17 April 2014

Shir HaShirim

18 Nisan 5774
Third Day of Chol Hamoed
Erev Shabbat Kodesh

With great thanks to G-d in honor of my "chai" year of aliyah on "chai" Nisan 5756.

"I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine."

Megilat Shir HaShirim is traditionally read on Shabbat chol hamoed Pesach. This is what the Artscroll Pesach Machzor says about it...


"Without question, King Solomon's Song of Songs, Shir HaShirim, is one of the most difficult books of Scripture - not because it is so hard to understand, but because it is so easy to misunderstand. Not only is it a love song, it is a love song of uncommon passion. No other book seems to be so out of place among the twenty-four books of prophecy and sacred spirit. Nevertheless, one of the greatest and holiest of all the Sages of the Talmud, Rabbi Akiva, said: 'All of the songs [of Scripture] are holy, but Shir HaShirim is holy of holies.' "

It is an allegory of the love between G-d and His people Israel.

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