In Tanach study, it is customary to follow the Malbim wherever his commentary is available, and indeed Shir HaShirim has been studied through his approach as well. However, the Malbim takes a very unique path in Shir HaShirim: he does not follow the standard approach of the other commentators, but explains that the maiden (the ra'yah) is Shlomo's soul that departed from him - that lofty soul he once possessed, which yearns and longs to return to the spiritual attainments he had previously reached. Therefore, our focus here is to study Shir HaShirim according to the traditional path: the line found in the Midrashim, the Targum, Rashi, and the straightforward commentators, which is entirely devoted to the bond and relationship between Knesset Yisrael - the maiden - and the Beloved (the Dod) - the Holy One, blessed be He. And it is noteworthy that Rashi, whose commentary on Nevi'im and Ketuvim is generally very concise (unlike his expansive commentary on the Torah), is unusually extensive and elaborate specifically on Shir HaShirim.
שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים אֲשֶׁר לִשְׁלֹמֹה׃ - The Song of Songs, which is Shlomo's.
Two questions arise regarding the phrasing of this verse. First, why does it not say "which is Shlomo son of David's"? After all, when mentioning a sage's name, it is customary to identify him by his father's name. Second, why "The Song of Songs" rather than "The song which is Shlomo's"? After all, Scripture states (Melachim I 5:12), "and his songs were a thousand and five," not "the song of his songs." This phrasing requires explanation.
Rashi explains: "Our Sages taught: Every mention of 'Shlomo' in Shir HaShirim is holy - referring to the King to Whom peace belongs [Melech she-hashalom shelo]." From this it is clear why it does not state "son of David": because it does not refer to King Shlomo son of David at all. "Shlomo" here is allegorical, for all of Shir HaShirim is an allegory, and it refers to the King to Whom peace belongs - the Holy One, blessed be He. And "Song of Songs" means a song that surpasses all other songs, the most sublime of all songs, sung to the Holy One, blessed be He, by His congregation and His people, Knesset Yisrael.
Regarding this, Rabbi Akiva stated: "The entire world was never as worthy as the day on which Shir HaShirim was given to Israel; for all the Writings are holy [and some texts read: for all songs are holy], but Shir HaShirim is the Holy of Holies." There was never a day as extraordinary as the day Shir HaShirim was given. And it is related of Rabbi Akiva that when reading Shir HaShirim on Shabbat, knowing how far its matters reach, tears would stream from his eyes from how deeply he connected to the yearning and longing within Shir HaShirim and to its immense stature.
Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah offered a parable: This is comparable to a king who took a se'ah of wheat and gave it to a baker. He said to him: "Extract for me such-and-such amount of fine flour [solet] - the highest quality flour; such-and-such of bran [subin] - which is inferior; such-and-such of coarse bran [mursan] - which is lower still; and sift out for me from it one fine, perfectly sifted loaf [gluska]." So too, all the Writings are holy, and Shir HaShirim is that sifted, exquisite loaf - the Holy of Holies, for it is entirely the fear of Heaven and the acceptance of the yoke of His sovereignty.
It is cited in the name of the early authorities, and also in the name of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter (and quite possibly even earlier), that Shir HaShirim is unlike any other book of Scripture. Throughout Nevi'im and Ketuvim, even in books written in poetic verse, there is a literal narrative (peshat) that tells a specific story. But Shir HaShirim has no literal narrative. When one reads, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine," it cannot be explained in a literal, mundane sense as an actual event that occurred. There is no literal meaning here; rather, the entirety of Shir HaShirim is holy from the very outset.
This is comparable to expressions like "the eyes of Hashem" or "the hand of Hashem" - no one suggests that there is a literal meaning here, that the Holy One, blessed be He, possesses physical eyes and hands. From the start, it was written as a metaphor to convey spiritual concepts in terms the human ear can grasp. So too here: Shir HaShirim was composed from the very beginning as an allegory, in order to express a sublime spiritual reality. Even so, Shir HaShirim does present a narrative - a love story between the Beloved and the maiden - and this is what is meant by the "plain sense": understanding the allegory itself, and through it approaching the allegorical meaning. However, there is no intrinsic interest in the allegory for its own sake. Unlike other verses where "a verse never departs from its plain meaning" (ein mikra yotzei midei feshuto), where one examines the literal narrative itself, here our entire engagement with the allegory is solely to understand the underlying message. The allegory was not given as an ordinary tale, but purely to convey the profound depth within it.
