Kabbalah Kidung Agung 5:3: Sha'arei Orah

This is the secret of the verse,¹⁸⁷Song of Songs 5:3 “I have removed My robe, how shall I don it?” The explanation is that in this verse the Holy One, blessed is He, berates the Jewish people and says, “I already have removed My robe” – referring to all the titles called “My robe-Kutanti-כתנתי,” so that none of the nations who serve false gods can have any connection or hold on My Name – “and I remain alone with the Jewish people. Why then do you sin and want Me to return and don the titles that the nations who serve false gods take hold of, by which they will take you into exile?” He therefore said, “I have removed My robe,” and continued,¹⁸⁸Song of Songs 5:3 “I have bathed My feet. How can I soil them?” That is, “I have bathed My feet” refers to the Indwelling Presence of HaShem-יהו״ה (Shechinah), which is called, “My footrest,”¹⁸⁹Isaiah 66:1; Talmud Bavli, Chagigah 16a and have cleansed it from the impurities of the lands of the nations, having removed it from exile, where it was exiled with the Jewish people. How then do you cause Me to again take Her with you into exile in the lands of the nations, where she will become soiled by their impurities?! This is the secret of the verse, “I have bathed My feet. How can I soil them?”

You thus have learned that the titles-Kinuyim-כנויים are the matter of the wings-Knafayim-כנפיים and robe-Kutonet-כתנת in which HaShem-יהו״ה, blessed is He, garbs Himself, and He then is hidden and concealed. This is why He warned the Jewish people,²⁰¹Song of Songs 5:3 “I have removed My robe, how can I don it?” That is, His desire is to fulfill the matter of,²⁰²Isaiah 30:20 “Your Teacher will no longer be hidden behind His garment-Lo Yikanef-לא יכנף.”

Now, if you say that the holy names are themselves compared to garments, and that when HaShem-יהו״ה is garbed in them He is hidden and concealed from the Jewish people, this being so, why are they not erased? Would it not be better for the Jewish people and the greatness of HaShem-יהו״ה if they were erased, as in the verse,²⁶⁵Song of Songs 5:3 “I have removed My robe, how shall I don it”?