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.
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 said: Far be it! No man in Israel disputed that 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.
- What are the pros and cons of viewing Shir HaShirim as a metaphorical relationship between God and the people Israel?
- What are the pros and cons of viewing Shir HaShirim as a poem about love between people?
The Sages taught: One who reads a verse from Song of Songs and renders it a form of secular song, and not a sacred text, and one who reads any biblical verse at a banquet house, not at its appropriate time, but merely as a song, introduces evil to the world, as the Torah girds itself with sackcloth and stands before the Holy One, Blessed be He, and says before Him: Master of the Universe, Your children have rendered me like a harp on which clowns play.
- What Rabbinic fear does this text illuminate in regards to Shir HaShirim? Or biblical text at large?
The Real World of Shulamite
"They are two lovers whom society, for inscrutable reasons, sought to keep apart, perhaps because they were from different lasses, from different ethnic backgrounds, or of a different color...The Song of Songs advocates balance in female and male relationships, urging mutuality not domination, interdependence, not enmity, sexual fulfillment not mere procreation, uninhibited love not bigoted emotions. It adjures us not to disturb love but to allow relations to ripe into full bloom following their own course, not to impose on relationships our own biased preconceptions about what is appropriate and inappropriate sexual behavior, who makes a suitable mate and who does not. It is a text that deserves repeated reading and reflection by modern audiences."
-Renita J. Weems, "Song of Songs" in The Women's Bible Commentary
As we read the following texts consider:
- What do these verses teach us about the experience of the Shulamite woman outside of her relationship with her lover?
- How might we imagine these social interactions and circumstances to impact her relationship with her lover?
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.
My hands dripped myrrh—
My fingers, flowing myrrh—
Upon the handles of the bolt. (6) I opened the door for my beloved,
But my beloved had turned and gone.
I was faint because of what he said.-d
I sought, but found him not;
I called, but he did not answer. (7) I met the watchmen
Who patrol the town;
They struck me, they bruised me.
The guards of the walls
Stripped me of my mantle.
Whose breasts are not yet formed.
What shall we do for our sister
When she is spoken for? (9) If she be a wall,
We will build upon it a silver battlement;
If she be a door,
We will panel it in cedar.”
An example of the Rabbinic understanding as Shir HaShirim as metaphor in midrash:
אָחוֹת לָנוּ קְטַנָּה, אֵלּוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל, רַבִּי עֲזַרְיָה בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי יְהוּדָה בַּר רַבִּי סִימוֹן, לֶעָתִיד לָבוֹא עֲתִידִין כָּל שָׂרֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם בָּאִין וּמְקַטְרְגִין אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, וְאוֹמְרִין רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם אֵלּוּ עָבְדוּ עֲבוֹדַת כּוֹכָבִים וְאֵלּוּ עָבְדוּ עֲבוֹדַת כּוֹכָבִים, אֵלּוּ גִּלּוּ עֲרָיוֹת וְאֵלּוּ גִּלּוּ עֲרָיוֹת, אֵלּוּ שָׁפְכוּ דָּמִים וְאֵלּוּ שָׁפְכוּ דָּמִים, מִפְּנֵי מָה אֵלּוּ יוֹרְדִין לַגֵּיהִנֹּם וְאֵלּוּ אֵינָן יוֹרְדִין, אָמַר לָהֶם הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אָחוֹת לָנוּ קְטַנָּה, מַה קָּטָן זֶה כָּל מַה שֶּׁהוּא עוֹשֶׂה אֵין מְמַחִין עַל יָדוֹ, לָמָּה, שֶׁהוּא קָטָן, כָּךְ כָּל מַה שֶּׁיִּשְׂרָאֵל מִתְלַכְלְכִין כָּל יְמוֹת הַשָּׁנָה בַּעֲווֹנוֹתֵיהֶן, בָּא יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים וּמְכַפֵּר עֲלֵיהֶם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ויקרא ט״ז:ל׳): כִּי בַיּוֹם הַזֶּה יְכַפֵּר עֲלֵיכֶם.
Translation by Jessica Jacobs
"This is our little sister", this is Israel, Rabbi Azarariah in the name of Rabbi Yehudah son of Rabbi Shimon, In the future in the time to comewhen all of the ministering angels of the world will come and bring charges against Israel before Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and the Master of the World will say, these are the idol worshippers an these are the idol worshippers, these are the sexual transgressors and these are the sexual transgressors, these are the murderers and these are the murderers, in order (to know) that these go down to Gehenom and these don't go down (to Gehenom). Hakadosh Baruch Hu shall say to them, "This is our little sister." Just as for the little there is no authority in actions of their hands. Why? For he is small. So too everything that Israel defiles in all the days of the year in their wrongdoings, Yom Kippur comes and they atone, as it is written, "For on this day you shall atone" (Leviticus 16:30)
I am my beloved and my beloved is mine. by Jessica Jacobs
We spend hours roaming through the fields, exploring, laughing, swimming, eating, making love. Hours feel like seconds when we are together. Time simply seems to stand still. I can get lost staring into his blue eyes, like deep pools of water reflecting his love for me.
I always grieve at the sight of the setting sun, for it means that it is time to return home, to my family, to my bed alone, to the realities of being apart from my peaceful man. When we are together it feels as if we could love each other forever, but when we are apart I always fear I might never see him again.
Upon my return home my brothers always ask questions. “Where were you? Who were you with?” In a frenzy they remind me of household chores that need to be done or plants in the garden that need tending. They remind me of the day they will soon marry me away to a stranger. They remind me of the stares and judgments of our neighbors. They remind me that I am a door meant to remain locked. They remind me I am a girl, not a woman.
Mother never has such things to say. Every night I go to her room and she embraces me with open arms. She smiles, with a knowing look that I am in love, but she never says a word. She brushes my hair and tells me about her day, going on and on about frivolous things. She never asks me where I have been, but instead reminds me what she has always said I must be, “To be kind, to be strong, and to be free.”
And free is what I want to be. It is what I crave more than anything. Free from the glances of the Jerusalem daughters, free from the hard work of my station, free from the constraints of my overbearing brothers, free from the future that is in store for me. I want to be free to love and feel and roam and play. Free to jump and fly and swim and run. Free to leap through the world like a gazelle, soar through the sky like a bird. In moments with my love I feel free, but in my heart I know that such freedom is not meant for me. Such freedom is meant for men like him, men with power and money and beauty. When I am with him I get a small taste of that freedom, for an hour or a day, but I know that freedom is fleeting, that freedom is not my own. I know that one day soon I will have to let him go, have to let the taste of his freedom go. For now though, I am free in his love and he is free in mine. For now, if only for the moment, I am my beloved and my beloved is mine.