Halakhah su Cantico dei cantici 2:22

2. R. Isaac de Leon, the author of Megillat Ester, an early commentary on Maimonides' Sefer ha-Mizvot, maintains that Rambam omitted the commandment to dwell in the Land of Israel in cataloguing the 613 precepts of Judaism because he was of the opinion that the obligation to dwell in Israel lapsed with the dispersion of Israel following the destruction of the Temple. Megillat Ester points out that the Gemara, Ketubot 111a, interprets the verse "I cause you to swear, O daughters of Jerusalem … that ye awaken not nor stir up love until it please" (Song of Songs 2:7) as an admonition not to rebel against the conquerors of Israel or to seize the land by force.

Rambam, Hilkhot Teshuvah 10:3, followed by Sefer Haredim 1:5, declares that such intellectual awareness generates an emotional state akin to lovesickness as described by King Solomon, Song of Songs 2:5. How does one come to know, and hence love, God? By apprehending His glory, grandeur and majesty. And how does one achieve such an awareness? By investigating the nature of the created universe, by studying the laws of nature that guarantee the cohesiveness of the universe. As stated by Rambam, Hilkhot Yesodei ha-Torah 2:2:

(Lamed) According to our approach, this is the intention of the statement of [the Sages] may their memory be blessed, in Avot, “Do not be evil in front of yourself (bifnei atsmecha)” – the explanation of which is in your essence. As we are holy seed and we will not change in essence. And all of the sins of the Children of Israel are only their appearance, which will not be permanent, but only present from time to time. And that which they said, “But even if the whole world tells you that you are righteous, you should be like an evildoer in your eyes” – the explanation of [“in your eyes”] is in your appearance. [This is] like “and its appearance (literally, eye) was like the appearance of bdellium” (Num. 11:7) – the explanation of which is the appearance, and that is the description. And so you should increase courage, have much soap, whiten your clothes and fulfill the desire of your Creator who says, “Show me your appearance.”⁸⁵This literary allusion is also from Song of Songs (Shir HaShirim 2:14). And behold anything that is not in the essence is only in the appearance. And [that] which is in the appearance is only incidental, and that which is incidental will not be permanent. Therefore [with] the seed of Avraham, even if their hands are charred, the blackness will not be permanent; and they will necessarily be whitened and return to their beauty and their essence. Rather [it is] their good deeds [which] are their essence. And [so] behold, something impermanent is called deception (khazav), as in (Isaiah 58:11), “whose waters do not fail (yekhazvu).” And this is the intention of the midrash that said, “the deceptions and vanities that Israel does are worthwhile.” [It] means all of the sins – [both] light and severe – are only deception, since they are incidental. As their essence is pure and clean, like Avraham their bequeather, and as mentioned. And this is the intention of the statement of [the Sages], may their memory be blessed, in Chapter 1 of Tractate Rosh Hashanah⁸⁶Rosh Hashanah 17b., “Ilfa brought up [a contradiction]: It is written [about God], ‘and abundant in kindness’ (Exod. 34:6); and [yet in the same verse], it is written ‘and truth.’  He answered, ‘Initially [He judges in] truth, but in the end, abundant in kindness.’” And also there (Rosh Hashanah 17a), “Beit Hillel say, ‘[He who is] abundant in kindness inclines towards kindness.’” [This is] meaning [that] since the good deeds are essential, they are lasting and they are [therefore] true; but the sins are deception. And just like ‘a little bit of light pushes off much of the darkness,’ so does a little bit of truth push off much deception. And therefore He inclines towards kindness, because of the truth.

The Gemara, Berakhot 24a, declares, "A woman's voice is provocative, as it says, 'For sweet is your voice and your countenance is comely' " (Song of Songs 2:14). Recognition of the sexually provocative quality of the female voice leads to halakhic ramifications which are two-fold in nature. Since the female voice may arouse sexual desire, halakhic considerations of feminine modesty dictate that a woman should not sing in the company of men. By the same token, a man may not listen to the voice of a female vocalist (Even ha-Ezer 21: 1). Moreover, since the female voice is described as "ervah" or "nakedness," a male may not read the shema, study Torah or recite a blessing when the song of a woman, even of his own wife, is audible to him, just as he may not engage in these activities in the presence of naked or exposed portions of the female body (Oraḥ Hayyim 76:3).

The charoses must have a thick consistency⁶The charoses should be prepared erev Yom Tov. If, however, you forgot, it may then be made on Yom Tov (Ibid. 473:47) to recall the mortar from which our forefathers had to make bricks. When you are ready to dip the maror into it, you should add a little wine or vinegar to make it soft to represent the blood, and for the additional reason that it should become fit to dip something into it. The charoses should be made from fruits that symbolize the Jewish people; for example: figs, for it is said, "The fig tree has produced its green figs," (Song of Songs 2:13); nuts, because it is said, "I went down to the garden of nuts" (ibid. 6:11); dates, because it is said, "I will ascend the palm tree" (ibid. 7:9); pomegranates, because it is said, "Like a slice of pomegranate" (ibid. 6:7); apples, to commemorate what is written, "Beneath the apple tree I aroused you," (ibid. 8:5) where the women gave birth to their children without pain; and almonds, (shekeidim, singular shakeid), because the Holy One, blessed is He, watched diligently (shakad) to end our bondage. You should put spices in it, that look like straw, such as cinnamon and ginger, that are not finely ground,⁷According to Maharil, they should not be ground at all, but should be left in long pieces. and have straw-like strands in them, to recall the straw, the Jews used to knead into the mortar. On Shabbos, you should not pour the wine and the vinegar into the charoses, for it must be done in an unusual manner, by putting the charoses into the wine or the vinegar. The salt water, (even when Yom Tov does not occur on Shabbos)⁸If, however, it does occur on Shabbos, the salt water should be prepared before Shabbos, and not on Shabbos. (Ibid. 473:21, 42) should be prepared on erev Yom Tov). If you do prepare it on Yom Tov, you should do it in an unusual way,⁹Mishnah Berurah makes no mention of preparing the salt water in an unusual manner on Yom Tov, when it does not occur on Shabbos. It would seem that he maintains that it is permitted to prepare it on Yom Tov in the usual manner. by pouring the water first, and adding the salt later.