Introduction: From the Mashal to the Melitzah
Having examined the second song on the level of the mashal (parable), we now turn to examine its melitzah (allegorical meaning): what the imagery corresponds to. The beloved maiden in the song represents the soul of Shlomo. In the first song, that soul was privileged to receive a tremendous prophecy from the Holy One, Blessed be He. Afterwards, the maiden was confined in Shlomo's palace - that is, within the physical body - for many days. Winter passed, some of the spring passed, the month of Ziv (Iyar) arrived - and then the Beloved came to the maiden. That is to say, the Holy One, Blessed be He, once again seeks to connect with Shlomo's soul, calling upon it to renew its bond with the Ein Sof, Blessed be He. All this is an allegory for the second communication that the Holy One, Blessed be He, spoke to Shlomo.
The first communication was one of promise - "Ask what I shall give you" - and the Holy One, Blessed be He, promised Shlomo wisdom; it came through Shlomo's own spiritual elevation. The second communication was brief, and it was not a complete prophecy, but only a momentary communication. As it says in Melachim I, Chapter 6: "The word of Hashem came to Shlomo, saying: Concerning this House that you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My ordinances, and keep all My commandments to walk in them, then I will establish My word with you, which I spoke to David your father. And I will dwell among the Children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel." That was the entire communication, and that was the entire prophecy through which the Holy One, Blessed be He, established contact with Shlomo's soul.
Notice that here, the connection does not originate from the maiden. It is not the soul seeking the Beloved; rather, the Holy One, Blessed be He, reveals Himself, as it were, of His own accord to Shlomo's soul. The soul is not yet ready; it has not prepared itself for prophecy, remaining in its winter slumber. In the first song, the maiden went out into the wilderness - meaning she sought to detach from the physical body in order to attain prophecy. Here, that is not the case: "The voice of my Beloved! Behold, he comes" - He is coming to her, rather than her going out to Him. Therefore, the encounter does not take place in the wilderness, but in the vineyards, since the vineyards are close to the city while the wilderness is far from it. The maiden was unable to detach from physicality to the extent of the wilderness, and so the connection could occur only in the vineyards.
The daughters of Jerusalem, in the allegorical sense, represent the bodily forces. The bodily forces do not want the soul to depart and unite with its Creator; on the contrary, they pull it down toward earthliness and matter. For the moment they released their grip on her, in order to "catch the foxes that ruin the vineyards," as will be explained later, until "the day breathes," at which point the material forces surged again and pulled the soul back into the body, severing the connection with the Holy One, Blessed be He.
"The Voice of My Beloved" - The Prophet Recognizes Hashem's Voice
קוֹל דּוֹדִי הִנֵּה זֶה בָּא מְדַלֵּג עַל הֶהָרִים מְקַפֵּץ עַל הַגְּבָעוֹת׃ (ב, ח) - "The voice of my Beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping over the mountains, skipping over the hills." (2:8)
The maiden hears the voice of her supreme Beloved and recognizes that it is the Holy One, Blessed be He. This is a fundamental principle in the Malbim, as also noted in Mishnat HaChalomot: when a prophet receives prophecy, he has no doubt whatsoever that it is from Hashem. He cannot mistakenly assume that it is merely a dream. Were this not so, we might ask: On what basis did Avraham Avinu go to bind his son? On the basis of prophecy. But perhaps you merely dreamed a dream? Perform a hatavat chalom (betterment of a dream) and go back to sleep, rather than slaughter your son! Rather, there is certainly no doubt here; the prophet knows with absolute clarity that this is a prophecy from Hashem.
And if you should ask: Do we not find regarding Yaakov that he was not certain, and regarding Shmuel that he ran each time to Eli, unaware that it was prophecy? The answer is that all of this occurred at the very beginning of their experience with prophecy. The first time, a person does not yet know what it is. But once he has already experienced one prophecy, he is never again confused between a dream and prophecy. This is the meaning of "The voice of my Beloved" - I recognize that it is His voice.