יִשָּׁקֵנִי מִנְּשִׁיקוֹת פִּיהוּ כִּי־טוֹבִים דֹּדֶיךָ מִיָּיִן׃ - Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine.
Rashi explains: "She recites this song with her mouth in her exile and widowhood: 'If only King Solomon would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth as in days of old.'" Here Rashi highlights a foundational theme that will accompany us throughout the entire book: the discourse before us is that of a widowed woman remembering her youth of old. This is a story told in retrospect - Kneset Yisrael is now in exile, speaking with longing and nostalgia of the glorious days she shared with her Beloved, the Holy One, blessed be He. "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth" - would that I merit once again those kisses that passed between me and my Beloved back then.
And why does it specifically say "the kisses of his mouth"? Rashi explains: "Because in some places people kiss on the back of the hand or on the shoulder, but I yearn and long for Him to treat me according to the original custom, as a groom to a bride - mouth to mouth." This is the kiss that expresses the highest level of connection, the dimension of neshikin (spiritual kisses) spoken of in the holy Zohar. This is why the verse uses the direct transitive form yishakeni rather than using the prepositional lamed as is typical in Scripture - "and Jacob kissed Rachel" (vayishak Yaakov le-Rachel), "come close and kiss me" (ushkah li) - which denote a kiss that is not on the mouth. Here the kiss is direct, mouth to mouth, representing the pinnacle of closeness to the Holy One, blessed be He, at the Revelation at Mount Sinai.
"For your love is better than wine" - Rashi explains: "For your love is better to me than any feast of wine and any pleasure and joy." The word dodecha always signifies your love. And it is the idiom of the Hebrew language that every feast of pleasure and rejoicing is named after wine, as it is said, "to the house of the banquet of wine," "with song they shall not drink wine," "and the harp, the lute, the drum, and the flute, and wine are at their feasts."
And the allegory, in Rashi's words: "And a parallel is stated because He gave them His Torah and spoke with them face to face" - "I am Hashem your God" and "You shall have no other gods" we heard directly from the mouth of the Almighty, as in "mouth to mouth I speak with him." That speech was like a kiss, directly from Him to us. "And that love is still sweeter to them than any delight, and they have been promised by Him that He will appear to them once more, to explain to them the secret of its reasons and its hidden mysteries, and they entreat Him to fulfill His word." In other words, we await Hashem revealing to us the secret reasons and hidden depths of the Torah, and we entreat Him to fulfill His promise. This is "let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth" - from those kisses I was once privileged to receive, may He kiss me once again now, revealing to me the secrets of the Torah and its hidden treasures.
לְרֵיחַ שְׁמָנֶיךָ טוֹבִים שֶׁמֶן תּוּרַק שְׁמֶךָ עַל־כֵּן עֲלָמוֹת אֲהֵבוּךָ׃ - For the fragrance of your good oils, your name is oil poured forth; therefore maidens love you.
There is a difficulty here: Whom is she praising - the Beloved, or His oils? It is comparable to someone wishing to praise his friend by remarking that he wears exquisite perfume - are you praising the person, or the perfume company? Furthermore, why does it say "for the fragrance of your good oils" rather than simply "your oils are good"?
Rashi explains: "A good name is referred to as good oil," as in the verse, "A good name is better than precious oil." One must note that this does not refer to culinary oils like olive oil or soybean oil, but to varieties of perfume - aromatic oils. The point is that oil alludes to a good name: when you open a bottle of perfume, its aroma spreads far and wide, and in the same way, a person's good reputation spreads. Granted, this can also happen with an ill reputation, but the virtue here is that "a good name is better than precious oil" - the good name is even greater than the fragrant oil whose aroma is sensed from afar.
