Chapter 7 of Shir HaShirim opens with the call of the nations to Knesset Yisrael: "Return, return, O Shulammite" - come, disconnect from your God and join us. From this dialogue unfolds an entire praise of the beauty and virtues of Knesset Yisrael. Yet this time, as we will see in Rashi's commentary, it is not the Beloved praising His bride, but rather the maidens praising their companion: praise for her good deeds, for the Torah, the Sanhedrin, the Beit HaMikdash, and the wisdom of Israel. In this lesson, we will proceed through the verses from verse 1 to verse 5.
שׁוּבִי שׁוּבִי הַשּׁוּלַמִּית שׁוּבִי שׁוּבִי וְנֶחֱזֶה־בָּךְ מַה־תֶּחֱזוּ בַּשּׁוּלַמִּית כִּמְחֹלַת הַמַּחֲנָיִם׃ - Return, return, O Shulammite; return, return, that we may gaze upon you! What will you see in the Shulammite, like the dance of the two camps?
Rashi explains: "Return, return, O Shulammite" - the nations say to me: Turn back, turn back from following the Omnipresent. That is to say, do not cling to Hashem, do not follow His ways. "O Shulammite" - you who are wholehearted (sheleimah) in your faith with Him, return, return to us! "That we may gaze upon you [venachezeh bach]" - we will appoint from among you governors and rulers, as in "And you shall select [ve'atah techezeh] from among all the people," and so Rabbi Tanchuma expounded.
There is a difficulty here in understanding the nations' intent in "that we may gaze upon you": what desire do they have to behold the people of Israel, and what do they gain from it? Rashi therefore explains that "Shulammite" expresses that we are wholehearted in our faith with the Holy One, blessed be He, and the nations plead: Return to us, and we will appoint governors and officials from among you. From what usage is "venachezeh"? Like "and you shall select [techezeh] from among all the people," which means appointing leaders - see who is worthy and appoint him. That is: we will choose from among you people worthy of being rulers and set them over us.
Rashi brings another explanation: "That we may gaze upon you" - we will look upon you to consider what greatness we can grant you. And she replies: "What will you see in the Shulammite?" - what greatness could you possibly decree for me that would equal my stature, even the greatness of the flags and encampments of the wilderness? Rashi found difficulty with the first explanation based on Midrash Tanchuma, because the word "techezeh" itself does not mean rulership, but seeing - look to see who is worthy of rulership. Therefore, it is more plausible to explain it here in its literal sense of seeing and gazing, as the word means throughout Scripture.
According to this, Knesset Yisrael's reply is piercing: What greatness could you possibly give me that would in any way compare to the greatness of the camps in the desert? The very distinction I held in being divided into banners and encampments before Hashem - even that you cannot give me. And beyond all the greatness the Holy One, blessed be He, bestowed upon me, giving me the Torah and making me a holy nation - in what way do you imagine you could offer me anything worthwhile enough to join you and abandon my God?
מַה־יָּפוּ פְעָמַיִךְ בַּנְּעָלִים בַּת־נָדִיב חַמּוּקֵי יְרֵכַיִךְ כְּמוֹ חֲלָאִים מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵי אׇמָּן׃ - How beautiful are your steps in sandals, O noble daughter! The curves of your thighs are like ornaments, the work of a master craftsman.
Rashi explains: "How beautiful are your steps in sandals" - they say to her: We desire that you cleave to us because of the beauty and prominence we saw in you when you were in your splendor. The phrasing is in the past tense, for today we are in a low state, and what is there for the nations to admire in us? Therefore Rashi explains that they refer to the past: because of what once was, we ask that you now cleave to us. "How beautiful are your steps" - during the pilgrimage festivals (aliyah laregel); "O noble daughter [bat nadiv]" - daughter of nobles. That is: how lovely were your steps when you ascended for the festival.
"The curves of your thighs are like ornaments" - according to the literal meaning, as Rashi already explained earlier, "chamukei" refers to the hidden, curving contour of the thigh, and they are as lovely as a set of gold ornaments, a cluster of jewels, as in "an ornament of fine gold [cheli chetem]," and in Arabic, "al-hali."
