Musar su Cantico dei cantici 3:78

The commentator Tolaat Yaakov puts it in the following words: "Know that the written Torah is the mystique of תפארת ישראל, i.e. Israel is compared to a king (who walks) in his splendour, beheld by your eyes (Isaiah 33,17). It is called תורת אמת, since Micha 7,20 has said: תתן אמת ליעקב and it is also written תורת אמת היתה בפיהו (Maleachi 2,6), "that a Torah of truth was in his mouth." The oral Torah on the other hand, is considered like the bride mentioned in the Song of Songs. The reason that we refer to the written Torah as תורה ש-בכתב and not תורה שב-על כתב as we would expect, seeing that it is parallel to the תורה שב-על פה is, that the Torah of the "higher" world is a written Torah that is essentially concealed from us mortals, and only a small part of which has been revealed. This תורה עליונה is kept in the Celestial Sanctuary in total isolation. The written Torah revealed to us is only a small part of the writings kept in the higher regions. When G–d tells Moses in Exodus 24,12 that He has written the stone tablets, the Torah and the Mitzvah, להורותם, "to teach them," the meaning is that Torah and Mitzvah (the operative legislative clauses of Torah), are the only ones that have been released to our world. The expression תורה ש-בכתב, the Torah which is part of the "Writing," or" Supreme Book," is therefore singularly appropriate. The concept discussed above is alluded to in Song of Songs in the words על שבאתיו אל בית אמי ואל חדר הורתי where Solomon speaks about the origin of Torah in the hidden recesses of heaven (Song of Songs 3,4). The Kabbalists compare the emanation בינה in which these "writings" are kept, to old wine that has been preserved within the grapes it is made of.

There is a Midrash Chazit on Song of Songs 3, 21 in which Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai asks Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yossi whether he had heard any comment about the crown his mother had made for him. Rabbi Eliezer replied in the affirmative. When asked what that comment was, he replied that it was a parable describing a king who had only one daughter whom he loved excessively and whom he called בתי, "my daughter." In the course of time he took to calling her אחותי, "my sister." Still later he started calling her אמי, "my mother." This describes the developing relationship of love between G–d and Israel. It is reflected in Psalms 45,11 where G–d is described as addressing Israel as "listen daughter, and incline your ear." In Song of Songs 5,2 Israel is addressed as "open your heart to Me My sister;" in Isaiah 51,4 Israel is addressed as עמי ולאומי, and the latter word is spelled Immi, "my mother." Upon hearing this Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai stood up and kissed Rabbi Eliezer on his head and said: "if I had only come to hear this word from you it would already have been worthwhile."

When we keep this in mind we can understand the Midrash Rabbah 3,1 on Song of Songs 3,9 אפריון עשה לו המלך שלמה, that "King Solomon made for himself a canopy," as referring to the construction of the Tabernacle. Rabbi Yehudah bar Ulla explains this by means of the following parable: A king had a young daughter. As long as she did not reach the age of puberty, he would meet her in public and speak with her both in public and private. Once she reached the age of puberty the king said to himself that it was no longer seemly that he should converse with his daughter in public. He therefore constructed a pavilion for her so that whenever he felt the need to converse with his daughter he could do so within this pavilion. We find an allusion to this in Hoseah 11,1: "For when Israel was still a child I fell in love with Israel." As long as the people of Israel were in their national infancy in Egypt, they saw manifestations of G–d all around them such as when G–d smote the Egyptians both in Egypt and later on when He drowned them in the sea. This was a public manifestation as testified to in Exodus 14,31: "Israel saw the great hand of the Lord and what He did to Egypt". Even infants would point with their fingers declaring "This is my G–d I shall glorify Him" (Exodus 15,2). At Sinai they beheld G–d "face to face," as we know from Deuteronomy 33,2: "He (Moses) said The Lord came from Sinai, He shone upon them from Se-ir; He appeared from Mount Paran." At that point Israel received the Torah and declared כל אשר דבר ה' נעשה ונשמע, "All that the Lord has said, we shall do and hear." As a consequence Israel became G–d's nation in the fullest meaning of the word. G–d next said Himself that it was no longer seemly that He should speak to them in public, without the benefit of privacy, so He instructed them to build a Tabernacle so that whenever He wished to speak to them, He would do so from the interior of the Tabernacle. This is the meaning of Numbers 7,89: "Whenever Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he would hear the voice of G–d addressing him from above the cover that was on top of the Ark of the Covenant between the two cherubim; thus He spoke to him." Thus far the statement of Rabbi Yehudah bar Ulla.