Five Stages in the Descent of the Shechinah
"Leaping over the mountains, skipping over the hills" - the Malbim explains that there are five levels here, each higher than the next, expressing the progression through which the Shechinah descends from Above until it rests upon the soul of the prophet. First, "leaping over the mountains," and a mountain is taller than a hill. Mountains symbolize the earth, and above the mountains means above the earth - the Shechinah being, as it were, beyond the worlds, in the aspect of sovev kol almin (encompassing all worlds), surrounding from without (as elaborated upon in the series on Nefesh HaChaim). Then, "skipping over the hills" - having descended to a lower level, entering into the world, which is the aspect of memaleh kol almin (filling all worlds). For while encompassing is external, filling represents an inward entry.
דּוֹמֶה דוֹדִי לִצְבִי אוֹ לְעֹפֶר הָאַיָּלִים הִנֵּה זֶה עוֹמֵד אַחַר כׇּתְלֵנוּ מַשְׁגִּיחַ מִן הַחַלֹּנוֹת מֵצִיץ מִן הַחֲרַכִּים׃ (ב, ט) - "My Beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag; behold, he stands behind our wall, looking through the windows, peering through the lattices." (2:9)
The deer and the fawn, even though they distance themselves, are accustomed to return to their place. The deer is unique in that even while running, it turns its head back - which is why a deer is almost always depicted with its head looking backward, unlike a horse or a donkey, which are always drawn with their heads facing forward. Accordingly, in the first aspect, where the Holy One, blessed be He, is, as it were, beyond the worlds in the dimension of sovev kol almin (encompassing all worlds), He is like a deer looking back: His providence is directed toward the angels, the higher intellects, the celestial spheres and wheels, and He is not, so to speak, facing us. In the second aspect, He is like a hart, which looks forward toward the world, yet still longs to return to its place. That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, already fills all worlds (memaleh kol almin), but not in a permanent manner - an impermanent bond that desires to return, so that the Shechinah may return to Her exalted abode.
Three Levels of Hashgachah Pratit
"Behold, this one stands behind our wall" - this is already a third level, individual Divine providence (hashgachah pratit), right beside the tzaddik. The "wall" is the body, representing physical existence. And through the three expressions in the verse, three kinds of individual providence that the Holy One, blessed be He, exercises over the tzaddik are alluded to.
The first: providence over the body. The Holy One, blessed be He, watches over the body of the tzaddik to provide for his needs, his livelihood, and his sustenance, and to guard him from harm. This is like someone who stands behind a wall to ensure it does not collapse. The wall represents the exterior - the outside of the house, in contrast to what is inside - and this is "standing behind our wall."
The second: "peering through the windows." Through windows, one looks into the interior of the house. If the wall is the body, the interior is the soul. Here, the Holy One, blessed be He, no longer watches only over the tzaddik's bodily affairs, but also over the affairs of his soul: He aids the tzaddik in elevating his soul so that it may attain spiritual insights and loftiness, sending him help from the sanctuary in the spirit of "one who comes to purify himself is assisted."
The third: "peeking through the lattices," which is complete, direct providence. Here, it is not merely supervision, but a complete union between the soul of the tzaddik, residing as it were inside the house, and the Holy One, blessed be He. Meitzitz (peeking) is related to tzitz - a tiny blossom that buds and emerges. In this way, the Holy One, blessed be He, opens the door slightly, so to speak, and sends a bud inside, inserting His head inward. And what is this if not bonding with the soul? This is the very definition of prophecy: the Holy One, blessed be He, connects with the soul of the tzaddik, preparing it for ruach hakodesh (divine inspiration) and speaking with it face to face, until the tzaddik becomes a chariot for the Shechinah.
"Arise, My Beloved, My Fair One"
עָנָה דוֹדִי וְאָמַר לִי קוּמִי לָךְ רַעְיָתִי יָפָתִי וּלְכִי לָךְ׃ (ב, י) - My beloved spoke and said to me: Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away (2:10).
