Shoshanat ha-‘amakim (Lily of the Valleys): On the Song of Songs

I maintain that this megilah [scroll] is nothing other than a disputation of the people of the diaspora, those exiled in the bitter and impetuous [see Habakkuk 1:6] captivity of this host [see Obadiah 1:20], in which they engage in a dispute with the Lord their God. It was composed by King Solomon (may he rest in peace) by means of the spirit of the Lord that spoke through him and His word that was upon his tongue [see 2 Samuel 23:2]. Its purpose is to make known the Blessed One’s affection for them [i.e., the Jews] and their love for Him, so that no one will say that the Holy One, blessed be He, has forsaken them and that God has forgotten them [see Isaiah 49:14] over the course of this lengthy exile. Alternatively, some might claim that due to the evil hearts of the children of Israel, who have forgotten His deeds, may He be blessed, and forsaken His covenant, God has likewise rejected them, and His soul abhors them [see Leviticus 26:30], Heaven forfend. He therefore decided to compose the goodly words (Genesis 49:21) of this scroll, in which he compares Israel, in relation to the Lord, to a royal daughter, the perfection of beauty, fair and attractive, beloved by a great king, who is full of wisdom and the perfection of beauty. He beholds this captive woman [see Deuteronomy 21:11] and loves her; and the maiden found favor in his eyes and she obtained grace before him above all the women (Esther 2:9, 17). He therefore set out to wage war against her enemies [see Deuteronomy 21:10] and ransomed her from her oppressors. He then speedily gave her ointments to her, with her portions [see Esther 2:9]. He loved her like his own self, and for her part she too loved him; the desire of the soul is to his name and his memorial (Isaiah 26:8).

When the time of love [see Ezekiel 16:8] arrived, the love of the nuptials, she drew near to him and they engaged in love—he embraced and kissed her, and their love overflowed, as his love for her was greater than the love of women [see 2 Samuel 1:26]. But it came to pass, that after a long time he found some unseemly thing in her [see Deuteronomy 24:1], as she had hired a lover [see Hosea 8:9], one of the eunuchs. The king grew very angry [see Esther 1:12] and a royal commandment was issued forth from him, which was written in the laws of the king [see Esther 1:19], that she should be sent away from his house [see Deuteronomy 24:1] and that he would not take her back for a good while. However, he did not sever the ties between them, nor did he write a bill of divorce for her. He merely sent her out of his home.

She went off, drifting from house to house and from one courtyard to another, unable to find a place of rest for the sole of her foot [see Genesis 8:9]. Over the course of her wanderings and the events that befell her, she indeed remembered the love of her espousals [see Jeremiah 2:2], her servants and maidservants who had stood at her command, and how good their love was, and she wept profusely, saying, “How have I become esteemed like earthen pitchers [see Lamentations 4:2]; I have been thrown down like from heaven to earth, from the house of my rest [see 1 Chronicles 28:2], my palace, my royal status; and my beloved loathes me.” Thus, her heart was broken within her [see Jeremiah 23:9], as she had been made desolate and faint all the day [see Lamentations 1:13]. Her soul yearned, even pined [see Psalms 84:3] for the courtyards of her lord, and she constantly declared, “Oh that I were as in the months of old [see Job 29:2], when my husband loved me, when his lamp shone above my head (Job 29:3).”

The king, too, remembered his wife and what she had done and what had been decreed upon her [see Esther 2:1], and he said to himself, “Why should the bitterness of her sin increase before me? That eunuch can neither not hurt nor destroy [see Isaiah 11:9], nor is it in him to do good [see Jeremiah 10:5]. Why should my soul abhor the wife of my youth, whom I have loved, and why has she also rejected the one she chose and to whom she tied herself in love, her first husband?” Then the king, upon the completion of her days of banishment, after he had expelled her from his presence, withdrew his anger from her, and built a house for her, and he was again with her, as they were at first. From that day forth, the woman was careful not to return to her former sins.

However, as time passed, she adopted bad habits and he was repulsed by her, due to her evil ways, and he rejected her with the discipline of wisdom [see Proverbs 1:3]. He drew back his hand a second time, to push her away from her position and to wrench her from her status, to the lions’ dens and the mountains of the leopards [see Song of Songs 4:8]. She became trodden down [see Micah 7:10]—this one would maul and consume, and that one would tear apart and roar; there was none to deliver out of their hand [see Lamentations 5:8]. If she fled from a lion, she was met by a bear [see Amos 5:19], and if she was gathered into a city, she would be bitten by a snake.

Now, on this second occasion, he did not specify the time period of her banishment, due to the abundance of his complaint and vexation [see 1 Samuel 1:16], since she had repeated the offense and had transgressed his will twice. Even so, he retained his love for her and did not choose anyone else, and the whole day long his soul yearned: when will she return from the evil ways that she has acquired, so that he can draw her to him and bestow his love upon her? For it is his bride whom he desired, and who among all the daughters of the land can compare to her, even while she still retains her later sin, and especially if she were to remove the garment of her evil ways from upon her [see Deuteronomy 21:13]. Just as her soul was precious to the king, so was his soul precious to her. For she recalled the love of her espousals, the lord of her youth [see Proverbs 2:17]. She wept greatly night and day [see Lamentations 1:2] [ . . . ] for she was lovesick for his love [see Song of Songs 2:5]. However, she had not yet cleansed herself from the filth of some of her unbecoming habits.

The man was looking steadfastly upon her, holding his peace [see Genesis 24:21] and holding back from grasping her hand to bring her back to him, until she had cleansed herself and would ascend of her own accord to that elevated level she had formerly attained. The days went by, in that state of hope deferred (Proverbs 13:12)—she was hoping that he would extend a hand to establish and sustain her [see Isaiah 9:6], while he was hoping that she would first begin to establish herself.

There was an old and foolish man who tried to entice her and lead her astray with his smooth tongue, so that she would no longer return, and then he would go off and slander her, speaking badly about her, that she still retained her impure state and was continuing to sin. But one of her young ones, whom she bore to him, arose and grew angry at what his ears were hearing, all that emerged from the mouths [see Numbers 30:3] of those who devise iniquity [see Micah 2:1], who think wrongly about the king and queen. For they say: Is it for no reason that the king delays the return of this banished one of his for several years? They also chatter about the king, saying: Is she indeed fitting in his eyes? For if he has not exchanged nor swapped her [see Leviticus 27:10] for another, why has he forsaken her and forgotten her over this matter? A son was born to them, who spoke poetry and chanted a new song, about their love and their silvery [kesef] passion, how greatly they yearned [nikhsefu] for each other. Even after he had sent her away and concealed his face from her, he was not jealous of her, nor did he hate her, for he led and guided her with his hand even there. [ . . . ]

Behold, this is an accurate metaphor for what happened to us, the assembly of Israel, in relation to the Lord of our youth, our Father, our King, as our rabbis, of blessed memory, used this parable in description of the day we left Egypt, that we were like the daughter of a king who had been captured by bandits, etc.