1. Welcome, Check-in, Opening Question
What place is there for eros (physical love and sexual desire) in Judaism?
Song of Songs. By Unknown author - Rothschild Mahzor, Manuscript, Italy, 1492., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16260716
Above the large Hebrew word שיר ("Song [of Songs]") in this manuscript is an instruction:
ביום אחרון של פסח לעת מנחת ערב אומרים
On the last day of Passover at the time of the evening Minchah offering we recite [the book of] Song [of Songs...]
1a. Road Map for this class (#6) and for the upcoming classes (#7-10)
Class #6 - This Class
- Song of Songs Overview -
- one of the Five Scrolls
- features in common with other literature
- An Unusual Biblical Book -
- How did the rabbis receive this book?
- Love as a theme in the Prophets
- How have Jews read the book over the millennia? (PaRDeS)
- Questions to consider for Chapter 1
- Chapter 1
- Discussion and Commentaries
Upcoming classes
- Class 7 - chapters 2 and 3
- Class 8 - chapters 4 and 5
- Class 9 - chapters 6 and 7
- Class 10 - chapter 8 - review of Song of Songs - Prospect
2. Song of Songs as one of The Five Scrolls - overview
Let's focus on details relevant to the Song of Songs
- What are they about?
- Song of Songs/Shir haShirim: a collection of poems about love
- Ruth: the story of how Ruth the Moabite came to Judah and married Boaz
- Lamentations/Eicha: a collection of lamentations over the destruction of the First Temple
- Ecclesiastes/Kohelet: meditations on the effort to understand the purpose of life
- Esther: the story of how Esther becomes queen of Persia and how she and her cousin Mordecai overcome a plot to annihilate the Jews
- What is the time period described in the books?
- Ruth - in the period of the judges (before the Monarchy)
- Song of Songs - traditionally, the youth of King Solomon (10th c. BCE)
- Ecclesiastes/Kohelet - the old age of a king (traditioanlly, Solomon)
- Lamentations - 586 BCE (the destruction of the First Temple)
- Esther - sometime during the reign of Xerxes (486-465 BCE) of Persia
- The genres of the Five Scrolls
- Poetry: Song of Songs, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes
- Prose: Ruth, Esther
- Length of the Five Scrolls
- Song of Songs 117 verses - 8 chapters
- Ruth 85 verses - 4 chapters
- Lamentations 154 verses - 5 chapters
- Ecclesiastes 222 verses - 12 chapters
- Esther 167 (or 168) verses - 10 chapters
- When are they read in the Jewish calendar?
- Song of Songs: In many Ashkenazi and Sephardi congregations: during Passover. Some individuals recite it on Friday before Shabbat Prayers and immediately following the Passover Seder.
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Machzor Vitri I:304 (as quoted by Michael Fishbane, Introduction, xlviii)
"One recites the scroll of the Song of Songs on the Sabbath when that occurs during the intervening days of the Festival [of Passover]. … Gloss 2: Therefore we recite the Song of Songs on Passover because it refers to the redemption from Egypt; as it says, “[I have likened you…] to a mare in Pharaoh’s chariots” [1:9], etc." (11-12 cc Northern France, school of Rabbi Shlomoh).
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- Ruth: In many Ashkenazi and Sephardi congregations: during Shavuot
- Lamentations: Very widely - on the night of Tish'a beAv (The Fast of Av)
- Ecclesiastes: In many Ashkenazi (not Sephardi) congregations - during Sukkot
- Esther: Universally during Purim (traditionally both at night and during the day)
- Song of Songs: In many Ashkenazi and Sephardi congregations: during Passover. Some individuals recite it on Friday before Shabbat Prayers and immediately following the Passover Seder.
- Musical chant for the Five Scrolls
- "Five Scrolls" trope ('trop') - Song of Songs, Ruth, Ecclesiastes
- Esther - a special, bright chant. Some phrases that are understood to refer to the Destruction of the Temple are read according to the trope of Lamentations
- Lamentations - a special, especially sad chant (chapter 3 is sometimes sung with its own melody
- Authorship, according to the Talmud (Talmud Bava Batra 15a)
- Song of Songs - King Hezekiah and his associates (King Solomon)
- Ruth - the prophet Samuel
- Lamentations - the prophet Jeremiah
- Ecclesiastes - King Hezekiah and his associates (King Solomon)
- Esther - The Men of the Great Assembly (Mordecai and Esther
2a. What does Song of Songs have in common with other literature?
or
Does the language of Song of Songs give us an indication of when it was written or when different parts of it were written?
