Chapter 6 of Shir HaShirim opens with a dialogue: the daughters of Jerusalem, allegorically representing the nations of the world, turn to the Congregation of Israel and ask where her Beloved has gone. From there, the narrative moves to the era of the Return to Zion and the construction of the Second Temple, addressing the confrontation with "the adversaries of Yehudah and Binyamin" who sought to take part in the building, and the words of praise from the Holy One, blessed be He, to the Congregation of Israel: you are beautiful, you are comely, you are awe-inspiring. Let us follow the order of the verses with Rashi's commentary.
אָנָה הָלַךְ דּוֹדֵךְ הַיָּפָה בַּנָּשִׁים, אָנָה פָּנָה דוֹדֵךְ וּנְבַקְשֶׁנּוּ עִמָּךְ׃ - Where has your Beloved gone, O fairest among women? Where has your Beloved turned, that we may seek Him with you?
Rashi explains: "Where has your Beloved gone" - the nations torment and taunt Israel: Where has your Beloved gone, why did He leave you forsaken and widowed? This has been the case since time immemorial. The nations taunt the Jewish people, saying that Hashem has abandoned them, that they rebelled against His word and He rejected them. The Christians claim He chose them, while the Muslims claim He chose them. "Tormenting" (me'anim) is in the sense of "you shall not wrong (lo tonu) one another," meaning they cause them distress through verbal affliction.
And regarding "Where has your Beloved turned," Rashi explains: when the Holy One, blessed be He, once again rested His spirit upon Cyrus (Koresh) and granted permission to build the Temple, and they began building, they came and said to them: Where has your Beloved turned? If He is returning to you, we will seek Him with you. As it is said: "And the adversaries of Yehudah and Binyamin heard that the children of the exile were building a temple... and they approached Zerubavel... 'Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do.'" Those very adversaries of Yehudah and Binyamin who made life miserable for the Jewish people, and who ultimately caused the construction of the Temple to cease through their slander, were the ones coming under the guise of piety: we also want to serve Hashem, let us help you. A leftist element existed even then. But their intention was malicious, to halt them from the work.
This phenomenon has repeated itself in recent generations. In those days, representatives on behalf of the Joint and the Jewish Agency came and sought to establish educational institutions in Jerusalem that would be under their supervision and funding, similar to those institutions that the Gedolei Yisrael speak out against today. When Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld saw this, he refused unequivocally. They tried to persuade him: there is famine in Jerusalem, these budgets could help, it is literal salvation, Talmud Torahs will be established! What did he answer them? Precisely the verse before us: "It is not for you and for us to build a House for Hashem our God." You are not part of this. A House for Hashem, we will build. "And do My prophets no harm" - these are the young school children (tinokot shel beit rabban); do not touch them. Education must remain the holy of holies, and the moment foreign spirits intervene, the inquiries immediately begin: interest in curricula, critiques, and demands for standardized criteria.
And we all know how that ends: you become completely subservient to their agenda. At the time, someone asked Ben-Gurion: Why are you establishing Heichal Shlomo, a place that trains rabbis, aren't you handing control to the rabbinate? He answered: The moment they receive money, they will also start doing what I want. Once you accept money, it is over; you are dependent on the paycheck.
It is told of the Rav of Kiryat Ata, Rabbi Schulzinger, that people came to convince him to take a salary from the official rabbinate. He said to them: No, there is no need. They said to him: Do not worry, we will not dictate anything to you, we will not come and tell you what to do. He replied: Do you think that once you pay my salary I will wait for you to come tell me what to do? I will approach you myself to ask what I ought to do! A person naturally understands which side of his bread is buttered and knows how to curry favor. Once you take money, you are already biased, you are already in their hands. Truly, this is an act of piety (midat chassidut), but we see how well they understood that once you accept a salary, you are compromised. There was already in those days a rabbi who, in exchange for a salary and an appointment as chief rabbi, even permitted mamzerim.
And this principle repeats itself across every sphere: there are selective laws applied only against the religious and against the right wing, never equally. "Incitement" exists only when one sector speaks; the other sector can say and write whatever it pleases without it ever being deemed incitement, while for our community, a mere hint is enough to trigger an arrest. Someone can stand with a hangman's noose calling to hang the prime minister, and it is dismissed. In Tel Aviv, they forbade our public prayer claiming that gender separation is prohibited in the public sphere, yet recently a Muslim prayer took place there with complete gender separation and physical dividers, and not even a single municipal inspector was dispatched. There is only one underlying goal here: to uproot the foundations of Israel, to erase the Torah. Therefore: "It is not for you and for us to build a House for Hashem our God."
דּוֹדִי יָרַד לְגַנּוֹ לַעֲרֻגוֹת הַבֹּשֶׂם, לִרְעוֹת בַּגַּנִּים וְלִלְקֹט שׁוֹשַׁנִּים׃ - My Beloved has gone down to His garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture in the gardens and to gather lilies.
