Song of Songs Chapter 1

THE PARABLE

Her beloved stands behind the door of her room in the castle, and she is aware of him through the pleasant scent of him , and she says: if only he could be closer to me so I would be able to give him kisses of love.

She turns to her beloved and says: Your love is better to me than the wine and enjoyment that I receive from the house of the king.

God is looking after his beloved - the soul of Shlomo, and is standing outside 'her' wall. The wall is essentially the physicality/body which seperates G-d and and her beloved. She experiences him through his 'scent' which is good

The soul requests to be "kissed by his lips"- meaning to say that the soul can achieve closeness to God in two ways:

1. through intellect, understanding and deep thought. The soul doesn't connect to God, but rather from the signs of wisdom, ability and energy which are apparent from his control over the world. This is the parable of the 'scent' mentioned previously. Even though something which is fragrant can be in a hidden place which cannot be seen, nonetheless we should know clearly that it exists through the scent which we can smell.

Similiarly, the spirituality of G-d can be 'smelt' by the wise from the scent of G-d's control which eminates from his wisdom, and can be smelled by those who fear G-d...the incense is the connection between the soul and the godly.

2. There is an achievement of greater connection which is like a kiss. This brings a sense of connectedness for a face to face interaction which indicates great desire. This occurs when G-d pours his spirit to the souls who have prepared and sanctified themsleves for prophecy and the holy spirit. At that moment, the soul will leave its physical roots, and and cling to the intellect of the holy of holies....

These kisses have various levels, and various divisions through which those who have visions will see and achieve according their level of closeness to the almight and desire and connection between G-d and the spirit who desires to connect to it. This is what is meant by "the kisses of his mouth". The soul now says to G-d "your love is better than wine", meaning to say that wine has the ability to lift the strengths of the soul and excite the natural heat of man and make him happier. However, this excitement is really a foreign fire" because it comes from the wrong direction - from the physical lower level of the body to the soul. It is therefore a secular joy which is completely unlike the excitement of the soul and its joy when it connects to spirituality and prophecy, which comes from heaven and G-d to the soul. This enables the walls of the body to implode under the pressure of the holiness of the soul. It is for this reason that "your love is better than wine".

THE PARABLE:

Now, since I cannot see you and I can't feel you, but only your fragrant oils which eminate from you. It is for this reason that the noble women love you, and how much more so if they were to see you and understand your beauty. I therefore request "Draw me after you let us run (Songs 1)"

THE EXPLANATION

The soul explains why she desires these moments of connection so very much. The reason is because she and her beloved noblewomen - (her wisdom, understanding and deep knowledge) have experienced her through their faculties, even though they haven't 'met' as it were face to face.

This is the meaning of the words "the scent of your oils are good" ​​​​​​. The oils here point to the eminations of God which effect reality, and the spiritual light which is hidden within it.

....

"Your name is like the finest oil" - you have no name in terms of Yourself, because You are not known and recognised in and of yourself, rather in terms of the influence of that "oil" which which eminates onto the entire world.

Therefore the noblewomen - these are the intellectual energies which serve the soul and spiritualy,

have loved you - they recognise your honour and exaltedness, to the extent that they can recognise your ways, although they can't see you unless through prophecy. This is because the the achievements of the intellect are dependent on a physical realm, which acts as a seperation between them and the clean ability to perceive the honour of God as it is in reality. I therefore request....

THE PARABLE

The sheperdess begs "take me away from this prison, from the rooms of Shlomo, and then I will be free to see you face to face, and I will run to you! I and my noblewomen. The reason why she asks to be free is because the king has brought me to his rooms, I am imprisoned in the rooms of Shlomo, and I can't leave. (When we are free then) I will rejoice and delight over you because the joy that I receive from you will be greater than any of the rooms of Solomon, becasue they don't have any special value, they are just imaginings.

הגיל relates to a new excitement, while השמחה relates to being in a constant state of happiness.

This is not like the love of Solomon where people don't love him because of himeself, only because of the benefit and the benefits of being connected to him, but you (the shepherd) I love because of who your personal stature.

THE EXPLANATION

Remove me: from this prison which is this physicality which seperates me from visions of G-d. This occurs through the provision of prophecy. It is then that the spirit can seperate itself from the body which are in Shlomo's terms his 'rooms'. If that happnens "We will run after you"- i.e. the soul and its intellectual components will run after G-d. The intellect is able to move towards this spiritual journey, even though it is still connected to physicality, although it will make their movements heavy, and the physicality will prevent their movement. Intellectual pursuit of G-d moves from connection to connection, and from idea to idea. This is not the case with spiritual attainment when it is seperated from the physical imprisonment, which perceives G-d simply and with alacrity. The soul asks for this, because "The king has brought me to his rooms" the king that has encircled Jerusalem - this is the strength of arrousal/desire, and the desire which controls the body. That element has imprisoned the soul in his rooms, until the soul cannot leave to his beloved, and cannot perceive G-d and his truth through a clear and truthful understanding. The King (i.e. desire) has taken the soul as a concubine, and her nobles (the intellect) as his maidservants, to use as it sees fit. The soul therefore asks to be saved from this so she can enjoy first "Gil" and then "Simcha".