- Feature in common with Canaanite (Ugaritic) literature (14th-13th cc BCE)
- Word pairs such as "our bed"//"our home" in 1:16-17
- Words and phrases not found elsewhere in Tanach but found in Aramaic and Mishnaic Hebrew (post exilic, so after the 6th-5th c. BCE)
- Persian words like pardes ("orchard," source of the English word paradise)
See Michael Fishbane, Introduction, pp. xxxiv-xxxv
(Ugarit (whose ruins are located at Ras Shamra in northwestern Syria, on the Mediterranean) was an Amorite (West Semitic) city-state which flourished in the 2nd millennium BCE. A rich library of documents, including important works of Canaanite literature, was discovered there in 1929. This library has shed a lot of light on Biblical poetry, including Psalms and Song of Songs.)
Elsie Stern, Introduction to Song of Songs, Jewish Study Bible, p. 1560
Contemporary scholarly consensus hypothesizes that the poem probably has its roots in early folk and literary traditions but was composed or redacted in the 4th or 3rd c. BCE.
Site of Ugarit in northwestern Syria
3. Song of Songs: An Unusual Biblical Book
Michael Fishbane, The JPS Bible Commentary: Song of Songs, 2015, Introduction, p. xix
The Song of Songs is a wondrous collection of love lyrics – songs of passion, and praise between a young maiden and her beloved, nestled in the heart of the Hebrew Bible. Scenes from the natural world abound, as the young pair make their way around the countryside and invoke all they see and smell in the world to express their inner feelings and laud one another's beauty. There are plants and fruit growing in the orchards, sheep and gazelles moving on the hills, and oils and spices and profusion. Each and all convey the impressions that the loved one makes on the eye and heart.
However, readers of this love and bounty will find no references to God and Israel, the Exodus and Sinai, or any other event of the sacred history recorded in Scripture. Nor will they find references to covenant obligations and religious observance – even the love of God – in these lyrics. How can we understand this? Do these songs of human desire and delight mean just what they say? Or might they conceal some hints of sacred history and worship, and not be as secular as they seem? Readers past and present have pondered this matter and taken different positions.
(ה) ... כָּל כִּתְבֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ מְטַמְּאִין אֶת הַיָּדַיִם. שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים וְקֹהֶלֶת מְטַמְּאִין אֶת הַיָּדַיִם.
רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים מְטַמֵּא אֶת הַיָּדַיִם, וְקֹהֶלֶת מַחֲלֹקֶת.
רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר, קֹהֶלֶת אֵינוֹ מְטַמֵּא אֶת הַיָּדַיִם וְשִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים מַחֲלֹקֶת.
... אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן עַזַּאי, מְקֻבָּל אֲנִי מִפִּי שִׁבְעִים וּשְׁנַיִם זָקֵן, בַּיּוֹם שֶׁהוֹשִׁיבוּ אֶת רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה בַּיְשִׁיבָה, שֶׁשִּׁיר הַשִּׁירִים וְקֹהֶלֶת מְטַמְּאִים אֶת הַיָּדַיִם.
אָמַר רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, לֹא נֶחֱלַק אָדָם מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל עַל שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים שֶׁלֹּא תְטַמֵּא אֶת הַיָּדַיִם, שֶׁאֵין כָּל הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ כְדַאי כַּיּוֹם שֶׁנִּתַּן בּוֹ שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁכָּל הַכְּתוּבִים קֹדֶשׁ, וְשִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים. וְאִם נֶחְלְקוּ, לֹא נֶחְלְקוּ אֶלָּא עַל קֹהֶלֶת.
אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן בֶּן יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חָמִיו שֶׁל רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא, כְּדִבְרֵי בֶן עַזַּאי, כָּךְ נֶחְלְקוּ וְכָךְ גָּמְרוּ:
Was there a debate about whether the Song of Songs is part of Scripture?
(5) ... All the Holy Scriptures defile the hands. The Song of Songs and Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) defile the hands.
Rabbi Judah says: the Song of Songs defiles the hands, but there is a dispute about Kohelet.
Rabbi Yose says: Kohelet does not defile the hands, but there is a dispute about the Song of Songs.
... Rabbi Shimon ben Azzai said: I have received a tradition from the seventy-two elders on the day when they appointed Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah head of the academy that the Song of Songs and Kohelet defile the hands.
Rabbi Akiba (mid 2nd c. CE) said: Far be it! No man in Israel dissented concerning the Song of Songs, [saying] that it does not defile the hands. For the whole world is not as worthy as the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel; for all the writings are holy but the Song of Songs is the holy of holies. If they had a dispute, they had a dispute only about Kohelet.
Rabbi Yohanan ben Joshua the son of the father-in-law of Rabbi Akiva said in accordance with the words of Ben Azzai: so they disputed and so they reached a decision.
The Tosefta is a collection of rabbinic legal traditions, parallel with the Mishnah. It comes from the land of Israel, late 2nd - 3rd centuries CE.