Our Sages expounded this as referring to the drainage cavities of the libations (the shitin), which were created during the six days of Creation, and they are rounded like a thigh. As is known, the libations were poured onto the altar and descended into the shitin. The word shitin is related to tashtit (foundation) - the lowest place, the bedrock, and from there it drained down deep into the earth. Those subterranean cavities are the "curves of your thighs" - hidden beneath the surface of the ground, rounded like a thigh. And chala'im is an expression of excavation or digging, like chulyot habor - excavating an embankment around a pit. One might have thought the word is also related to chalalim (cavities or empty spaces), since these are hollow spaces through which the wine poured downward; however, Rashi connects it more to the root of chulya (ring or earthen mound), as the letter lamed is not doubled here, but rather followed by an alef and yud.
"The handiwork of a master craftsman" - the hands of the Holy One, blessed be He, for those subterranean channels were formed during the six days of Creation, and the Craftsman Who created the world is the One Who fashioned them. In Tractate Sukkah it is taught: "Craftsman" refers to the craftsmanship of the Holy One, blessed be He. Israel praises Him from the top down: they begin with "His head is the finest gold" and descend until "His legs are pillars of marble," because they seek to appease Him and draw His Shechinah down from the upper realms to the lower realms. He, however, recounts their praise from the bottom up: "How beautiful are your steps" - referring to the feet - and proceeds upward until "Your head upon you is like Carmel," until He draws her close to Him.
There may also be an allusion here to the Kabbalistic dimension: the elevation of Mayin Nukvin (feminine waters) and the drawing down of Mayin Dechurin (masculine waters). We elevate Mayin Nukvin - an appeasement like a gift offered upward - and then the Holy One, blessed be He, Who is the source of bestowal (mashpia), the masculine aspect, bestows Mayin Dechurin from above to below. According to this, it aligns beautifully with what we said: the praise of the Jewish people is counted from bottom to top - corresponding to the elevation of Mayin Nukvin - while that of the Holy One, blessed be He, is counted from top to bottom - corresponding to the drawing down of Mayin Dechurin.
שׇׁרְרֵךְ אַגַּן הַסַּהַר אַל־יֶחְסַר הַמָּזֶג בִּטְנֵךְ עֲרֵמַת חִטִּים סוּגָה בַּשּׁוֹשַׁנִּים׃ - "Your navel is a round basin, let not mixed wine be lacking; your belly is a heap of wheat, hedged about with lilies."
Rashi comments: "Your navel is a round basin (agan hasahar)" - your navel is like a basin of clear water in which people bathe, made of marble stones, which in Arabic is called sahar. Because the navel is a round hollow, he compares it to a round basin. In Hebrew sahar usually refers to the moon, but in Arabic it means a round cavity, and therefore her beauty is compared to a circular basin.
A difficulty arises here: in all the previous examples, the verse spoke of the woman's physical beauty, and Rashi brought both the mashal (allegory) and the nimshal (underlying meaning) - but what beauty and praise is there in a navel? To this Rashi explains: this praise is not about a woman's physical beauty like the praise above, because in the verse above her Beloved praises her, whereas here her companions praise her for her deeds, saying: "You are worthy of joining us." A husband praises a woman for her beauty, but her companions praise her for her other virtues. And the allegory's deeper meaning: it refers to the Chamber of Hewn Stone (Lishkat HaGazit) situated at the navel of the earth. "A round basin" - because the Sanhedrin sat in the shape of a semicircular threshing floor, as the Gemara states.
"Let not mixed wine be lacking" - drink will never cease from there, meaning that words of halachic instruction will never cease or be interrupted from there. The place from which Torah instruction goes forth is the Chamber of Hewn Stone, and from there the "poured mixture" will never dry up - authoritative ruling will continually flow from there.