And when did the good name of the Holy One, blessed be He, spread far and wide? Rashi states: "For the ends of the earth scented them, having heard of Your good fame when You performed wondrous deeds in Egypt." And some of the miracles were felt throughout the rest of the world as well: when the sea split, all the waters of the world split, and when the Holy One, blessed be He, proclaimed "I am" and "You shall have no other," He silenced every living creature in the world, and everything was stilled. Those deeds performed in Egypt were like precious oil whose fragrance wafts and spreads into the distance.
"Your name is oil poured forth" - Rashi explains: "Your name is called poured-forth oil, meaning that it is said of You: You are oil that is continually poured forth, so that Your pleasant aroma spreads far and wide. For such is the nature of fragrant oil: as long as it is in a sealed flask, its scent does not spread; once opened and poured into another vessel, its aroma wafts forth." Anyone who observes will realize: a sealed perfume cannot be smelled, but open it and its scent wafts abroad. Therefore, it does not merely say "oil," but "oil poured forth" - Your name is not merely oil, but oil poured from vessel to vessel, whose fragrance wafts far and wide.
"Therefore maidens love you" - and who are these maidens who loved Hashem following the miracles and came to join us? Rashi cites: "Yitro came upon hearing the report and converted; Rachav the innkeeper likewise said, 'For we have heard how Hashem dried up the water,' and on account of this declared, 'for Hashem your God, He is God in heaven.'" See how far this perfume wafted its scent, to the point that gentiles came and drew close to the Jewish people.
And what is the meaning of the term "alamot" (maidens), which will appear many more times further on? Rashi explains: "'Alamot' - virgins," meaning unmarried maidens, "because the metaphor compares Him to a young man whose beloved cherishes him, and according to the allegory, the maidens are the nations." That is, the mashal here is of a young man and a maiden whose beloved cherishes him, and the bride is Kenesset Yisrael; consequently, the rest of the maidens represent the nations of the world. "Maidens love you" - all the nations were aroused by this to come and draw close to Hashem; among them came Yitro, and among them came Rachav, but there was a general awakening among the other nations as well.
מָשְׁכֵנִי אַחֲרֶיךָ נָּרוּצָה הֱבִיאַנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ חֲדָרָיו נָגִילָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה בָּךְ נַזְכִּירָה דֹדֶיךָ מִיַּיִן מֵישָׁרִים אֲהֵבוּךָ׃ - Draw me after You, we will run! The king brought me into his chambers; let us exult and rejoice in You; we will extol Your love more than wine; rightly have they loved You.
There is an apparent contradiction within the verse: one who runs does not need to be drawn, and if one needs to be drawn, he is not running. Therefore, Rashi explains: "'I heard a hint from Your messengers that You said to draw me, and I said, 'After you we will run, to become your wife.'' That is to say: You have not yet drawn me; rather, I understood from the hint that You wish to draw me, and I immediately said, 'There is no need to draw me - I will run on my own.'
"The king brought me into his chambers; let us exult and rejoice in You" - here lies another difficulty: she is recounting the past and reminiscing with longing, so she should have said, "I exulted and rejoiced in You." Why does she speak in the future tense? Rashi explains: "Even to this very day, the joy and gladness that I cleaved unto You still remains with me." That same joy is still within me, and even though today I am in a state of widowhood, that clinging to You at Mount Sinai and the closeness to God that I experienced are a source of joy to this day. For even though we are in exile and have grown distant, we have remained with the Torah and have merited closeness to God.
"We will extol Your love more than wine" - "Even today, in living widowhood, I always recall Your early love more than any feast of pleasure and joy." Rashi has already explained that wine alludes to feasting and joy, and Kenesset Yisrael says: Your early love is more precious to me than any feast of pleasure and joy.
"Rightly have they loved You" (meisharim aheivucha) - Rashi explains: "A fierce love, an upright love without crookedness, in the sense of 'and the crooked shall become straight (mishor) and the ridges a plain,' with which I and my forefathers loved You in those days." When love is driven by self-interest, a love dependent on an ulterior motive, it is not an upright love but a convoluted one. This is like someone who meets his friend and showers him with lavish praise, until the other says: Cut to the chase, what do you want from me? Why are you showering me with praise today? That is a crooked love. But "meisharim" means a straight, upright love with no twists or turns, as in "and the crooked shall become straight" - a place of mountains and valleys will become a plain. And the plural form "aheivucha" (they loved You) also refers to the Forefathers, who loved Him then with a pure and wholehearted love. This is the literal meaning according to its context.
