According to the Torah, Solomon was one of the great kings of Israel. Torah says that Solomon was unmatched in his wisdom and understanding. Yet for all his power, wealth, wisdom and knowledge that he possessed, Solomon had a major flaw: his weakness for women. By intermarriage and his disobedience of God, Solomon became weak and ultimately women, and more specifically foreign women, were responsible for his downfall and the Kingdom of Israel being split into two.
Solomon was the son of King David. Before King David dies, he appoints Solomon as the new King of Israel at the age of 12. The Torah has a record of what King David tells his son, in 1st Kings 2:2-3: "I go the way of all the earth. You shall be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes and His commandments and His testimonies. As it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn."
Not long after Solomon is appointed King of Israel, God appears to Solomon in a dream. He asks Solomon if there is anything he wishes to have, to which Solomon replies: “You have shown great lovingkindness to Your
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In Deuteronomy, Moses warned against having too many wives. Moses said, "He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.” To try and understand how many is too many one must look to the commentaries. Rashi, who was a great Rabbi and scholar, is a great source for figuring out this question. Rashi says that this means no more than 18 wives: “And he shall not take many wives for himself: Only eighteen, for we find that David had six wives, and it was told to him [by Nathan the prophet] (II Sam. 12:8): “and if this is too little, I would add for you like them and like them” [totaling