Rashi explains: "My beloved has gone down to his garden" - He commanded us to build His Sanctuary, and He was there with us. The Holy One, blessed be He, Himself commanded us to build the Beit HaMikdash. "To the beds of spices" - the place of burning the incense, for incense is rendered in the Targum as "spice-work".
Now this seems difficult: after saying "to the beds of spices", what else does He have to seek in other gardens? Therefore, Rashi explains: "To graze in the gardens" - furthermore, He went down to shepherd His flock in the gardens where they were scattered, those who did not ascend from the exile, and He rests His Shechinah upon them in synagogues and study halls. The "gardens" are the places where the Jewish people remained in exile, and He shepherds them as well.
"And to gather lilies" - He listens and pays attention to those who converse in His Torah, to gather their merits and write them in a book of remembrance before Him, as it is said, "Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another." The Holy One, blessed be He, sits and listens and gathers the words of Torah spoken by Torah scholars, recording them in a book of remembrance before Him.
Rashi continues: And as for what you say, "that we may seek Him with you" to build together with us - I am for my beloved, and you are not for Him, and you shall not build with us, as it is stated, "It is not for you and for us to build a house to our God," and it says, "and you have no portion, right, or memorial in Jerusalem." In other words: you have no part in this matter at all.
אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְדוֹדִי לִי, הָרֹעֶה בַּשּׁוֹשַׁנִּים׃ - "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine, who grazes among the lilies."
Rashi explains: "Who grazes among the lilies" - who grazes His flock in a pleasant and good pasture. I dedicate and surrender myself to my Beloved, and my Beloved gives Himself to me - this is the expression of closeness between us and the Holy One, blessed be He. And He grazes us in a good pasture, in a pasture of spices and fragrant scents.
יָפָה אַתְּ רַעְיָתִי כְּתִרְצָה, נָאוָה כִּירוּשָׁלָיִם, אֲיֻמָּה כַּנִּדְגָּלוֹת׃ - "You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, awesome as bannered hosts."
What is "Tirzah"? The Ibn Ezra explains: the name of a region, found in the accounts of Achav. Other commentators explain similarly, that Tirzah is the name of a city. But Rashi cites the Midrash of Chazal that "Tirzah" relates to the word ritzoi, pleasing acceptance: the Holy One, blessed be He, praises her for this - you are beautiful, my love, when you are pleasing (retzuyah) to Me. When you find favor before Hashem through your deeds, that is your beauty before Me.
"Comely as Jerusalem" - Rashi says: you are now as you were originally in Jerusalem. We are speaking, after all, of the era of exile, yet your beauty now is just as it was when you dwelt in Jerusalem.
"Awesome as bannered hosts" - Rashi explains: like armies of angels; I will cast dread of you upon them so they will not fight or halt your work, as described in the Book of Ezra. "Bannered hosts" (nidgalot) refers to flags (degalim), and as we have noted several times, flags symbolize an army of soldiers marching with their banner at their head. "Awesome" (ayumah) - casting dread and fear. When the Jewish people came to build the Second Temple, the adversaries of Judah - Sanballat and his associates - came to harass them and hinder their work. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: I will cast dread of you upon them, and you will be as formidable as armies of angels, so they will not halt your work.
הָסֵבִּי עֵינַיִךְ מִנֶּגְדִּי שֶׁהֵם הִרְהִיבֻנִי, שַׂעְרֵךְ כְּעֵדֶר הָעִזִּים שֶׁגָּלְשׁוּ מִן הַגִּלְעָד׃ - Turn your eyes away from Me, for they have stirred Me to pride; your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down from Gilead.
Rashi explains: "Turn your eyes away from Me" - like a young man whose betrothed is beloved and delightful to him, and her eyes are beautiful, and he says to her: Turn your eyes away from me, for when I see you, my heart swells with pride within me, and my spirit becomes bold, for I cannot restrain myself (and there is another version: "and my spirit swells within me and I cannot restrain myself", but the idea is identical). That is to say: turn your eyes so that they are not facing me, because when your eyes are facing me, my heart swells and my spirit is emboldened over the special betrothed that I have, and I cannot restrain myself. Simply understood, since she is an arusah (a betrothed woman) who is not yet permitted to him, he asks that she turn her eyes away so that he will not come to commit a sin.
Some have suggested the opposite explanation: "minegdi" means that her eyes are facing away, not looking at him, and he asks that she turn her eyes from facing away toward him, meaning that she look at him. However, from Rashi the opposite is clear: her eyes are gazing at him, and he asks that she remove them from him.
"For they have emboldened Me" - Rashi explains: they made My heart swell with pride, as in "and their pride [verohbam] is labor and sorrow" (Tehillim 90:10), and "Rahav hem shavat" (Yeshayahu 30:7), an expression signifying haughtiness and pride. These three words, "Rahav hem shavat", are not an explanation, but a citation of an additional verse, from Yeshayahu chapter 30: "For Egypt will help in vain and to no purpose; therefore I call this: boastful ones who sit idle [Rahav hem shavat]." Metzudat David explains: they boast about something they do not possess - the people relied on Egypt, a broken reed of a staff, and the Egyptians boast as though they have the power to save, promising help when it is entirely beyond their capability; "shavat" - an idle nation that does not wish to help. Thus, Rashi brings two sources showing that the root *rahav* denotes pride: "and their pride is labor and sorrow" - all that they take pride in is toil and falsehood, devoid of substance; and likewise Egypt, "Rahav hem shavat".