And according to its allegory, Rashi states: "They mention before Him the devotion of their youth, the love of their betrothal, their going after Him into the wilderness, an arid land of deep darkness, having prepared no provisions for themselves; and they believed in Him and in His emissary" - Moshe Rabbeinu - "and did not say: 'How can we go out into the wilderness, where there is neither seed nor food?' Rather, they followed Him, and He brought them into the chambers enclosed by His clouds." This is "The king brought me into his chambers" - the inner chambers of the Clouds of Glory.
"And through this they still exult and rejoice in Him today" - this is "let us exult and rejoice in You," meaning that even today I rejoice in what You did for me back then, "even amid their poverty and distress." Even though today I seemingly possess none of this, and today I am in exile, in poverty and distress, "and they delight in the Torah, and there recall His love more than wine and the uprightness of their love for Him." For after all that love, we were left with the Torah, and we were left with a way to cleave unto Him, blessed be He. And as the Nefesh HaChaim writes, one who learns Torah cleaves to His very Essence, for the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Torah are one.
From this it is well understood why we say "let us exult and rejoice in You" in the future tense, since engagement with the Torah is an engagement of joy, just as Chazal said that a person must study Torah out of joy. Thus: through the delight we have in Torah, we exult and rejoice, and this reminds us of Your love - "we will extol Your love more than wine" - and how much "rightly have they loved You," how upright and intense the love between us was, an upright love without crookedness. Through engagement in Torah study, we remember that love and once again cleave to it.
שְׁחוֹרָה אֲנִי וְנָאוָה בְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם כְּאָהֳלֵי קֵדָר כִּירִיעוֹת שְׁלֹמֹה׃ - I am black but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Shlomo.
First, let us examine the difficulty within the parable: the verse speaks in contradictory terms. On the one hand, "I am black" - I have become soiled; on the other hand, "and comely." On the one hand, "like the tents of Kedar," which are lowly and despised places; on the other hand, "like the curtains of Shlomo," which are the finest and most exquisite.
Rashi explains: "'You, my companions' - meaning my peers - 'let me not be lightly regarded in your eyes, even if my Husband has abandoned me because of the blackness within me.' Do not disdain me if you see that my Husband has left me because I became corrupted, blemished, and blackened. 'For I am black because the sun has tanned me, yet comely in the proportion of my shapely limbs.' That is, in terms of complexion, I am dark, but the form of my limbs is graceful and beautiful. 'That is to say, even if I am black like the tents of Kedar, which turn black from the rains because they are constantly pitched in the wilderness' - these are the tents of the nomads - 'I can easily be washed clean to become like the curtains of Shlomo,' meaning I am readily cleansed.
And the nimshal (underlying meaning): "This is an analogy: the Congregation of Israel says to the nations, 'I am black in my deeds, but comely through the deeds of my forefathers, and even among my own deeds there are comely ones.'" For if it says "and comely," this implies it refers to herself as well; on this Rashi comments that indeed she too possesses noble deeds: "'If the sin of the Golden Calf is upon me, balancing it I possess the merit of receiving the Torah.' Do not look only at the flaw, at the blackness clinging to me, but look also at the beauty within me - at 'Na'aseh VeNishma' (we will do and we will hear)."
"He calls the nations 'daughters of Jerusalem' because she is destined to become the metropolis for all of them, as Yechezkel prophesied: 'And I will give them to you as daughters,' similar to the phrase 'Ekron and its daughters.'" This expression - "daughters of Jerusalem" - will accompany us throughout Shir HaShirim, referring to the nations of the world. "Daughters" here is not meant in the biological sense of a mother and daughters, but rather like "Ekron and its daughters," rendered by the Targum as satellite towns. When there is a central city, the surrounding suburbs and villages are called its "daughters." Similarly, "Let the daughters of Yehudah rejoice" does not mean the literal daughters of Yehudah, but the surrounding villages of the cities of Yehudah.
