Chasidut do Pieśń nad pieśniami 1:5

For example, in the Noam Elimelech, parshas Chukas, on the verse, “take unto yourself,” Rebbe Elimelech makes the following “casual” comment: “It is known to those possessing intelligence and knowledge that the first three blessings in the Shemoneh Esrei can only be said in a state of mesiras nefesh and unity.⁷⁰As if to say, you totally give your whole life over this and completely unite with God.” Similarly, it is said in the Avodas Yisrael,⁷¹By Rav Yisrael, the Maggid of Kozhnitz (1733-1814) parshas Ekev, “sometimes a state of kedushah a person undergoes complete self-nullification, like when we say, “ayeh,” in kedushas Keser.”⁷²In the Musaf service said on Shabbos, festivals, and Rosh Chodesh, we join in song with the angels and praise God in a section called, “kedushah.” At one point we ask together with the angels, “ayeh – where” is the place of His glory. The Ari z”l teaches that while saying, “ayeh,” one can connect with a tremendous ascent of spiritual forces in the higher worlds. There are similar examples of lofty, great, and elevated levels which we find difficult even to imagine from afar. And now, what are we, and what is our avodah, if even in order to come to a kind of true hisragshus during prayer, or to feel hislahavus, we have to labor and sweat to the point of utter exhaustion, and even then our success is questionable. We are not only far away from their holy ascents and their heavenly states of consciousness. We are even far from their Yiras Hashem, their level of vigilance against the slightest thought of sin, even the slightest tinge of such a notion. We have not reached their level of diligence in staying away from lowness of spirit, and don’t exert all of our strength in holy avodah the way they do. In all these ways they are tower above us. Concerning this, the Avodas Yisrael teaches us, “even though the Tsaddikim would become soiled, meaning that they could be confused by a disturbing thought, of vain matters and the like, they would then clean themselves immediately afterwards through the power of teshuvah. They would remember this at once, regret the thought, and be filled with teshuvah the way one would do over a major transgression … It could be that they fall from their heights at the time when their thoughts are disturbing them, and then when they are filled with thoughts of teshuvah they rise up from their fallen state, as the Torah says (Shir HaShirim, 1:5), “like the curtains of Shlomo,”⁷³See this verse, “Though I am black I am comely, daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Shlomo.” The tent of Kedar (exile) are like beduin tents which are black due to standing many days in the rain, but they can be easily washed and look like the curtains of Shlomo (redemption), splendorous an clean like the curtains of the Holy Temple. In this way the Tsaddikim, who are always connected to God even if they fall, have the ability to rise quickly from a low state to a high one. meaning that they are always in a state of unity with the King to whom all peace belongs … Even their fall is in a state of kedushah and purity. God forbid that the Tsaddik should ever fall, but what is it but a momentary feeling of laziness in Torah study and avodah, and he cancels it immediately with thoughts of teshuvah, and it is as if it were never there.” Even in their fall they are far from sin or thoughts of sin. Their exertion day and night in Torah and avodah was so great that in their own estimation a thought of indolence [not actual indolence but only a thought of indolence] was considered a great transgression. Yet even in their fall they remain in a state of kedushah and purity, washing themselves clean to the point where you would never imagine they had ever been tainted.

Here are their words in the Zohar Parshat Balak [191a]: Black I am but beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem—like the tents of Kedar, like Solomon’s curtains. Do not look at me for being blackish… (Song of Songs 1:5-6)...When She is immersed in great love for Her Beloved, through the pressure of love She cannot bear, She diminishes Herself extremely until nothing is seen of Her but the tiniest single point...She diminishes Herself extremely until nothing is seen of Her but the tiniest single point...Then She is concealed from all Her forces and camps, and She says, ‘Black am I,’ for there is no white inside this letter, as there is in other letters. This is the meaning of ‘Black am I’- and I have no room to bring you in beneath My wings.’ What do mighty warriors, Her legions [the tzaddikim] do? They roar like mighty lions...Because of the sounds and mighty roars emitted, like lions, by the mighty warriors, the Beloved above hears, and He knows that His Beloved is as passionately in love as He is, until none of Her image or beauty can be seen. Then, through the sounds and roars of Her mighty ones, Her dear Beloved emerges from His place with many gifts and many presents, with fragrances and spices, and comes to Her and finds Her nearly dead, with no image or beauty at all. He approaches Her, embraces Her and kisses Her, until gradually She is revived by the fragrances and spices. By the joy of Her Beloved at Her side, She is restored and—through Her adornments, Her image, and Her beauty—transformed into Heh, as originally...They and all other forces sand ready to hear what She says, and She stands like a king among Her legions…”