Others explain "let not mixed wine be lacking" in another way: since "your navel is a round basin" refers to the Great Sanhedrin sitting in a semicircle like a threshing floor, the verse comes to hint that the Lesser Sanhedrin should not be lacking either. A Lesser Sanhedrin consists of twenty-three judges, which is approximately one-third of the Great Sanhedrin; and what is the proper dilution (mezeg) for wine? One-third wine to two-thirds water. That is the meaning of "let not the mezeg be lacking."
Metzudat David connects this to the navel itself: the navel is the organ through which an unborn child is nourished, and therefore "let not mixed wine be lacking" refers to the source of sustenance and abundance, that abundance should continue to flow. This fits well with Rashi's explanation, since it is also through the navel that nourishment and sustenance are blended and channeled to the fetus in its mother's womb.
"Your belly is a heap of wheat" - which everyone needs. The Gemara asks: Sinai (one with vast breadth of knowledge) or an uprooter of mountains (one with sharp analytical intellect), who takes precedence? Sinai takes precedence, for everyone needs the owner of the wheat (marei chittaya). In their times, if you were not well-versed in the Baraitot, you could not even begin to analyze a talmudic topic - how could you compare the Mishnah to a Baraita and propose that the Mishnah does not follow a certain Tanna, and the like, if you lacked the sources? Today, when everything is in writing, people say that an uprooter of mountains takes precedence: we have an abundance of accessible information, but analyzing it deeply, comparing different concepts, and distinguishing between things that appear identical - that is the sharp analysis (pilpul) and depth that is considered the greater virtue in our day. In any case, the "Sinai," the master of breadth, is the master of the wheat; and without wheat, one cannot make bread. So too here: "your belly is a heap of wheat" refers to the place of the Sanhedrin, which everyone needs, depending on that spiritual bounty and the halachic rulings that emerge from it.
"Fenced with roses" - hedged and enclosed with a fence of roses. "Sugah" (fenced) is from the language of "seyag" (a hedge or fence), as in "make a hedge for the Torah." Yet there is an electric fence, an iron fence, a stone fence - and there is a fence of roses, which requires only trampling to cross. This is not a prickly pear cactus; these are roses. You step and you cross. And that is the praise: a light fence is enough for her, and not one of you breaches it to enter.
Rashi cites the example given by the Sages: A bridegroom enters the chuppah, his heart longing with affection for his bride. He comes to be intimate with her, but she tells him, "I saw a drop of blood like a mustard seed" - he immediately turns his face to the other side. Yet no snake bit him, and no scorpion stung him. Similarly, one who is walking along the road and sees first fruits at the tops of the fig trees reaches out his hand to take them; they tell him, "They belong to an Israelite" - he immediately withdraws his hand to avoid theft. This is "fenced with roses": the principle is that we establish the boundaries and fences of our own accord, not through intimidation.
To illustrate this: It is told of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev that on Erev Pesach after midday, he approached merchants in the town and asked, "Can I get silk from you?" They replied, "Yes, how much do you want, how many meters?" Now under Russian law, smuggling silk was forbidden, and anyone who smuggled was sent to prison or Siberia for many long years. He went to another merchant: "Do you have silk?" "Yes, how much do you need, what kind, what size, what colors?" Wherever he wished, he could obtain silk.
Afterwards, he went to the Jewish neighborhood and asked, "Do you have any pita? Can I get a bread roll? Do you have any cookies left?" They said to him, "What is the honored Rav saying? It is past midday, today is Erev Pesach! From where would there be chametz?" He told them, "I am willing to pay." They said, "What do you mean pay? There is none; we burned everything." Rabbi Levi Yitzchak said: "Look - the Tsar of Russia has police officers, officials, Siberia, everything, and despite that, one can obtain silk on every street corner. Yet the Holy One, Blessed be He, declared 3,300 years ago, 'No chametz shall be seen of yours,' and wherever you go you cannot find any chametz, and no matter how much you pay, no one will give you any. Such is the merit of the Jewish people." And this is "fenced with roses": there is no need for an army or threats; the Holy One, Blessed be He, declared it forbidden, and a small rose is sufficient - as the Midrash states, "she appears to me like a rose" - for a person to separate and avoid transgression.