The soul remembers the spiritual intoxication of prophecy, which annul the bodies strength, like wine which dumbs the senses like one who is drunk. This, the soul remembers constantly with joy, and is completely unlike the physical wine which follows intoxication with sorrow.

מישרים אהבוך: All the love of the king - the centre of desire of this world' are not going in terms of their straightness - i.e. they are not beloved in terms of themselves or for themselves, rather because they are intermediaries for something else.

For example, someone who loves wealth in order to buy himself jewelery, and he will love that because through owning all of that he will be respected. A person will love honour, because through it his words will be heard. A love of wealth is in order to buy whatever he needs, and his needs he will love, because they strengthen his body.

He will exercise his body, in order to live a long time, and the purpose of his life will be....what?

This is not the same as the loving of G-d, A person loves G-d because G-d is in Himself good. When the soul connects ultimately with the Almighty, it connects automatically and naturally as part of something to its entirety.

THE PARABLE:

I am black: The sheperdess now turns to the daughters of Jerusalem who guard her, and says to them: know that even though I am darkened, (because I sit constantly under the sun with the sheep), this suntan is not the natural complexion of an African woman which will never leave her, because essentially I am beautiful, and my darkness just happens to be with me at the time. When there is no longer a reason for the suntan (lack of sun) I will no longer be tanned. Similiarly, if I do not sit under the sun, I will be as pretty as before, because the tents of Keidar are like the curtains of Shlomo, which are capable of being washed and returned to their white hue, because in essence they are white, however....

THE INTERPRETATION

The soul who wants to have this connection to G-d through prophecy, when she sees that her beloved isn't able to kiss/connect to her in a direct way, and to continue intimacy with her while she is in a physical form, because the strengths of the body are sorounding her, and she is held in their web.

She then turns her face to the elements of the body who are her neighbours (called the daughters of Jerusalem). She says to them: Know that even though I appear black on the external side of myself) because the appearance of blackness swallows up the light, the spiritual lights on a simliar level are swallowed up within me, I am nonetheless beautiful in terms of myself. The essence of the soul is a precious light which is soft and sparkling. My "blackness" is just happenstance because I am imprisoned in physicality by the sun, and when I wash myself of this veneer, and I will not sit by the sun* (which no doubt has some spiritual meaning) I will return to white like the tents of Kedar and the curtains of Solomon....

(6) Don’t stare at me because I am swarthy, Because the sun has gazed upon me. My mother’s sons quarreled with me, They made me guard the vineyards; My own vineyard I did not guard.

THE PARABLE: Don't see me and think that I am naturally black, because this external blackness came through the sun looking at me. The sun's darkness is under her skin, is specifically because the sons of my father pricked me with their swords, by placing me to protect the vinyards until I constantly sat underneath the sun, but I didn't protect my own vinyard - i.e. my beauty. Through this the sun has perforated deep into my pores.

You should know that there is a difference between נטר and ,שמר ,נצר.

נטר -relates specifically to abstract things - for example nursing anger or nursing hatred.

THE EXPLANATION:

Don't see me and think that the blackness which is upon me comes from within me, because it comes for two reasons:

1. I am constantly under the strictures of time which is dependent upon the movement of the sun. The soul would conceptualise everything immediately without boundaries and without any need for order.

When the soul was placed into the body under the constraints of time, which limits its understanding, and requires organisation of information. It is for this reason that she is externally 'black', because the intellect and the light are present in potential, but not in practice. the second reason is

(2) "The sons of my mother have quarreled with me". The soul has brothers from her father which is the intellect (her nobles mentioned above). She also has brothers from her mother which is imagination and desire, and the other physical strengths of the body. They have caused her to become black on an internal level as well. They have " placed me to protect the vinyards" which relates to the actions which a person does in order to achieve some purpose, just as a person protects the vinyards so that the grapes can be gathered and turned into wine, which is the purpose of guarding them in the first place. These brothers of my mother have placed the soul in such a place that she has to protect other vinyards - their purposes which are unrelated to her purpose - for example wealth, kingship, power, and lust. Because they have focused the soul on those pursuits, the soul does not "watch over her own vinyard" - She does not keep the Torah and the holy wisdom which is the vinyard set aside for her for her purposes. It is for this reason that she has become 'black' as i were which causes her to weaken her hold on her spirituality from an internal perspective.

All of this can ben be removed with ease if I don't go through the vinyards (of my mother's sons) and seperate myself from physicality and keep far away from the sun.