Now consider the nimshal, the deeper allegory: The Holy One, blessed be He, said: In this Temple (the Second Temple), it is impossible to restore to you the Ark, the Kaporet (Cover), and the Cherubim, which emboldened Me during the First Temple to show you extraordinary affection - until you betrayed Me. When a person places trust in another, and furthermore bestows abundance and lavish gifts upon him, and the other betrays that trust, it is exceptionally difficult afterward - even if he returns, seeks forgiveness, and amends are made - to extend to him that same measure of trust he gave initially. So it is here: I bestowed upon you above and beyond during the First Temple - the Ark, the Kaporet, and the Cherubim - and they stirred My heart to draw very close to you, yet you betrayed Me. Therefore, I will not do so in the Second Temple. And this is the meaning of "Turn your eyes away from Me": do not look toward Me in expectation of receiving the Ark and the Cherubim as in the First Temple, for "they have emboldened Me" - there was a giving of pride and profound closeness, yet you betrayed Me.
"Your hair is like a flock of goats" - Rashi explains: even among the least, the delicate, and the humble among you, there is great praise. Hair is seemingly the least significant feature, for with an animal the primary element is the meat and not the hair; nevertheless, He praises specifically the hair, conveying that even the small, delicate, and humble among the Jewish people possess great praise.
שִׁנַּיִךְ כְּעֵדֶר הָרְחֵלִים שֶׁעָלוּ מִן הָרַחְצָה, שֶׁכֻּלָּם מַתְאִימוֹת וְשַׁכֻּלָה אֵין בָּהֶם׃ - Your teeth are like a flock of ewes that have come up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them is bereaved.
Rashi explains: "Your teeth" - these are your officers and warriors, all of whom are for good. Teeth express strength and power, as they are used to bite; and the leaders and mighty men of Israel are all dedicated to the good. "All of which bear twins, and not one among them is bereaved" - there is no flaw or lack among them.
Why does the verse compare them specifically to a flock of ewes (*recheilim*), and not, as earlier, to a flock of shorn sheep (*ketzuvot*)? Rashi explains: this ewe is entirely holy - its wool is for techeilet, its flesh for the sacrifice, its horns for shofars, its shank bones for flutes, its intestines for harps, its skin for a drum. The wool is used for the blue thread of tzitzit, the flesh for korbanot, the horns for shofars, the shank bone for flutes, the intestines for lyres, and the skin is stretched across a drum to beat upon it - thus its entirety is utilized for holiness. By contrast, the wicked are compared to dogs, of which nothing serves holiness at all. Pay close attention: this refers to after their death. For dog droppings were used to process parchment for Torah scrolls, and it is written that this was part of the reward the dogs received for not barking at the Exodus ("no dog moved its tongue") - so during their lifetime, something produced by them is used; but after their death, nothing of them serves holiness, and everything goes to the trash heap.
On the subject of dogs, it is related that the Malbim was once traveling on a train, and passengers began organizing a minyan for Minchah. There were several Maskilim (enlighteners) in the carriage, and when they heard that Minchah was being organized, they immediately left the carriage and moved to another one. When the prayers concluded, the Maskilim saw that the service was over and returned. The Malbim said aloud to his disciples: "I was always troubled by a question: Yaakov Avinu sent Esav two hundred he-goats and twenty she-goats, and so forth, a vast variety, yet he did not bring him any dogs - even though every shepherd needs dogs to guard his flock! Today, I finally received the answer: the dogs flee from the Minchah (the gift / the afternoon prayer)!"
The beginning of the chapter is the taunting of the nations - "Where has your beloved gone?" - and their attempt to enter as partners into the building of the House of Hashem. Against this, the Congregation of Israel replies: "I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine"; you have no portion, right, or memorial in Jerusalem. From this stems the instruction for all generations: a House for Hashem is built alone, and "do not harm My prophets" - the young schoolchildren (tinokot shel beit raban) - for any acceptance of support from a foreign entity ultimately leads to subjugation to its agenda. Afterwards comes the divine praise: you are beautiful when you are pleasing to Me, you are comely even in exile as in the days of Jerusalem, and you are imposing to those who would disrupt the construction. Alongside this, a difficult truth is also stated: "Turn your eyes away from Me" - the Ark and the Cherubim of the First Temple will not return, after that extraordinary affection was met with betrayal. Nevertheless, the praise endures: even the youngest and most tender among Israel possess great merit, and her officers and mighty men are all for good, like ewes that are entirely sacred - unlike the wicked who are likened to dogs, of whom nothing contributes to holiness.