Musar for Song of Songs 1:18

When sufferings of chastisement come upon a person, he returns to the good. As the sages interpreted the Song of Songs, "Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, and pleasant" - even when You bring upon me sufferings of chastisement, it is pleasant. Why? Because You return me thus to the good. Human repentance is never complete without suffering. Repentance is improving one's actions and character. It is not fasting and wearing sackcloth and wallowing in the dust and immersing in water while remaining soiled on the inside with sins and evil thoughts. And so said the prophet (Isaiah 58): "Do you call that a fast, A day when the LORD is favorable?" "No, this is the fast I desire: To unlock fetters of wickedness, And untie the cords of the yoke." [...] The intent of the Torah is that one should first cleanse oneself on the inside, casting out from one's heart the impurities of sin, and then return what one has taken unfairly or by violence, and ask forgiveness from one's friend. After immersing one's heart inwardly and doing all kinds of purification and cleansing oneself from sin, one should purify oneself also outwardly by fasting and immersing the body, and so on...

Our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, also said (Avodah Zarah 35a) that [the understanding of the verse] (Song of Songs 1:2), “For your love (dodekha) is better than wine” is [that] the statements of the Scribes are more beloved than the wine of the Torah. And we need to explain this also: You should surely know that the fear of God is the foundation of the commandments, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 10:12), “And now, O Israel, what does the Lord, your God, ask of you, other than to fear the Lord, your God.” And through this, God desires His creatures, as it is stated (Psalms 147:11), “The Lord desires those who fear Him.” And the ordinances of the Sages, and their decrees are the foundation of fear [of God]. For it makes a fence and a separation, lest the hand of a man [even] touch a Torah prohibition. [This is] like the owner of a field that makes a fence for his field since it is precious in his eyes. For he is afraid lest people enter it and it become a place to send oxen and for sheep to trample, like the matter that is stated (Leviticus 18:30), “You shall keep My guarding” - make a guarding for my guarding (Yevamot 21a). And is much carefulness, the fence and the separation from the prohibition not from the essence of fear? And one who augments his carefulness will reach great reward, like the matter that is stated, (Psalms 19:12), “Also Your servant pays them heed; in obeying them, there is much reward.” Therefore they said [that] the statements of the Scribes are more beloved than the wine of the Torah. For their fences and decrees are from the foundations of fear [of God]. And the reward for the commandment of fear is great in comparison to many [Torah] commandments, as it is the foundation for them. And the example for this thing is that one who is careful not to isolate himself with a woman, from his fear lest he stumble into iniquity - and like our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, decreed - is this not because the light of the fear of God, may He be blessed, shone upon his soul?

Since there are so many difficulties in this whole legislation, there seems little point in listing another question. However, permission has been granted to try and understand to the extent that it is possible. Rabbi Moshe Hadarshan, whose words Rashi quotes, proves that Moses himself had said: "I wished to become wise, but it has remained far from me" i.e. והיא רחוקה ממני (Kohelet 7,23). It is interesting that he had not said: "I did not acquire wisdom, i.e. לא חכמתי." What is meant is that though study of that subject results in successively better appreciation of the many allusions contained in the text, the essential logic keeps eluding the scholar who delves into it. We read words similar to those quoted in the name of Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan by Rabbi Yitzchak in Bamidbar Rabbah 3, who concludes his commentary by saying that Solomon was satisfied that he had a thorough understanding of the entire Torah except for this portion. He quotes Solomon as saying that he had been studying and examining this portion without penetrating to its essence. This was in contrast to the rest of the Torah, which he felt he thoroughly understood. In view of what others have done, I too will make whatever little contribution I can to the better understanding of our פרשה.

