Ze'ev Wolf of Zhitomir on Song of Songs 1:13, (from Or haMe'ir)

Hebrew text and provisional English translation.

“A bundle of myrrh to me [is] my beloved, between my breasts he will lodge” [Song of Songs 1:13]. And Rashi’s commentary: ‘My beloved has become to me as he who has a bundle of myrrh in his bosom’. The intention is that we bless Him "who is giving the Torah" [Blessing before reading the Torah in the Evening Service], to teach that the Holy One, blessed be He is still giving the Torah, and as we have [derived] lengthily from this in the homily on Shavuot, that the Voice/sound of the Shofar is still going until the coming of the Redeemer, in each and every generation, and its [= the sound of the Shofar] interpreters are adding new combinations in the Torah which the previous ones (the Rishonim) had not imagined.

And the Holy One, blessed be He, has made everything with wonderful wisdom, and He has given the Torah in the aspect of Voice, about which it is written: '“and God answered him with a voice”[Exodus 19:19], with the voice of Moses' [Talmud Bavli, Berachot 45a] so that everyone from Israel will find rest for his soul, to do those combinations he has the duty to do for the arrangement of the letters that he has in the Torah. And these combinations depend on the ability and legitimacy of good deeds, as

the Speech has long priority over this for us. And we will speak [about this], if God wants, in many places, and the principle [is] all for the goodness and the completeness of the Holy People, on which the completion of their soul in God depends, and therefore “each time a man handles it [= the Torah] he finds a new” [allusion on Talmud Bavli, Eruvin 54b] meaning in it for the foundation of divine service for which he has the duty.

And just as the sages made the Torah known, “scroll by scroll it was given” [Talmud Bavli, Gittin 60a], and man is permitted to make an allusion from three or four words [possibly referring to Talmud Bavli Chullin 91b-92a, where it is stated that the angels and the people of Israel are allowed to mention HaShem after two or three words], combination and subject of itself, like/according to his perception that is necessary for the service of his Creator, and therefore you will find that many books were added in each generation according to the generation and the subjects of those who do divine service. And in a similar way the sages of the generation produce combinations

in the Torah according to what Israel should do, according to the discernment of the sages of the generation, and we find in the Zohar that Rashbi [Rabbi Shimon bar Jochai] of blessed memory has said: “Torah, Torah, what shall I say to you? ‘A hind of love-gifts, a mountain goat of grace, her breasts may satisfy you in every time [Proverbs 5:19]’”[Zohar III:166b], as if to say that at every time "they will become satiated by the abundance" [Psalms 36:9] of the Torah, teaching man knowledge on how to serve the Creator, according to the time and moment then current, the Torah saturating them to enjoy the advice it gives.

Confronting this came the allusion “A bundle of myrrh to me [is] my beloved” [Song of Songs 1:13], the Assembly of Israel praising her Lover, that intense love became known to them when [He] gave them “a precious instrument” [Pirkei Avot 3:14] in the aspect of Voice to make the aspect of Speech, to provide rest for their souls to arrange the matters of their [divine] service. On this Rashi thought deeply in his holy words

‘my beloved one became for me as one who has a bundle of myrrh on his chest’, showing that the Holy Torah has been given from the bosom of the Holy One, blessed be He, and He said to me: “See, a bundle of myrrh for you, given in your hand always, from the time it was given in holy status, until forever

and until the coming of the Redeemer, ‘from whom the Torah will go out’ [allusion to Jesaja 51:4]”, and from then until then He said to me: “See, this bundle [is] for you, it will give a better scent than the first one which you lost.” [allusion on Rashi's commentary on Song of Songs 1:13].

And “[they] will sate you at all times” [Proverbs 5:19], according to the need new taste and good scent is being found in her, and the Holy One, blessed be He, strolls in these combinations which the sages of the generations are producing for the need of the time.

And to this end Scripture says: “between my breasts he will lodge” [Song of Songs 1:13] and according their saying: “What is this breast? Every time a baby touches it, it finds milk” [Talmud Bavli, Eruvin 54b], thus the breast of the Torah are the righteous ones (Tsaddikim), whose breasts are suited to feed the people that are depending on them and obeying them, and they are always producing according to the generation new taste in it, and they are called an aspect of ‘breasts for feeding’, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, consents with them and this is “between my breasts he will lodge” [Song of Songs 1:13], as Scripture explains and alludes…