Here Rabbi Akiva again shows his love of Song of Songs.
[The rabbis] added: The one who casts off the yoke of the commandments, the one who invalidates the covenant, and the one who intentionally misinterprets or disrespects the Torah [has no portion in the world to come].
Rabbi Akiva says: The one who warbles their voice when they recite the Song of Songs when they are in a feasting hall and makes it like a song has no share in the world to come.
The one who whispers over the wound and says, “All the diseases…” (Exodus 15:26) and spits over the wound — they have no share in the world to come.
3a. Love in the Prophets
(21) And I [=God] will espouse you [=the people Israel] forever:
I will espouse you with righteousness and justice,
And with goodness and mercy, (22) And I will espouse you with faithfulness;
Then you shall be devoted to GOD.
(2) Go proclaim to Jerusalem: Thus said GOD:
I accounted to your favor
The devotion of your youth,
Your love as a bride—
How you followed Me in the wilderness,
In a land not sown.
(7) I [=God] let you [=the people Israel] grow like the plants of the field; and you continued to grow up until you attained to womanhood, until your breasts became firm and your hair sprouted.
You were still naked and bare (8) when I passed by you [again] and saw that your time for love had arrived. So I spread My robe over you and covered your nakedness, and I entered into a covenant with you by oath—declares the Sovereign GOD; thus you became Mine. (9) I bathed you in water, and washed the blood off you, and anointed you with oil. (10) I clothed you with embroidered garments, and gave you sandals of dolphin leather to wear, and wound fine linen about your head, and dressed you in silks.
(5) As a youth espouses a maiden,
Your sons shall espouse you;
And as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
So will your God rejoice over you.
3b. How Jews have encountered Song of Songs over the Millenia:
Four Interpretive Approaches
Michael Fishbane describes these approaches on pages xxxv-xlvii of the introduction to his commentary.
| Type | Description | Context | Maiden & Beloved might be... | Who might best understand? |
| Peshat | "Plain" or contextual meaning | Meaning of words, phrases, images in context of the book, Tanach, and other literature | A maiden and her beloved | Literary and biblical Scholars |
| Derash | "Expounding" on the communal and religious import | Scripture (especially Torah) and Rabbinic understandings; covenant of Written and Oral Torah | The people Israel and God | Rabbis |
| Remez | "Allusion" that provides personal and spiritual value | Philosophical truths consistent with Revelation | The soul/mind and the Perfect Intellect | Philosophers |
| Sod | Metaphysical "Secret" | Mystical truths believed to predate the Creation | Modalities of the Divine | Kabbalists |
Together, these four approaches are known as PaRDes ("Orchard") for Peshat, Remez, Derash, and Sod
4. Questions to consider for Chapter 1
- Think about the qualities of the poetry:
- Imagery
- Use of similes and metaphors
- Who is speaking? Who are the characters?
- Do you find any recurring structure in the chapter or in the individual verses?
- Do you find a through-line in this chapter? Does a narrative unfold here?
5. Our Text: Chapter 1
(1) The Song of Songs, by [or “concerning”] Solomon.
(2) Oh, give me of the kisses of your mouth,
For your love is more delightful than wine.
(3) Your ointments yield a sweet fragrance,
Your name is like finest oil—
Therefore do maidens love you.
(4) Draw me after you, let us run!
The king has brought me to his chambers.
Let us delight and rejoice in your love,
Savoring it more than wine—
Like new wine they love you!
(5) I am dark, but comely,
O daughters of Jerusalem—
Like the tents of Kedar,
Like the pavilions 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.
(7) Tell me, you whom I love so well;
Where do you pasture your sheep?
Where do you rest them at noon?
Let me not be as one who strays
Beside the flocks of your fellows.
(8) If you do not know, O fairest of women,
Go follow the tracks of the sheep,
And graze your kids
By the tents of the shepherds.
(9) I have likened you, my darling,
To a mare in Pharaoh’s chariots:
(10) Your cheeks are comely with plaited wreaths,
Your neck with strings of jewels.
(11) We will add wreaths of gold
To your spangles of silver.
(12) While the king was on his couch,
My nard gave forth its fragrance.
(13) My beloved to me is a bag of myrrh
Lodged between my breasts.
(14) My beloved to me is a spray of henna blooms
From the vineyards of En-gedi.
(15) Ah, you are fair, my darling,
Ah, you are fair,
With your dove-like eyes!
(16) And you, my beloved, are handsome,
Beautiful indeed!
Our couch is in a bower;
(17) Cedars are the beams of our house,
Cypresses the rafters.
6. Discussion and Commentaries
Discussion - Your reactions and questions - Consider the questions with which we started
Peshat
6a. Verse 1 - Song of Songs
- Compare: 'holy of holies' kodesh ha-kodashim; 'vanity of vanities' havel havalim Ecclesiastes 1:2; 'King of kings' melekh malkhayya Ezra 7:12. Just as 'holy of holies' means most holy place, 'song of songs' can mean 'the best song'.
