the Kohen's hands during the blessing is as important as the words themselves. The fingers of the Kohen are actually aligned in such away as to represent God's ineffable name. Moreover, the right hand (which represents kindness) is to be slightly elevated above the left hand (representing judgment). All this is designed to draw God's presence down upon the congregation.

The blessing's effect is not limited to the congregation, however. The priestly blessing contains sixty letters, which represents the 60 myriads (600,000 people) who stood at Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah. These correspond to the 600,000 prototype souls that were said to exist in creation. When the Kohanim recite the blessing -- with 60 letters -- then blessing is brought upon every Jew.