First, "my beloved spoke" - from afar, and then "and said to me" - an intimate, personal communication from up close. Divine speech corresponds to a person's preparation, for the levels of tzaddikim are not all equal: the more a tzaddik prepares himself, the higher the level of divine speech and flow he merits. And although this entire connection was initiated by the Holy One, blessed be He, human preparation is nevertheless required for the bond to be properly established. Therefore He says to her, "Arise" - prepare yourself for the Divine word; "and come away" - depart from the chambers of Solomon, step out of the body and the physical frame. For from within the bodily constraints, a divine connection cannot be forged: so long as you are tied to physical desires and earthly concerns, it is impossible to unite with you.
The Malbim notes that an additional title is introduced here. Until now He called her "my beloved" (ra'ayati), whereas here He says "my beloved, my fair one" (ra'ayati yafati). Ra'ayati derives from re'ut (companionship), and friendship is a matter of choice: I can choose to be your companion and I can choose not to be your companion, and a person selects with whom to associate. Love based on beauty, however, stems from the very essence and excellence of the beloved - because of its beauty, all yearn for it and cherish it. Therefore, initially, before the divine spirit rested upon Solomon's soul, the bond was on the level of ra'ayati, a chosen companionship. But once the spirit had already rested upon him, the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, recognized the beauty of Solomon's soul, and now He seeks to renew the connection because of that soul's intrinsic beauty. The very beauty of Solomon's soul is the reason the Holy One, blessed be He, wishes to continue and bond with it, and therefore she is now addressed as "my beloved, my fair one."
"For Behold, the Winter Has Passed" - The Soul as a Field
כִּי הִנֵּה הַסְּתָו עָבָר הַגֶּשֶׁם חָלַף הָלַךְ לוֹ׃ (ב, יא) - For behold, the winter has passed, the rain is over and gone (2:11).
This is something we have already seen in the Book of Yeshayahu: our Sages compare the soul to a plot of field in which one sows, and according to what is sown, so it brings forth. The field exists in potential, and it has the power to bring forth whatever is planted in it. And this is indeed true. Take a child - what is he? A field. What will you sow in him? If you plant roses, roses will grow; and if you plant garlic, garlic will grow. What you sow is what you will reap, and you will have no one to blame but yourself. Send him to a Torah education, to an education of Torah and fear of Heaven - accompanied by many prayers and much effort - and that is what you will receive. Send him to a heretical education - and that is what you will receive. The child is the field, and you are the sower.
So too, the human soul is compared to a field. When one cultivates the soul through deep contemplation, through engaging in Torah study and the service of Hashem, it yields holy fruit worthy of praise and brings forth the divine seeds hidden within it. The soul possesses immense spiritual powers in potential - develop them, sow, and see what beauty flourishes. But the reverse is also true: there are also destructive forces within the soul, and if you cultivate them, Heaven forbid, a "wild ass of a man is born."
The Rambam: Intellectual Perceptions Resembling Sensory Perceptions
The Malbim cites the words of the Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim (part 1, chapter 32), that it is very possible for intellectual perceptions, because they are bound to physical matter, to experience something similar to sensory perceptions. This statement sounds obscure, so let us explain. There is a great and profound principle here: physical matter tires. A person who worked and worked and worked - what does he need afterward? Rest. Animals sleep in order to attain rest, so they may renew their strength for further labor.
And indeed, it is noted in Mishnat HaChalomot that the Gra writes that the purpose of human sleep is not rest at all, but rather to achieve spiritual insights that are impossible to attain while inside the body. The soul departs the body, connects to its supernal realm, goes to study in the Heavenly Academy, and achieves there what it cannot achieve while within the physical body. And so the Gra related about himself, that in one night he dreamed thousands of explanations of the verse "Go up this way into the South," and it is a well-known story that he afterward forgot them and tried to recall them in the midst of prayer. But let us set that aside for now and speak of the sleep of living creatures, which exists to renew strength - for the body grows weary and exhausted, and the animal must sleep to restore its powers.
