Introduction:
Hashem’s love for us is
everlasting, as Hashem
proclaimed to our people, “I
have loved you with an
eternal love” (Jeremiah
31:2). During the period of
our Exodus from Egypt,
Hashem openly revealed His
love for us, and we
experienced miraculous
redemption. This period of
miraculous redemption is
known as, ais dodim
– the time of love (Ezekiel
16:8).
Dear Friends,
The Prophet Ezekiel conveyed
to our people the following
Divine reminder regarding
the Exodus from Egypt:
“I passed by you and saw
you, and behold, your time
was the time of love”
(Ezekiel 16:8).
According to Targum
Yehonasan, an ancient
Aramaic commentary on our
Sacred Scriptures, “the time
of love” is referring to the
Passover period of
redemption which began when
Hashem spoke to Moshe at the
burning bush (Exodus
3:1-22). A similar
explanation is cited by the
classical commentator, Radak,
and he interprets this
Divine statement in the
following manner:
“I revealed Myself to Moshe
at the burning bush, and he
did signs and wonders at My
command, and I showed him
that the time of love had
come, for I fought for you
against Egypt until I
brought you out from there
with a strong hand.”
Hashem showed His love for
us, and we therefore began
our journey with an
awareness of Hashem’s love.
And as we began our journey,
we showed our love for
Hashem. This was when we
followed our Beloved into
the desolate wilderness
without proper provisions,
as all we had was some
hastily-prepared matzos
which we carried on our
shoulders (see Exodus
12:39). In a later
generation, the Prophet
Jeremiah conveyed to our
people the following Divine
message about the love we
showed at the beginning of
our journey:
“Thus said Hashem: ‘I recall
for you the loving-kindness
of your youth, your love as
a bride, how you followed Me
into the wilderness, into an
unsown land.’ ” (Jeremiah
2:2)
On the night of the Seder,
when we relive the Exodus
from Egypt, each of us is to
re-experience Hashem’s love
for us and our love for
Hashem. In this spirit, the
Passover Haggadah states:
“In every generation, one is
obligated to regard himself
as if he personally had gone
out of Egypt.”
Passover is “the time of
love”; thus, we have a
custom to chant an ancient
love song after we conclude
the Passover Seder. This
ancient love-song – the
“Song of Songs” – appears in
our Sacred Scriptures. It is
an allegorical love song
written by King Solomon, and
it describes the mutual love
between Hashem and Israel
through a dialogue between a
husband and a wife. In this
dialogue, Hashem is the
“husband” and the “wife” is
Israel. A reference to their
mutual love appears in the
following statement of
Israel:
“I am my Beloved’s, and my
Beloved is mine” (Song of
Songs 6:3).
According to the great
Chassidic Rebbe, Rav Levi
Yitzchak of Berditchev, the
above statement indicates
that we and our Beloved seek
ways to express our love and
appreciation for each other.
And he discusses the
following examples:
Within the Torah, our
Beloved refers to our
festival of freedom as, “the
Festival of Matzos” (Exodus
23:15). Through this
reference to matzos, our
Beloved lovingly recalls and
praises our willingness to
swiftly follow Him into the
wilderness with no
provisions, except for the
matzos that we carried on
our shoulders (see Exodus
12:39).
We, however, developed the
custom to refer to this
festival as Pesach
(Passover) – a name which
expresses our loving
appreciation to our Beloved
for “passing over” our
houses during the final
plague against the firstborn
and thereby saving us from
the plague that was ravaging
our oppressors.
………………………………
Hashem rescued us from our
Egyptian oppressors during
“the time of love” – a
period of great miracles.
During our present exile, we
yearn for the future “time
of love” when Hashem will
once again rescue us from
our oppressors with great
miracles. This yearning is
based on the following
Divine promise regarding the
miraculous redemption of the
messianic age:
“As in the days of your
Exodus from the land of
Egypt I will show you
wonders” (Micah 7:15).
Our yearning for this future
“time of love” is expressed
in the following prayerful
words from a song that we
sing on Saturday night after
the departure of Shabbos:
“Arouse the time of love, O
God, to rescue the people
who are praying to see Your
goodness at the redeemer’s
advent” (B’Motza’ei Yom
Menuchah).
During this future time of
love, the redeemer’s advent
will lead to the age of
universal enlightenment and
shalom, when the following
prophecy will be fulfilled:
“They will neither injure
nor destroy in all of My
sacred mountain; for the
earth will be filled with
knowledge of Hashem as water
covering the sea bed.”
(11:9)
Have a Good and Sweet
Shabbos,
Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen
(See below)
Related Teachings and
Comments:
1. Towards the beginning of
the Song of Songs, we
proclaim to our Beloved:
“Your oils are fragrant;
Your Name is flowing oil;
therefore do maidens love
You” (1:3).
The commentator, Rashi,
explains this statement in
the following manner:
The awesome miracles that
our Beloved performed when
He took us out of Egypt
caused His Name to spread
over the world like the
fragrance of fine oil. This
caused other “maidens” – a
metaphor for righteous
individuals among the
nations – to love Him. Rashi
specifically mentions Jethro,
the father-in-law of Moshe,
and Rachav, the woman from
Jericho who helped Israel.
These are two converts whose
love for Hashem led them to
join our people through
accepting the Torah and its
path of mitzvos.
2. In the following verse
from the Song of Songs,
Israel expresses her
yearning for her Beloved by
saying to Him:
“Draw me, we will run after
you” (1:4).
Why does Israel first say
“me” and then “we”? The
following answer is found in
the commentary of Rav W.
Wolf on the Song of Songs:
Israel is asking her Beloved
to draw her close to Him, so
that humankind will be
inspired by her example. As
a result, both Israel and
humankind will together
follow Hashem. Israel is
therefore saying, “Draw me
close to you, and then we –
I and all humankind – will
run after you.” (Cited in
the Art Scroll “Shir
HaShirim” – Song of Songs)
3. Hashem told us that the
ais dodim – time
of love – had arrived. This
unique Hebrew term for love,
dodim, has a plural form,
and it therefore suggests
the idea of mutual love. As
mentioned above, the idea of
mutual love is expressed by
the statement, “I am my
Beloved’s, and my Beloved is
mine” (Song of Songs 6:3).
4. The explanation of Rav
Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev
about the mutual love
between Hashem and us
appears in the ArtScroll
Haggadah with a commentary
compiled by Rabbi Joseph
Elias. This explanation also
appears in the ArtScroll
edition of the Song of Songs
with a commentary complied
by Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz. For
information on these two
highly recommended works,
visit:
www.artwscroll.com