THE PARABLE:

The Shepherdess now speaks to her beloved who stands behind the wall. She requests that he makes known to her where she can find him when she is able to flee from the king's castle. The reason is is that sometimes the shepherd takes care of the sheep, and at other times he will rest them in the afternoon because it is too hot and he will be unable to look after his sheep and be somewhere else. The Shepherd also has a special place which is best for the sheep, and she therefore asks "where will you take care of them?" When he rests, all the shepherds gather together to one place of shade and there they will leave the sheep to graze and rest. She therefore asks him where he will be, because she does not want to rest next to the flocks of his fellow shepherds. She does not want to be imprisoned, she wants to be free with the roses on the mountains of Baser.

INTERPRETATION: The soul speaks to G-d who stands behind the walls, because she is unable to connect at the moment via prophecy, because of the forces of physicality which seperate her from the spiritual. She wants to know how to find his place - meaning to say - teach the soul how to understand G-d's truth through investigation.

G-d can be found sometimes as a shepherd, and sometimes is resting. This means as follows: The way that G-d rules the world could be in one of two ways:

1. Sometimes he leads the world by looking after them actively, not using nature and astrological destiny (or other leaders or predictors of behaviour/action). He will shepherd his sheep by personally looking after them, and provide each one of them with blessings according to his lack.

When the generation does not merit it, G-d will cause the world to be led through nature and astrological design which have been set aside from the six days of creation. It is at moments like this, that G-d doesn't shepherd his sheep, but rather rests them. At this time, the sheep don't get their sustanance from Him, rather He will leave them in a place where they will sustain themselves from the life and food which they have already received.

This resting takes place in the "afternoon" when the sun which is the head of the astrological signs are in full force.

At the time when G-d actively shepherds the world, there are no others who are involved in taking care of the sheep.

When G-d 'rests' as it were, G-d rests with his friends which are the stars, and the canstallations according to their duties.

The soul of Shlomo now requests that she finds her beloved in both of these G-dly states (i.e. when he is active and when he is active). She does not want to be covered with cloudy/fuzzy coverings which is the house of Shlomo - this is not my natural place!

PARABLE:

The Shepherd answers the shepherdess: You need to know two things.

1. You need to know my place where to find me, and

2. You need advice and subtlety so that the guards don't recognise you when you travel to meet me.

For the first piece of information, go out into the footsteps of the sheep. When you recognise the paths they trod, you should come to the place of the shepherd.

For the second piece of information, shepherd your own goats next to the tents of the other shepherds, and then everyone will think that you are one of them,

INTERPRETATION:

G-d now answers the question: if you want to flee from the courtyard of the king and come for me - if you, the soul leave your desires and matters of the body and attempt with your intellect to achieve/understand my truth, you need two things:

1. my place, and. how to be in contact with me - how do you enter into the arena/orchard in order to recognise the Maker of the world.

2. The advice that will stop the desires of the body from making the attempt, and the focus required for this endeavour.

I (G-d) says " go out into the footsteps of the sheep" meaning to say that attaining G-d in terms of himself is impossible, and you will not be able to recognise and understand the shepherd of the world in terms of himself. It is only through examining the sheep which are led by his hand that you will be able to discern the shepherd.

On a practical level by perceiving the wisdom, ability and mercy which is recognisable in the footsteps of the sheep, and the energy of life with which He leads them because of the meaning that he attaches to them, you will be able to recognise the greatness of the shepherd, his wisdom and his ability.

With regardto the second point (i.e. how to prevent the physical strengths of your body). You will need to try and be the shepherdess who leads your physical forces (your sheep). It will be in such a way that you compare the ruling of your physical forces in your world (the body) to the behaviour of G-d to his physical forces which are all the variables in the world that he controls in the real world.

This means that just as He rules the entire world for an ultimate good purpose, so too you should be able to control your own world for ultimate goodness.

This should be done "in the tents of the other shepherds" meaning to say that the soul has other strengths (desire and imagination) should be sub-shepherds to the ultimate shepherd (the soul).

We have explained in the introduction that this song was based on the first vision that Solomon had in Gibeon in a dream, where he asked Solomon "What should I give you?" Solomon answered that he desired "a heart to understand and to listen to judgement, and to discern between good and bad". This answer found favour in God's eyes because he asked for wisdom specifically in his dream.

This is because any thought or decision reached at in a dream doesn't work on a conscious level. Perforce it must have been that he was focusing his mind on achieving this thought as being his reason de etre for many days while awake. He made the conscious attempt for these requests (wisdom, heart to understand etc) and through this focus to understand judgement, and it was because of his conscious effort that he was rewarded with the prophecy that he achieved where G-d revealed himself to Shlomo and fulfiled his desire.

Therefore, before he talks about what happened when he actually achieves his first prophecy from G-d, he needs to describe how the soul of Shlomo attempted to recognise G-d and to know his ways....

Therefore, Shlomo introduces the idea that before G-d revealed himself to him and provided him with a vision, Shlomo shows the effort that he went through to be particular to know and understand the ways of G-d and how he judges and rules the world.

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