Sleep in Plants and in the Soil
This is true of plants as well, as is well known in botany: plants too require a phase of dormancy. There are plants that droop their heads, and there is a state where all activity within the plant's organism drops to a low level - a kind of sleep - after which the plant is rejuvenated. So it is with fruit trees: the tree yields its fruit, and in the winter it enters dormancy, until in the summer it is renewed once again and produces its fruit.
The Holy One, blessed be He, embedded this principle into the physical earth and into nature, and it is vital for the earth's seed and its produce. After the grain harvest and the grape vintage at the end of summer, once the earth has yielded its growth and the garden has sprouted its produce, its energies become exhausted and depleted. Were there an eternal summer and the earth produced fruit without ceasing, its fruit would be shriveled, thin, and meager, due to the weakness of its vegetative power. Indeed, our Sages noted even more than this: winter alone is not enough for a brief rest, but sometimes the earth requires a sabbatical year; and so it was their practice to let fields lie fallow, leaving a field untended for a period so that it could subsequently yield its strength. Today, farmers, in order to gain the benefit of fallowing without curtailing their planting seasons, rotate crops: each time they plant a different crop, with each plant drawing different minerals and nutrients from the soil. Were it not so, repeated identical crops would deplete the soil and its fruits would emerge withered.
Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, established a statute for the earth: after the harvest, the days of autumn and snow begin. Then all the forces of nature, as it were, fall asleep, gathering inward, resting and lying still to renew their vigor beneath mantles of snow and ice as though in a faint - until spring and the blossoming arrive, when they awaken anew and continue to yield their strength.
The Soul's Autumn Days
Just as this occurs with the senses - exhaustion followed by renewal - so too it happens to the faculties of the soul, by virtue of its connection to physical matter. The soul is spiritual, yet it is bound to physicality. Just as there is a stage of exhaustion in the physical realm, so too when the soul yields its fruit and blossoms like a rose - perceiving divine visions and connecting with the Holy One, blessed be He, its clusters ripening grapes to achieve prophetic insight - this cannot continue perpetually. After it has brought forth its fruit, a winter dormancy sets in: the soul faints and sleeps for days, resting in the embrace of the physical body, and these days are called the autumn days of the soul. The soul's powers recede and snow covers them, until it renews its strength and becomes worthy once more of divine providence and prophetic communion.
From Here to Bein HaZemanim
Many ask an obvious question: Why is there such a thing as "bein hazmanim" (intersession break)? Is there ever a time when one is exempt from learning Torah? Once Yom Tov ends, go back to learning! Indeed, in Beit Eliyahu there is no bein hazmanim and learning continues all the time, but in the holy yeshivot and kollelim there is bein hazmanim. Why is this really so?
It is written that with Moshe Rabbeinu, the Holy One, blessed be He, created a separation between one parashah and the next - this is the letter *peh* or *samech* found in Chumash scrolls, marking an open or closed section - in order to give Moshe space to contemplate between parashiyot. It is an intrinsic reality of the human soul that most people cannot sustain high fervor and high temperatures for extended periods. A person needs a time of rest and relaxation, and then to renew his youth like an eagle. The beginning of the *zman* (semester) is the most wonderful time in yeshivot and kollelim: learning with enthusiasm, with passion, with a fiery "bren." The end of the *zman* is a kind of waning - you can feel it, people are already waiting to finish, already craving rest and tranquility.