I shall copy what I have said on a verse in the Song of Songs, and then we shall return to our subject. (Song of Songs 1:7): "Tell me, You whom my soul loves, how will You graze Your flock? How will you make them lie down in the afternoon, etc." Rashi explains that the congregation of Israel hereby says before the Holy One Blessed be He, as a wife to her husband: "Tell me, You whom my soul loves, how will You graze Your flock, [Israel], and how will You make them lie down in the afternoon, in the exile of the idolators, which is a time of suffering for them as the [hot] afternoon is a time of suffering for the flock?" And the Holy One Blessed be He answers (Ibid. 8): "If you do not know, you fairest of the women, [Israel], then go out in the footsteps of the sheep," which Rashi explains: "If you do not know, My congregation and My assembly, the fairest of the women among the other nations, how you will graze and rescue yourselves from those who press you to stay among them, so that your sons not go lost, reflect upon the ways of your forefathers, who received My Torah and kept My 'keeping' and My mitzvoth, and walk in their ways, and, also, in reward for this, you will graze your kids, among the princes of the peoples. And thus did Jeremiah say (Jeremiah 31:24): "Make road markers for yourself… set your heart to the path, etc." Now, as to the answer of the Holy One Blessed be He, does Israel not know [by themselves] that it is a mitzvah to walk in the path of our forefathers? But, in truth, this is a deep matter. The congregation of Israel asked for counsel, what to do at this time, when we are without influence and steeped in many troubles and the yetzer hara entices us to remove from ourselves the yoke of Torah, so that thereby the yoke of the idolators might be eased from us. Therefore the term "grazing" is used, which connotes influence, and "how will You make them lie down," as explained by Rashi. The Holy One Blessed be He responds: "If you do not know, you fairest of the women, go out in the footsteps of the sheep." That is, reflect upon the ways of your fathers. For it is known that Israel's invocation of the L-rd's remembrance of "the merit of the fathers" in almost every prayer is contingent upon our walking to some extent in their ways. And though we will not be able to achieve even a fraction of a fraction of their holy ways (not to speak of "walking in their ways"), as Scripture said (Joshua 14:15): "the greatest of the giants," concerning which Chazal have said [Bereshith Rabbah 14:6] that this refers to Abraham and the other forefathers (apparently also in this regard) — in any event, if we see to it to attain what our intellects can attain of their holy ways and to grasp a little of their holy conduct, then their exalted merit will avail us to bring us to all good — which will not be the case if we "turn a shirking shoulder" and refuse to walk in their ways at all, in which instance, the remembrance of their merit will not be to our honor. I shall adduce one instance, which is not even a fraction of a fraction of their holy ways: Why did the Holy One Blessed be He exalt Abraham so greatly because of the akeidah [the binding of Isaac]? Is it not true even in our days that if the Holy One Blessed be He commanded one to sacrifice his son as a burnt-offering he would not refuse? But the truth is, as Rambam writes, that his [greatness in his] trial was his acquiescence in it with absolute love. Witness his rising for it early in the morning, splitting the wood by himself, and waiting three days until the place [of the sacrifice] appeared to him. And there were several [other] trials included in this, as we find in the Midrash: that the Satan appeared in the form of a river, which Abraham had to cross on the way to the akeidah, walking neck-deep in the water and crying: "Save, O L-rd, for water has come to soul!" and the [apparition] vanished, all of this indicating his perfect love for the L-rd and his complete acquiescence [in His command].

Behold, wine causes one to become a scoffer and a mocker and to be riotous and quarrelsome. And everyone who transgresses through it is not very wise. Our teacher, Moses Maimonides wrote : "A gathering for drinking intoxicating liquor deserves greater shame among you that when naked people gather exposing their nakedness. And drunkenness is an evil deed for it causes one to lose the intelligence which the Lord, may He be Blessed, breathed into man's nostrils." In truth, the drinking of wine is very good if one drinks like an intelligent person, as under the circumstances and in the manner of which Solomon said : "Give strong drink to him that is ready to perish and wine to the bitter in soul. Let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more" (Prov. 31:6-7). And more is said about wine: "Wine which cheers God and man" (Judges 9:13). And it is written : "And wine that makes glad the heart of man" (Ps. 104:15). Also Scripture says : "For thy love is better than wine" (Ecel. 1:2), and it also is said : "And the roof of thy mouth is like the best wine" (Ibid. 7:10).

And all this is alluded to in short in the answer of the Holy One Blessed be He to the congregation of Israel (Song of Songs 1:7): "How will you graze?", which connotes "influence." How will you make them lie down in the afternoon?", which connotes the severity of the time. "If you do not know, etc…. in the footsteps of the sheep," which alludes to reflection upon the ways of our forefathers — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. If we walk in their ways, He will grant us influence, as our fathers had, and there will be attenuated for us the severity of the times in all of our dwelling places.

Since no individual can fulfil all 613 commandments, even at the time when the Temple is standing, we must ask ourselves how one can attain one's שלמות, perfection, both the perfection of one's body and that of one's soul. There are three reasons that some people cannot fulfil all the 613 commandments. Either a certain category of commandments applies only to a certain category of Jews, and such categories are determined at birth, or they cannot be fulfilled because certain events have not occurred during one's lifetime. A person cannot perform the commandment of the levirate marriage or the giving of חליצה, (an act demonstrating that one refuses to marry that sister-in-law) to his sister-in-law of a brother who died without issue, since such situations are beyond his control. One cannot take refuge in a city of refuge unless one had killed someone inadvertently. One cannot make the payments imposed by the Torah for having accused one's wife of not having been a virgin at the time of the wedding, unless circumstances had made such an accusation possible. The examples of all the commandments that most people are never called upon to fulfil are too numerous to list here. There is a third category of commandment which though easily capable of fulfilment, requires certain conditions, such as the affixing of a Mezuzzah on one's door post. If one dwells in a tent, this commandment does not apply since the entrance to a tent does not meet the requirements necessary to make that commandment applicable. ^{Author's comment} I have found the following interesting comment in a book called Megillat Setarim. I quote verbatim: "The mystique of the 613 commandments is that they are divided into 248 positive commandments and 365 negative commandments. Nowadays (when the Temple is in ruins, and Israel in exile), only 126 of the 248 positive commandments are capable of being fulfilled. Only 243 of the 365 negative commandments are capable of being observed. This leaves us with a total of 369 commandments that are capable of fulfilment in our day and age. This is alluded to in the sentence אני ישנה ולבי ער, (Song of Songs 5,2) "asleep” which equals 365 to which you add one for each word, making 369. As a result we are unable to fulfil 244 of the commandments. The numerical value of 244 can be expressed as מרד, (insurrection, revolt). This is to remind us that due to our insurrection against G–d's rule, we lost the Temple. Only 48 of the 126 positive commandments that are capable of being performed nowadays apply to each individual. The other 78 positive commandments need to be fulfilled only when certain circumstances occur. Many such circumstances may never occur during a person's lifetime. Similarly only 222 of the 243 negative commandments that apply in our times are capable of being observed by every individual Jew. The remaining 21 negative commandments can be observed only when certain circumstances occur in a person's life. When you combine the numerical value of the 48 positive commandments that apply to every Jew today with the 222 negative commandments each one of us is duty bound to observe, you get the numerical value of the other half of the verse mentioned earlier namely ולבי ער, i.e. 270.