And why are the nations compared to the villages surrounding Jerusalem? Because Jerusalem is destined to become the metropolis of all, even for the nations: it will be the central city, and its "daughters" are the surrounding cities where people of the nations will also come to dwell. Here, the Congregation of Israel turns to the daughters of Jerusalem - to the nations - telling them not to look for flaws in her.
As is well known, the nations have always sought flaws in the Congregation of Israel, particularly Christianity, in order to claim that Hashem abandoned them and chose others instead. Christianity built its entire theology on this premise: as though the Holy One, blessed be He, rejected the Jewish people and the "Old Covenant," replacing it with a "New Covenant." Notice, therefore, who our greatest opponents are - the Christian world. Islam acts with noisy clamor, but the Christian nations act like the swine that stretches out its cloven hooves, proclaiming, "I am pure." Everything with them is done in a "politically correct" manner - through the court in The Hague, through the United Nations, through resolutions, everything ostensibly orderly and lawful. Yet the place where the deepest hatred simmers is right there, among the nations of Edom.
Look at what happens in the universities. There was a trigger that caused this bubble to burst, and look at the statements made by deans and university heads, and the sheer hatred exposed whenever a Jew walks in. These very individuals who are supposed to be educated and enlightened, who are expected to reject racism, suddenly reveal how deeply antisemitism has been ingrained in their blood for generations. And this has always been their agenda: to taunt the Jewish people - Hashem has forsaken you; you made the Golden Calf; look how corrupt you became, how you rebelled against Him; Hashem has already rejected you. As long as we exist, it is a thorn in their side, and if we thrive, it pulls the rug completely out from under Christianity. For what need is there for Christianity if the Jewish people are still cleaving to Hashem? It would mean they are merely a fiction, a kind of counterfeit.
We have previously mentioned that the Pope at the time refused to visit the Land of Israel after the land was liberated, because this directly contradicted Christian dogmas. Five hundred years ago, an archbishop declared that the ultimate proof that the Jewish people were rejected by God is that they would never return to their land. Yet here we are, we returned. Thus, he would not come, would not look, and in his eyes, it was as if we had never returned. At one point, a Pope traveled as far as the Allenby Bridge and refused to cross. At first they argued: this does not count as returning to the Land of Israel, since they have not returned to Jerusalem; and once we returned to Jerusalem as well, what else could they say? Therefore, they will do everything in their power to help our enemies destroy us, so long as it prevents them from facing an unresolved question or crisis of faith: Could it be that the Holy One, blessed be He, still desires the Jewish people? No, they insist, no such nation exists; see, they are being driven away from here.
In truth, as we have seen, the daughters of Jerusalem have been searching for flaws in the Congregation of Israel and the Jewish people ever since, seizing upon the shortcoming of the sin of the Golden Calf and whatever else they could condemn before Him. To this, the Congregation of Israel replies: "I am black but comely" - if the sin of the Golden Calf is upon me, balancing it I possess the merit of receiving the Torah, and I can easily be washed clean to become like the curtains of Shlomo.
We opened our study of Shir HaShirim following the approach of Chazal, the Targum, and Rashi - the love song between Knesset Yisrael and the Holy One, blessed be He. We learned that the name "Shlomo" refers to the King to Whom peace belongs, and that this book is the Holy of Holies, like the fine sifted loaf in the parable of Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah; that it is a book that has no simple literal meaning like other books, but is entirely an allegory designed from the very beginning to express its inner meaning. Knesset Yisrael, in her exile and widowhood, yearns and recalls the mouth-to-mouth kisses of the Revelation at Mount Sinai and pleads for them once again - the unveiling of the Torah's hidden depths and secrets; the fragrance of the fine oil of the Holy One, blessed be He, that spread throughout the world from the wonders in Egypt, inspiring Yitro, Rachav, and an awakening among the nations; running after Him into the wilderness out of pure faith, and being brought into the inner chambers of the Clouds of Glory - a joy that endures to this day through delighting in the Torah. Finally, she answers the nations who seek flaws within her: I am black through my own deeds, yet comely through the deeds of my forefathers; against the sin of the Golden Calf, I possess the merit of receiving the Torah, and it is so easy for me to be cleansed and return to being like the tapestries of Shlomo.