We know that some of the Beis Hamikdosh was built with ארז aka cedar wood. But how does this fit with the statement in Taanis that we should strive to be as pliant as a reed and not as firm as a cedar? This statement and the subsequent story of rabbi Shimon seem to cast a negative light on cedar trees, saying that they’re stubborn and lack roots and, symbolically, don’t listen to different opinions and whatnot. So how can a tree like this be used to build the Beis Hamikdosh??
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6Everything has its place ...– ShalomCommented Sep 10, 2023 at 10:34
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8I don't get this question. What does a metaphor for our human traits have to do with top quality building materials? Besides, Shlomo called Hashem בחור כארזים, A youth like cedar trees. Shir Hashirim 5:15.– Harel13Commented Feb 7 at 3:46
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2 Answers
The righteous shall flourish like a date palm, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon
This psalm outranks your Gemara, so the top contenders are date palm and cedar. Had they used date palm, the would have had to chop so many down it would jeopardize the lulav supply so they went with cedar. Also, cedar is rot resistant and repels bugs.
answered Sep 10, 2023 at 2:36
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Although without an explanation it merely shifts the question back, since the authors of the Talmud knew Tehillim– AKACommented Feb 7 at 6:25
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We are familiar with Tehillim today because we say them to beseech God to protect us. The authors of the Talmud received superior protection from their high level Torah study so they didn't need to say Tehillim as often. Commented Jul 16 at 23:16
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1The authors of the Talmud may not have recited Tehillim as we do, but they were familiar with Tanach– AKACommented Jul 18 at 16:46
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Date palm is a woody grass. It's wood is unsuitable for building. It's used in Tehilim because of sweet fruit in abundance which is a metaphor for mitzvos.– Y DJCommented Aug 16 at 12:28
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You can weave it into sheets and build a building out of it. Commented Aug 16 at 12:41
Indeed, Shlomo haMelekh used cedar wood when building a Temple, which he ordered from king Hiram Melakhim A 5:20-25. The specific purpose is described in Melakhim A 6:18-20. Ezra also used cedar trees in building the second Temple, Ezra 3:7.
To understand why, let's recall that in the 3rd blessing of Bil'am B'midbar 24:6 Jewish people are compared to cedars rising over water. Bil'am seeks to compare Jews in the desert with the merit of Abraham who achieved a lofty spiritual status, as stated in Ohr haChaim on Vayikra 14:9
The words ועץ ארז ושני חולעת ואזב, "and the cedar-wood and the scarlet and the hyssop," are allusions to the merits of the three patriarchs. Abraham is represented by the word עץ ארז; He was a man of gigantic spiritual stature. Jacob is represented by the words ושני תולעת, seeing he is called by that "nickname" in Isaiah 41,14 i.e. אל תירא תולעז יעקב, "do not be afraid O worm Jacob;" Isaac is represented by the word אזוב, seeing Isaac symbolises the attribute of גבורה, strength, heroism. The Messiah will have to combine all those attributes within himself.
That is the kind of the cedar meant for the Temple symbolizing an ideal to strive for. As the verse in Melakhim A 20: The gemara in Taanis 20a states:
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: לְעוֹלָם יְהֵא אָדָם רַךְ כְּקָנֶה וְאַל יְהֵא קָשֶׁה כְּאֶרֶז.
The Sages further taught in praise of the reed: A person should always be soft like a reed, and he should not be stiff like a cedar.
It is not talking about greatenes of cedar but a different quality of the cedar wood - its inflexibility. For a person striving to achieve an ideal, inflexibility in the areas of growth is inappropriate. A person achieving an ideal has to show inflexibility at keeping it.
Also the same allusion to inflexibility of cedar can be implied when it forbids using cedar bast for a wick used for Shabbos candles Mishna Shabbos 2:1
בַּמֶּה מַדְלִיקִין וּבַמָּה אֵין מַדְלִיקִין. אֵין מַדְלִיקִין לֹא בְלֶכֶשׁ, וְלֹא בְחֹסֶן, וְלֹא בְכָלָךְ, וְלֹא בִפְתִילַת הָאִידָן, וְלֹא בִפְתִילַת הַמִּדְבָּר, וְלֹא בִירוֹקָה שֶׁעַל פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם.
With what may one light the Shabbat lamp, and with what may one not light it? With regard to types of prohibited wicks, one may light neither with cedar bast [lekhesh], nor with uncombed flax [ḥosen], nor with raw silk [kalakh], nor with willow bast [petilat ha’idan], nor with desert weed [petilat hamidbar], nor with green moss that is on the surface of the water.
The light represents a mitzvah as in Mishlei 6:23:
כִּ֤י נֵ֣ר מִ֭צְוָה וְת֣וֹרָה א֑וֹר וְדֶ֥רֶךְ חַ֝יִּ֗ים תּוֹכְח֥וֹת מוּסָֽר׃
For the commandment is a lamp, the teaching is a light, and the way to life is the rebuke that disciplines.
Doing a mitzvah requires that one be flexible.
