Forced Labor was Used to Build the First Temple?

For parashat Terumah, the Rabbis pair a Torah reading about Terumah, donation from the heart, with the account of Solomon's building of the first Temple, which was done using "mas," forced labor, the customary tax of the time. But wasn't that what was forced on the Israelites in Egypt, and to which much of the Torah is a direct response? Shouldn't we be just a little bit uncomfortable?

You can listen to Forced Labor was Used to Build the First Temple? online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Forced Labor was Used to Build the First Temple? is an episode from Authentic, Compassionate Judaism for the Thinking Person by Rabbi Nadav Caine.

This episode is 6:26 long.

This episode was published on Mar 3, 2026.

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