- A song (made up) of songs - one book that contains many songs
(2) Oh, give me of the kisses of your mouth,
For your love is more delightful than wine.
6b. Verses 2 kisses...and wine
On kisses: see 6e., below.
On wine: Elsie Stern, JSB, Commentary: "The repeated references to wine may suggest an original context in wedding feasts or other celebrations where wine was drunk. Wine also functions poetically as a symbol of intoxicating sensuous pleasure."
6c. Verse 5 - I am dark, but comely
Michael Fishbane
"She bids [the 'daughters of Jerusalem'] not to despise her for this, since she is sunburnt from long hours in the vineyards. ... Self-conscious of her visage, she blames her brothers and exclaims that she has not (yet) tended her own vineyard (v. 6b). This phrase is a double entendre. Palpably, the 'vineyard' is both a specific place and a figure for her person. Motivated by her distraught state, the maiden seeks fulfillment in love."
dark // tents of Kedar (made of black goatskin?)
comely // pavilions of Solomon
6d. Verse 16 - "our couch is in a bower" - verses 15-17
Michael Fishbane -
"All distance overcome, the poet intimates a consummation of their love."
6e. Derash - Remez Sod on Verse 2, 'the kisses of your mouth'
(כב) ועל זה הענין רמזו ה׳חכמים׳ במות משה אהרן ומרים, ש׳שלשתם מתו בנשיקה׳ – ואמרו שאמרו: ״וימת שם משה עבד ה' בארץ מואב על פי יי״ – ״מלמד שמת בנשיקה״; וכן נאמר באהרן ״על פי ה' וימת שם״; וכן אמרו במרים ״אף היא בנשיקה מתה״ – אבל לא זכר בה ׳על פי יי׳ להיותה אשה ואין טוב לזכור זה המשל בה; – הכונה בשלשתם שמתו בענין הנאת ההשגה ההיא מרוב החשק. ונמשכו ה׳חכמים ז״ל׳ בזה המאמר על דרך מליצת השיר המפורסמת, שתקרא שם ההשגה המגעת עם חיזוק חשק האלוק ית׳ ׳נשיקה׳ – כאמרו: ״ישקני מנשיקות פיהו וגו׳״. וזה המין מן המיתה אשר הוא ההמלט מן המות על דרך האמת, לא זכרו ה׳חכמים ז״ל׳ שהגיע רק למשה ואהרן ומרים; אבל שאר הנביאים והחסידים הם למטה מזה, אך כולם תחזק השגת שכלם עם המות – כמו שנאמר: ״והלך לפניך צדקך כבוד ה' יאספך״; וישאר השכל ההוא אחר כן לנצח על ענין אחד, כי כבר הוסר המונע אשר היה מבדיל בינו ובין מושכלו בקצת העיתים, ויעמוד בהנאה הגדולה ההיא, אשר אינה ממין הנאות הגוף – כמו שבארנו בחיבורינו וביאר זולתנו לפנינו.
Moses Maimonides, Rambam, ca. 1190
(22) To this state our Sages referred, when in reference to the death of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, they said that death was in these three cases nothing but a kiss.
They say thus: We learn from the words, “And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab by the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 34:5), that his death was a kiss. The same expression is used of Aaron: “And Aaron the priest went up into Mount Hor . . . by the mouth of the Lord, and died there” (Num. 33:38)
Our Sages said that the same was the case with Miriam; but the phrase “by the mouth of the Lord” is not employed, because it was not considered appropriate to use these words in the description of her death as she was a female. The meaning of this saying is that these three died in the midst of the pleasure derived from the knowledge of God and their great love for Him.
When our Sages figuratively call the knowledge of God united with intense love for Him a kiss, they follow the well-known poetical diction, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth” (Song 1:2). This kind of death, which in truth is deliverance from death, has been ascribed by our Sages to none but to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
The other prophets and pious men are beneath that degree: but their knowledge of God is strengthened when death approaches. Of them Scripture says, “Thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward” (Isa. 58:8). The intellect of these men remains then constantly in the same condition, since the obstacle is removed that at times has intervened between the intellect and the object of its action: it continues for ever in that great delight, which is not like bodily pleasure. We have explained this in our work, and others have explained it before us.
[The child] opened [the discussion], saying, "O that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth" (Song of Songs 1:2). This is supernal desire, for passion issues from the mouth, not from the nose, as does fire. For look, when a mouth merges by kissing, fire issues passionately, in radiant faces, total joy. blissful cleaving.
Translation: Daniel C. Matt, The Zohar, Vol. 1, Stanford U Press, 2004, p. 413.
7. Summary and Next Class