Once, someone asked Rav Shach: Why not abolish bein hazmanim? He replied that once it had indeed been canceled. When? During the Yom Kippur War - may trouble not arise twice. At that time, they canceled bein hazmanim, saying: Shall your brothers go to war while we go on break? We in the holy yeshivot will provide strength through Torah study. And thank God, they sat and learned with great fervor and tremendous zeal, and indeed there was no bein hazmanim. Rav Shach remarked: Well, thank God, it seems we can do without bein hazmanim! But then Chanukah arrived - and during Chanukah, it felt like the end of a zman. People felt exhausted, left their studies, and went home for Chanukah. And it is said that this was how the concept of "Chanukah vacation" began in yeshivot. In the past there was no such thing, yet today every yeshivah takes two or three days off on Chanukah, a kind of mini-bein hazmanim. Where did this come from? From that episode. Because they had not taken bein hazmanim and had studied continuously through the summer and through the holidays, the soul simply could not take it any longer. A person must have rest; a person must have relaxation. And certainly one must learn during bein hazmanim as well - but one downshifts, so that afterward we can renew our youth like an eagle with renewed strength.
Returning to the verse: "The rain is over and gone"
To summarize the matter: the powers of the soul also require renewal. Therefore, after the tremendous prophecy that Shlomo was granted the first time, in which the Holy One, blessed be He, promised him wisdom, the autumn days of the soul arrived. Now Shlomo's soul lay dormant within the physical body, and it needed an awakening from without. The Beloved came - the Holy One, blessed be He, came and awakened it, saying: Behold, the autumn has passed, and the rainy days are gone as well. Now there must be an awakening; now the soul must renew its youth like an eagle and once again connect with Divinity, for the days of summer have arrived, when the flowers blossom anew.
The Malbim adds a precise insight: At the beginning of the summer, that is, at the end of winter, there is still rain and there is still mist, resulting from melting snow that rises and becomes vapor, so the air is not yet clear. Only when summer truly sets in do the clouds and mist disperse completely. In the same way, the soul at this stage was not yet completely purified, and some mist remained within it. To this, the Beloved on High says: not only has "the autumn passed," but also "the rain is over and gone" - even those mists left over from the winter have vanished. Thus, the connection and prophecy with Shlomo's soul must now be renewed.
The Flashing Lightning - Four Times in Shlomo's Life
The Rambam already wrote in the introduction to *Moreh Nevuchim* (Guide for the Perplexed) that there are those for whom lightning flashes time and again with little interval in between, until it is as if they are in continuous light; by contrast, there are those who experience a flash of lightning followed by darkness, and then another flash followed by another period of darkness. Moshe Rabbeinu was the greatest of the prophets, and the flashes of lightning he merited were constant - he always walked in light. "In all My house he is trusted," and at every single moment, "Praiseworthy is one born of woman," "Stand and I will hear what Hashem commands you." That is continuous lightning. But with other prophets, each according to his level, the flashes of lightning gleam intermittently, casting a beam of light in the darkness that illuminates the soul, bearing its fruit when the soul returns to the body. The length of the interval between one flash and the next depends on the prophet's level: the higher his level, the greater the frequency of the lightning.
For King Shlomo, the Malbim explains, the lightning flashed four times in the night of his life; four times the Divine sun shone upon him. Between one revelation and the next lay the days of autumn and the days of snow - the days in which Shlomo's soul was bound to the body, to materiality and earthliness, and did not connect to the Infinite.
In summary:
In this song, Shlomo's second prophecy is described, which originated from the Holy One, blessed be He, and not from the soul; therefore, it was brief and temporary, and the encounter took place in the vineyards rather than in the wilderness. "The voice of my beloved" - the prophet recognizes the voice of Hashem with certainty; "leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills" - encompassing all worlds and filling all worlds; "standing behind our wall, looking through the windows, peering through the lattices" - three levels of Divine providence: over the body, over the soul, leading up to complete union, which is prophecy. "Arise, my darling, my fair one" - the preparation of the soul and its departure from materiality, since the Holy One, blessed be He, recognized the beauty of its soul. And "the autumn has passed" - just as the earth and vegetation require winter dormancy to renew their strength, so too the soul requires days of autumn between one spiritual attainment and the next, which also explains the need for rest and bein hazmanim. Such were the four flashes of lightning that shone for Shlomo in the night of his life, with days of snow and autumn between them.