Songs Survive Longer than Smoke

II_Chronicles.7.5-6

“Kingdoms and empires come and go, yet some communities have managed to survive. Their stories demand our attention just as much as, if not more than, the military powers that have long preoccupied Western historians. This book explores how one ancient community, in the aftermath of defeat and devastation, reinvented itself, and in the process, discovered many survival strategies that we take for granted today – and many more that we have yet to learn.”

Jacob Wright, Why the Bible Began

The temple that Solomon built would not last.

No buildings last forever no matter how grand, secure and sacred.

But the essence of their purpose sometimes remains — and one of the main aspects of what made the temple rites so special, often considered marginal, still lives on: The songs of the soul transcend space and time.

One sad day, after centuries of countless animal sacrifices on the temple altar that King Solomon built, the smoke was not seen anymore, and the songs of the Levites were silenced.

The first temple was destroyed by Babylon, and then rebuilt, and then destroyed again, hundreds of years later, by Rome. We mourn those traumas during these midsummer days of grief.

After that second time, the sacrificial system stopped being the central religious ritual of the Jewish people. Torah and prayers would replace that system. But even though that brutal way of honoring the fragility of life and death ended— the other major feature of the temple managed to survive beyond the temple - and still guides our religious and cultural lives today.

Both singing and sacrifices were there for the start of Solomon’s celebration of the sacred space:

וַיִּזְבַּ֞ח הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה֮ אֶת־זֶ֣בַח הַבָּקָר֒ עֶשְׂרִ֤ים וּשְׁנַ֙יִם֙ אֶ֔לֶף וְצֹ֕אן מֵאָ֥ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֖ים אָ֑לֶף וַֽיַּחְנְכוּ֙ אֶת־בֵּ֣ית הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ וְכׇל־הָעָֽם׃ וְהַכֹּהֲנִ֞ים עַל־מִשְׁמְרוֹתָ֣ם עֹמְדִ֗ים וְהַלְוִיִּ֞ם בִּכְלֵי־שִׁ֤יר יְהֹוָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשָׂ֜ה דָּוִ֣יד הַמֶּ֗לֶךְ לְהֹד֤וֹת לַֽיהֹוָה֙ כִּֽי־לְעוֹלָ֣ם חַסְדּ֔וֹ בְּהַלֵּ֥ל דָּוִ֖יד בְּיָדָ֑ם וְהַכֹּֽהֲנִים֙ מַחְצְרִ֣ים נֶגְדָּ֔ם וְכׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל עֹמְדִֽים׃

King Solomon offered as sacrifices 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep; thus the king and all the people dedicated the House of God.

The priests stood at their watches; the Levites with the instruments for YHWH music that King David had made to praise tYHWH “For His steadfast love is eternal,” by means of the psalms of David that they knew. The priests opposite them blew trumpets while all Israel were standing.

II_Chronicles.7.5-6

Over 140,000 (!!) roasted animals later, the temple courtyards must have smelled like the meat market/slaughter house that was so much part of its identity. That’s probably why there was so much incense too.

But from the moment this religious center was open for business - the lasting legacy of Solomon was not just flesh and blood but spirit and song.

David’s psalms and hymns made souls soar higher than the flesh, and the temporary life of every animal was honored with the tempo of the timeless songs. These verses quote one of the more famous psalms, with a soundbite of what this event must have felt like - the contours of continently.

Generations after this experiment in human-divine contact no longer functioned - the songs we sing still echo this moment - and familiar psalms are still heard all over the world. From the rivers of Babylon, Berlin and Brooklyn, throughout the exiles the Jewish people and in multiple languages, liturgies and meditations live on instead of ligaments and smoke.

“Songs are sometimes the last love of the home so far away” wrote one of Israel’s poets, Natan Yonatan. In this poem, written in Hebrew back on the soil of the holy land after generations of exile, the poet echoed one more message from today’s chapter, the final words of YHWH, responding to Solomon’s prayer in the middle of the night.

The Divine reminds the king that everything is temporary - even his royal house and sacred temple. Bad behavior on behalf of the people - immorality, idolatry and injustice will anger the deity and cause the people to be exiled from their land.

And that’s exactly what happened.

And can happen again. The temples came and went, and so did sovereign power. For whatever reasons - all of it can come and go.

But what remains? The word, written and sung, whispered and recited, songs of the spirit, hymns of hurt and hope. We pack them for our journeys, unpack them when we need to come closer to what matters most - in times of trouble and on days of joy.

May we have more of the latter, songs and poems, symphonies and lullabies that offer us consolation and comfort, hope and healing, moral repair and meaningful moments that live on beyond buildings and temples and homes.

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