שְׁנֵי שָׁדַיִךְ כִּשְׁנֵי עֳפָרִים תׇּאֳמֵי צְבִיָּה׃ - "Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle."
Rashi: "Your two breasts" - the two Tablets. Another interpretation: king and Kohen Gadol. As explained several times, any mention of "your breasts" is an expression of divine abundance and influence (hashpa'ah). Just as a nursing infant nurses from the breasts and receives sustenance, so wherever Scripture wishes to convey the pouring out of abundance, it says "your two breasts."
And here there are two interpretations: either the two Tablets - for our abundance, the Torah, comes from the Tablets, and incidentally, the entire Torah is hinted at within the Tablets of the Covenant in the Ten Commandments; or king and Kohen Gadol, who are also an aspect of breasts that bestow abundance upon us. The king channels material influence to the nation - in terms of defense, livelihood, and physical needs; and the Kohen Gadol channels influence to the nation in the spiritual realm. Therefore, they are compared to two breasts that bestow abundance upon the Jewish people.
צַוָּארֵךְ כְּמִגְדַּל הַשֵּׁן עֵינַיִךְ בְּרֵכוֹת בְּחֶשְׁבּוֹן עַל־שַׁעַר בַּת־רַבִּים אַפֵּךְ כְּמִגְדַּל הַלְּבָנוֹן צוֹפֶה פְּנֵי דַמָּשֶׂק׃ - "Your neck is like an ivory tower; your eyes are like pools in Cheshbon by the gate of Bat-Rabbim; your nose is like the tower of Lebanon overlooking Damascus."
"Your neck is like an ivory tower" - Rashi explains: The Heichal (Sanctuary) and the Altar, which are upright and tall, and the Chamber of Hewn Stone is also there, built for strength and protection like a tower of ivory. Anyone who sees the Heichal and the Altar stands in awe: how much one must climb to ascend the Altar! When one sees a presentation comparing human height to the height of the Heichal, one stands amazed. "An ivory tower" is a tower of ivory - elephant tusk, meaning built in the most magnificent and prestigious manner.
"Your eyes are like pools in Cheshbon" - Rashi explains: Your eyes are like the pools in Cheshbon that draw water. "By the gate of Bat-Rabbim" - your Sages, when sitting at the gates of Jerusalem, the city full of people, calculating solar cycles and constellations; their wisdom and understanding in the sight of the nations draw people like pools of water. The Sages are the eyes of the congregation, sitting at the gate and watching over the state of the Jewish people. "Bat-Rabbim" - a place where many gather, full of people. "Pools" indicates abundance, like the flow descending from the upper pool.
And what is so great about calculating the astronomical seasons (tekufot)? Through this, the wisdom of Israel is made evident, for many nations attempted to calculate the solar cycle and the lunar cycle and ended up in confusion. There are two days in the Gregorian calendar that anyone searching for them in history will not find - they had an error in their count and simply skipped two days. That is to say, it is entirely non-trivial to calculate the lunar cycle accurately. Yet the Sages of Israel were handed down the tradition: 29-12-793 - the lunar cycle is twenty-nine days, twelve hours, and 793 parts (chalakim) of an hour. Today this is checked with atomic clocks, and it is found accurate to six decimal places. This is "your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the nations" - a secret transmitted to the Sages of Israel from Hashem. And from here, an abundance of knowledge and understanding flows to them like an overflowing pool.
Furthermore, it can be explained: berechot (pools) can be understood as pigeons or doves, as in the language of the Mishna, "One who purchases the brood of a dovecote must let the first berechah fly off" - the first pair of fledglings reared in a nest is called a berechah. According to this, it praises her eyes as being like doves, praise we have already encountered previously: "Your eyes are like doves."
"Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon" - Rashi says: I cannot interpret this as referring to the nose (chotem), neither in terms of literal meaning nor in terms of the metaphor, for what praise of beauty is there in a nose that is large and erect like a tower? Even in the literal sense this is no praise, and in the allegorical sense we have no lesson to expound regarding a long nose. Rashi therefore explains: "Your nose" (apech) is an expression of face, as in "and they prostrated themselves to him apayim artzah" - with their faces to the ground. And the reason Scripture uses the singular form apech rather than apayich is that it speaks of the forehead, which is the primary feature of facial recognition, as it is stated, "The look of their faces testifies against them." So too we find: "Yet you had the forehead of a brazen woman," and "a forehead of brass" - for the forehead is where boldness of face and facial expression are most discernible.
And know that this is so, because the praise proceeds from bottom to top: "Your eyes are pools in Cheshbon," and after them comes the forehead. Simply speaking, the nose is situated below the eyes; thus, moving upward after the eyes, the next feature is the forehead.
And likewise the nations praise her in the spirit of Yechezkel 3: "Your forehead is strong against the forehead of all who come to challenge and entice you" - praising her for having a steadfast forehead, the strength to stand with unwavering resolve against all the adversaries who come against her to tempt her. Incidentally, a high forehead generally hints at intellect; when people wish to describe individuals who are not clever, they say "low-browed," whereas a high forehead indicates greater intellect. Here, the forehead is praised for its loftiness - "like the tower of Lebanon."
"Overlooking Damascus" - Rashi says: I saw in the Midrash that this refers to the House of the Forest of Lebanon built by Shlomo, from which one standing atop it could gaze and count how many houses there were in Damascus. The allegory follows the same line of thought: the neck represents the tall and erect Sanctuary, the Altar, and the Chamber of Hewn Stone; and the forehead like the tower of Lebanon refers to the House of the Forest of Lebanon, the Beit HaMikdash. We have already mentioned previously two reasons for the name "Lebanon": one, that it was built by the craftsmen of Lebanon using the cedars of Lebanon; and the second, that it whitens (malbin) the sins of Israel. And one gazing from up there overlooks and sees all the way to Damascus.
Alternatively, Rashi cites: "Your face looks toward Damascus" - yearning (metzapfot) for the gates of Jerusalem to reach Damascus, as Jerusalem is destined to expand as far as Damascus. Tzofot (overlooking) here has the connotation of anticipation and longing (tzipiyah). Looking out and anticipating are intrinsically connected: a person waiting at a station looks out in the distance because he is anticipating. This is the meaning of "Though he tarry, I will wait for him" - an eager waiting and anticipation to witness the coming of Mashiach. So too here: yearning and longing for the time when the gates of Jerusalem will finally expand as far as Damascus.
For it is written that when the Jewish people finish conquering the Land, "Every place where the sole of your foot treads shall be yours" - the Land of Israel has the potential to expand across the entire world; the essential condition was that we complete the conquest of what was obligatory as part of the Promised Land, and from that point onward, every place where the sole of your foot treads. And likewise it is written that Jerusalem is destined to expand, as we learned in detail in the Book of Yechezkel.
Chapter 7 opened with the nations' enticement - "Return, return, O Shulammite" - and Keneset Yisrael responded that they have nothing to offer that even approaches the spiritual stature of the encampments and banners in the Wilderness. From there the praise continues: the festival pilgrimages; the shitin (drainage shafts under the Altar) created during the Six Days of Creation by the Master Craftsman; the Chamber of Hewn Stone situated at the navel of the world, from which halachic ruling never ceased; the Sanhedrin upon whom all rely, like a heap of wheat; and the fence of lilies - Israel's voluntary restraint without coercion, exemplified by the bridegroom who separates himself and as illustrated by Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. And finally, the praises of the Temple and wisdom: the Sanctuary and Altar like a tower of ivory, the Sages of Israel who calculate the solar seasons and lunar constellations which constitute our wisdom in the eyes of the nations, and the steadfast forehead like the tower of Lebanon, gazing out and yearning for Jerusalem's borders to expand as far as Damascus.