For this is the true joy, namely, that a person's heart delight that he merits to serve before the blessed Master, of whom there is none like Him, and to toil in His Torah and His mitzvot which are the true perfection and the eternal worth. And Shlomo said in a parable on wisdom: "Draw me, we will run after You. The King has brought me into His chambers; we will be glad and rejoice in You" (Shir HaShirim 1:4). For the further a person merits to enter into the inner chambers of knowledge of His blessed greatness, the more his joy will increase and his heart will sing within him. And scripture states: "Israel will rejoice in its Maker; the children of Zion will exult in their King" (Tehilim 149:2).

אבל אנחנו עמך – It is a fact that the merit of our patriarchs will assist us, provided we conduct ourselves as their true descendants and follow in their footsteps. We are urged to do so in Songs of Songs 1,8: צאי לך בעקבי הצאן, "Contemplate the actions of your ancestors" (cf. Rashi). When we do this their merits will be merged with all those described by the author of our prayers as בני בריתך, because we are בני אברהם אהבך. The prayer continues to cite the promises G–d made to Abraham in return for his offering Isaac on the altar. The mystical dimension of humility is deeply intertwined with the mystical dimension of love. The three patriarchs symbolize the three kinds of perfection we have discussed, that of the soul, that of the body and that of the way we handle money. Abraham demonstrated the perfection of the soul when he offered Isaac, his only beloved son, as a total offering, something which entailed a total abrogation of self.

The best way to explain the Midrash is by reference to the three different kinds of crowns. When G–d describes Israel as a flock and Himself as its shepherd, this is an allusion to the crown of Torah. We have a verse in Ezekiel 34,31: "Now you My flock, flock of My pasture—you are Adam. I am your G–d, says the Lord G–d." The meaning of this verse is that though, at this time, Torah knowledge amongst the Jewish people is only at the level of sheep, there will come a time when the Jewish people will once more be comparable to Adam, a time at which the whole earth will be full of the knowledge of G–d. David Kimchi explains the verse by saying that even when we are in exile the Torah will not be forgotten, since we have an assurance כי לא נשכח מזרעו, "it will not be forgotten by his descendants" (Deut. 31,21). We are only called צאן. Our sages have used similar terminology for Jews who have studied little Torah whom they describe them as גדיים, rather than as תישים, young goats instead of mature billy-goats (Berachot 63). Solomon, referring to such immature Jewish people, says in Song of Songs 1,8: צאי לך בעקבי הצאן, "Go out and follow the tracks of the sheep "

Having sexual intercourse with two sisters [while they are both alive, Ed.] is perceived as equivalent to damaging the equilibrium in the domain הוד ומלכות. Only our patriarch Jacob, whom G–d Himself had called "אל" a celestial being (Genesis 33,20, cf. Megillah 18a), attained a level of spiritual perfection that permitted him to use the sceptre normally only used by the "King" in the Celestial Regions. In connection with the prohibition to marry two sisters simultaneously, the Torah (18,18) uses the expression לצרור לגלות ערותה, which we may provisionally translate as "as a rival." Rabbi Abraham Saba, in his Tzror Hamor understands the word as "creating a knot," i.e. tying up Celestial conduits and preventing them from exerting their beneficial influence on their respective partners in the domains of the emanations, and through them on this world. [This comment of the Tzror Hamor is not found in his commentary on this chapter in our פרשה. Ed.]

It is this spiritual association which is alluded to in Song of Songs 1,8: אם לא תדעי לך היפה בנשים צאי לך בעקבי הצאן. "if you do not know, O fairest of women, go follow the tracks of the sheep." Solomon describes Israel in exile in the verse, as can be seen from Rashi. The period referred to in our verse in Song of Songs by the words אם לא תדעי לך, "do you not know?" is the period to which Jacob referred after his dream as ואנכי לא ידעתי, "I did not know," both referring to the period of exile due to the destruction of the Temple. While the Temple was standing, however, there was ידיעה, knowledge, - it was the period when prophets abounded. The name יעקב itself alludes to something secondary, heel, something dragged behind, and that is also alluded to when Song of Songs speaks of עקבי הצאן. The letters in the word עקבי are identical to the letters in the word יעקב, they are only re-arranged. The "fairest of women" referred to in our verse in Song of Songs is Rachel who was described in 29,17 as יפת תאר ויפת מראה, "of beautiful form and appearance"