Commentaire de citation sur Le Cantique des Cantiques 1:1

“How precious is Your kindness, O God” (Psalms 36:8). Eternal kindness builds, making second and third levels, and before mountains were born and the earth and its fullness were brought forth, His name alone was exalted. There was no one to call upon His blessed name, and there was no person to serve God. God saw that there was no man, and He was astounded that there was no one who recognized the power of His blessed kingdom. Upon whom would the Divine Presence rest, and to whom would God’s arm be revealed? Then it arose in His blessed will to create with His utterance the heavens and all their hosts, and He established His assembly upon the earth’s foundation. In every generation and dwelling place are His servants who do His will, and in every place, offerings and presentations are made to His blessed name by those who see the King’s face. And among the lower beings, He chose for Himself the human whom He formed with wisdom, whose wisdom exceeded all the ancient ones who preceded them in creation. And last but most beloved is humanity, who was created in the image and likeness of their Creator’s form, to whom He granted understanding with greater elevation and might. From among them all, God chose Jacob, the seed of Abraham His beloved, who would call out loudly in the name of the eternal God, saying “This is our God, our Lord who guides both the upper and lower realms; there is none besides Him.” From him, the whole earth was illuminated, for he lit up the righteous one of the world from the east, and the people who walked in darkness saw God’s light. They held fast to this faith generation after generation, and the face of the world was filled with knowledge and fear of God from Jacob, His inherited portion, the threefold cord, and God’s throne stands on three legs. This is my discourse and the opening of my words from the beginning of faith, to sing God’s song like the Song of Songs which is Solomon’s (Song of Songs 1:1).

Our sages in Menachot 35 explain the words כי שם ה' נקרא עליך as a reference to the phylacteries on the head (עליך), according to Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrkanus. This would account for the fact that that phylactery has two letters ש (a three stemmed one and a four-stemmed one) as part of its housing, a halachah dating back to the times of Moses. It is as if our verse would tell us that when the nations of the world observe these two letters ש on our phylactery on our heads they will be seized by a sense of awe and develop fear of us.

Solomon informs us in the verse just quoted that the foundation of the Torah and its ongoing concern is peace. We find this demonstrated already at the very beginning of the creation and this is why the sages in Chulin 60 have taught that all phenomena were created as completed, matured phenomena at the very outset. They base this on Genesis 2,1 וכל צבאם, “complete with all their accessories.”
It is well known that the heavens were created first and that unless peace reigned in the universe this could not have succeeded seeing heaven is made of two opposite elements, “fire and water.” They could not coexist unless G’d had seen to it that peace reigned in the universe. This is why we read in Job 25,2 עושה שלום במרומיו, “He makes peace in His lofty heights.” One of G’d’s names is שלום, Peace, as we know from Judges 6,24 ויקרא לו ה' שלום, “he (Gideon) called the altar “G’d Who is peace.” We have a verse in Song of Songs 1,1 in which the Talmud interprets the words “Song of Songs by Solomon” to mean that the poem is dedicated to the Lord Who personifies “peace,” שלמה (Shevuot 35). G’d chose the Jewish nation from among more than 70 nations all of which are His, and called us שולמית, (compare Song of Songs 7,1) where the author calls on the Jewish people to return to G’d, addressing it as שולמית, the nation representing peace. It is the nation that harbors within it the concept of universal peace. G’d gave the Torah to the Jewish people seeing that the Torah personifies the ideal of peace. This is the gist of our opening verse above, that ”all its paths are peace.”
All the commandments in the Torah are aimed at ensuring peace for the body as well as for the soul. We know that the commandments are designed to provide peace for the body from Exodus 15,26: ”if you will heed the Lord your G’d diligently, doing what He says and what is upright in His sight, giving ear to His commandments and keeping all His laws, then I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians, for I the Lord am your healer.” Proof that Torah also provides peace for the soul is derived from Psalms 19,8: “the Lord’s Torah is perfect, restores the soul.” Performance of the commandments of the Torah enables the soul at the end of its sojourn in a body to return to its roots in a state of purity. The attribute of peace constantly yearns for the return of these souls to its domain. This concept enables us to understand the meaning of Ketuvot 104, that when the wicked die the angels of destruction “welcome” them by saying: “there is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord” (Isaiah 48,22) [in other words, there is no room for you in My domain. The Talmud is a little more elaborate. Ed.]
The attribute of peace is the greatest of all the attributes in that it is used as a “seal” on all requests and documents. It is the final benediction in our principal prayers, a thought inspired by the sacrificial offerings which the prayers try to emulate, the daily communal prayers known as תמידים. When you observe the list of sacrificial offerings whose rituals are prescribed at the beginning of the Book of Leviticus you will find the שלמים, “peace-offerings” mentioned last. (Leviticus 7,18) Our sages in Torat Kohanim comment: “why were these offerings called “peace-offerings?’ They answer that the reason is that these offerings re-establish peace in the universe.” We find that Solomon “signed” (concluded) his Song of Songs with “peace,” seeing he wrote in 8,10: “I was in his eyes like someone who had found peace.” In Kohelet Solomon also refers to peace in the “times” he describes in chapter 3, concluding with “a time for peace.” Our sages (Vayikra Rabbah 9,9) commented on this that peace is a requirement even in time of war as we know from Deuteronomy 20,10 that “when you approach a town (during war with a view to conquering it) you must first offer it “peace.” There is no need to emphasise that our terrestrial world is sorely in need of peace if even the celestial regions are in need of it as we know from Job 25,2: המשל ופחד עמו עשה שלום במרומיו, “Dominion and Dread are His; He imposes peace in His heights.” Our sages interpret the word המשל as a reference to the archangel Michael, whereas the word פחד refers to the archangel Gavriel. G’d Himself must make peace between these two angels. This is something which is easy to understand seeing that if there is need to establish (and maintain) peace in regions and domains which are not subject to competition and natural mutual animosity, this holds true even more so in regions and domains where such competitive forces are at work all the time.
When G’d is described as “making peace in the heavens,” this includes not only peace between forces at work in the celestial regions but the celestial regions themselves, seeing they are composed of raw materials which clash, such as fire and water. Seeing that Michael is the presiding angel in the celestial spheres he is referred to in Job as “the Dominion;” he is the one who asks Mercy for Israel. There is no need to mention that the living are in need of peace seeing that even the dead are in need of it (Sifri Shoftim 199). We know this already from when G’d said to Avraham (Genesis 15,15) “as for you, you will come to your fathers in peace.” The attribute of peace was granted especially to Aaron (Sanhedrin 6,2) and by means of this attribute his descendants merited to be priests for all generations and to bless the people wishing them that G’d grant them peace (Numbers 6,26). Aaron himself exploited this attribute to keep people alive and to restore peace and harmony between feuding parties.
You have learned that it is the attribute peace which ensures the continued existence of the world. Not only peace but also justice is an important factor in ensuring the continued existence of the universe. Were it not for the meting out of justice people would steal from each other, rob each other, and kill each other. As a result the world would perish. This is what the sages meant in Avot 1,12 that “the world endures owing to three things: judgment (justice), truth, and peace. We learn this from Zecharyah 8,16: “truth, justice and peace you shall judge within your gates.” The word שעריכם refers to the judges, seeing it is they who ensure that a “formal” kind of peace reigns in civilized society, the lowest level of peace which the existence of mankind depends on. This is why the Torah commanded us to appoint courts in every “gate,” i.e. in every city.