On the difference between the מרכבה on earth and the מרכבה in the Celestial Regions: One must appreciate that just as there is a carrier of G–d's Presence here on earth, so there is a parallel carrier, מרכבה in the heavenly regions. This is alluded to in Song of Songs 3,10 ומרכבו ארגמן, "its carrier was purple red," and in Song of Songs 6,12 where we find: מרכבות עמי נדיב, "amid chariots of Ami Nadiv.” We will first explain what is meant by the "purple red carrier," and later, with G–d's help, the meaning of the words מרכבות עמי נדיב. The land of Israel and the Holy Temple have their counterparts in the Heavenly Regions. The Holy Temple consists of a Sanctuary called קדש, holy, as well as an inner sanctuary, קדשי קדשים, Holiest of Holies, and we find an altar outside the Sanctuary as well as a golden altar inside the Sanctuary close to the Inner Sanctum. Both altars were square seeing the Torah describes them as such i.e. רבוע יהיה (Exodus 27,1). Because the Torah has given the exact dimensions of the altars, the statement "it shall be square," seems superfluous. We understand it therefore as an allusion to the heavenly counterparts of these furnishings of the Sanctuary, each one of which is also four-cornered representing four celestial armies headed by the angels רפאל, גבריאל, מיכאל, and נוריאל. The word ארגמ"ן is an acronym composed of the first letters respectively of the angels heading these four armies plus the letter א meaning the One and Only, i.e. G–d. He, of course is the One, who is "carried," i.e. supported by these four armies.

Thus I have seen it written in the name of one great scholar that Dovid Hamelech was asking the Holy One Blessed is He to break and destroy Israel’s oppressors in the merit of the twelve tribes [shevatim] who were born to the four Matriarchs. For the acronym of the names of the Matriarchs is the word barzel — “iron”: Bilhah, Rochel, Zilpah and Leah. The merit of the Matriarchs stands by us to deliver us from the harsh judgments alluded to by the word “blood” because these derive from the female aspect of the Sitrah Acharah.. This is the evil Lilis and her entire camp, who incorporate within them the five shades of impure blood. The Sages rule in Niddah (30b): “the daughters of the Kusim have the status of menstruating women from the crib [arisah].” Arisah is a euphemism for Lilis’ camp because of its connection with the word eres (venom) — a reference to the venom of the primordial snake. Similarly, Amos (6:4) speaks of, “Those who lie upon beds of ivory and stretch themselves out upon their couches [arsosam]. The camp of the Shechinah, by contrast, is called a “bed,” as in, “Behold, Shlomo’s bed [mitah] has sixty warriors surrounding it” (Shir HaShirim 3:7). Since the “blood” mentioned above derives from the five shades of impure blood, which in turn derive from the evil Lilis, the female counterpart of the Samech Mem, the only way to weaken it is by invoking the female aspect of the realm of holiness, that is, the Matriarchs. For it is from them that the twelve tribes derive. In light of the above one must instruct the women to have in mind the merit of the Matriarchs — Bilhah, Rochel, Zilpah and Leah — as they put these metal pieces in place at the turning points of the year. For it is their merit that stands by us to deliver us from all evil decrees and it is a very praiseworthy that one’s deeds be accompanied by thought. This act of “unification” is of great significance and preciousness to the Holy One Blessed is He. Therefore it has the power to deliver a person from all evil and from all mishap, with the help of Hashem, God of Israel.

This idea is expressed in the Zohar in Midrash Ne’elam, Parashas Chayyei Sarah (123b-125b). There Rabbi Pinchas teaches that before a righteous person leaves this world a Heaven voice proclaims throughout Gan Eden, “Prepare a place for the righteous So-and-so who is about to arrive, etc.” Then when the soul enters the gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem the great prince Michoel goes to extend to it a greeting of “Peace!” This causes the rest of the ministering angels to wonder and inquire, “Who is this ascending from the desert?” (Shir HaShirim 3:6). By which they mean from the desolate lower world, which is described as a “desert” by comparison with the upper world. The great prince Michael responds, “She is unique, she is my dove, she is my whole one” (Shir HaShirim 6:9). Note that Michoel does not praise the soul for any particular good deed or righteous quality but only for the quality of wholeheartedness, for this includes all praiseworthy qualities and characteristics. And because this soul embraced all fitting and upright characteristics in the wholeheartedness of its conduct, supernal holiness rests upon it continually. When a person toils in Torah or the performance of the mitzvos, for a distance of four cubits all around him he is encompassed by complete sanctity and his reward is very great.