ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף שיר השירים 2:7

For the Chief Musician. Set to “The Hind of the Morning.” A Psalm of David. – There are those who say (Rashi, and others beside him) that השׁהר אילת (hind of the morning) is a kind of musical instrument. There are also interpreters (Targumist, Menahem, and others besides) who explain אילת from (אילותי in) My succour (אילותי), haste Thee to help me (infra, 20), meaning that this Psalm was uttered in the strength of the morning's dawn. And some interpret אילת as the name of the morning star. So we have in the words of our Rabbis of blessed memory (Jerushalami, Berakhoth 1:1; Yoma 3:2): “They call the morning star Ayyeleth.” They say also (ibid.; Canticles Rabbah 6; Esther Rabbah 10 end; and Shoher Tob, ad loc.) that this Psalm was uttered with reference to Esther and to Israel, who were in exile at that time. Some also interpret it of David while he was still a fugitive before Saul. The correct view is that the title The Hind of the Morning is used of the congregation of Israel while in this (present) exile, and the end of the Psalm proves this. It calls her a hind, just as the comparison is applied to her in the Song of Songs (2:7; 3:5): “among the roes or among the hinds of the field” The meaning also of השחר (the morning) is beauty and brightness, as it says concerning her (ibid. 6:10): “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning?” And now she is in darkness in this exile, as if forgotten and abandoned; and she cries out from exile:

It is well known that fruits that are prematurely picked before they ripen will not be preserved and will quickly rot. Even those that ripen by means of artificial watering will not sweeten like those that ripen on their own, as Scripture states, “With the bounteous yield of the sun,” (Deut. 33:14) Similarly, because God, “Leaped over mountains and bounded over hills,” (Song 2:8) redeeming Israel before the allotted time, the Israelites were like prematurely gathered fruits. This was the cause of all the evils that happened afterwards. It was due to all the idolatry of Egypt which made Israel impure, as is stated in Scripture, “Cast away, every one of you, the detestable things of his eyes and do not defile yourselves with the fetishes of Egypt.” (Ezek. 20:7) As a result, they entered forty-ninth of the fifty gates of impurity. If God had not rushed to bring Israel out from Egypt, they might have entered the fiftieth gate and would never have escaped from Egypt. The impurity would have surrounded them on all sides and Israel would have become a strange people. It is possible this would have been caused by the sparks referred to earlier.
Regarding this, the Haggadah states that, “We, our children and our children’s children would have been subjugated in Egypt…” (Three generations) are mentioned since the compassion of a father for his children extends (for three generations),⁵⁶See Rashi on Exodus 22:2 and it doesn’t need to mention additional generations. The statement implies that all the continuing generations would have been subjugated to Pharaoh in Egypt.
Since God said to Abraham, “And afterwards they shall go out with great wealth,” they began counting (the subjugation), the four hundred years, from the birth of Isaac and not from the descent into Egypt as would have been fitting. It was through the haste of the Divine Presence and the haste of Israel that caused them to leave before the allotted time. If it had been possible for them to wait, evil would not have come upon them in the wilderness and afterwards in the land of Israel, and impurity would not have overwhelmed them. When God decrees greatness to a person and, even more so, to a nation, it is decreed for all generations. This was the great strength and the mighty hand that was necessary (so to speak) to bring us out of Egypt. It wasn’t that God had trouble redeeming Israel, for the other nations were nothing in comparison with God. All the inhabitants of the earth are non-existent (in comparison with God). While God is a righteous Judge, the Exodus had to take place before its allotted time which was against the judgment so that it took extra strength and a mighty hand (to redeem Israel). It was necessary to speak in defense of Israel, (Ex. 20:2) and find a way to establish God’s words forever. After all, if God had decreed, “They shall be afflicted and serve them four hundred years,” (Gen. 15:13) this must be so! That is why they began the count from the birth of Isaac. That is, God wanted Pharaoh to say, “Rise up and go out of my nation,” (Ex. 12:31) so that the accuser (Satan) could not make a claim. Despite this, the accuser still complained about the extra 190 missing years.⁵⁷This is a common theme in many of the other commentaries: how do we account for the four hundred years of slavery? If we account for slavery from the time that Jacob’s children went down to Egypt, then we are missing 190 years. And if we account for the years from the birth of Isaac then there is a lengthy period in which they were not enslaved. Rabbi Eliezer Nachman of Foa argues that we counted from the birth of Isaac but that the prosecutor still held us as guilty of evading 190 years of actual slavery. He was appeased with the promise that the years would be completed during Israel’s other exiles, as I have explained in the commentary on Parshat Lech Lecha in Sefer Goren Arnon.
(Ho’eel) Just as gathering fruit before it is ripe causes it to spoil, so, too, Israel was warned during this exile not to force the end-time to come. To bring about redemption prematurely might cause things to happen to us during that exile; it might cause us to go back into exile. And so Israel was warned, as Scripture states, “I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem…do not wake or arouse love until it please!”⁵⁸Song of Songs 2:7 It is not without significance that this commentary was published in 1641, shortly before Shabbatai Tzvi was pronounced the Messiah. There was a great deal of Messianic speculation during this period throughout the world among both Jews and Christians. No doubt the speculation at least influenced the rise of the infamous False Messiah. It is better for us to joyfully wait for the fruit to ripen so that it can be gathered in its time and then the messianic era will be established for all time.

שור שה כשבים ושה עזים, “an ox, sheep, and goat.” The three mentioned so far are צאן, domesticated animals kept in flocks or herds. By adding איל, צבי, יחמור,אקו דישון, תאו and זמר we get an additional 7 species making a total of ten categories of animals fit for consumption by Jews. The last-named seven, while permitted for private consumption, are not permitted as offerings on the altar. (Zevachim 34) Any free-roaming animal, חיה, is by definition not permitted as a sacrifice. [How could it serve in lieu of man who has not tamed it and exercised his authority over it? Ed.] The names of the seven last named animals reveal that they are “pure” i.e. possess the physical features described by the Torah as making them fit to eat. In Song of Songs 2,7 the first word השבעתי if read with the dot on the left side of the letter ש means that G’d provided as food ample supplies of איל and צבי, proving these animals chew the cud and have split hooves. The יחמור is alluded to in Chabakuk 3,15 where it is compared to many waters, something which is ritually pure. [I confess I do not follow this since in that same verse horses are compared to the ocean which is equally pure, whereas horses do not have split hooves. I will leave untranslated the balance of this paragraph as I do not understand it. Ed.]