This is the ninth lesson based on the *Zera Shimshon* on Shir HaShirim, focusing on the verses, "The watchmen who go about the city found me" and "Scarcely had I passed by them" in Chapter 3. This section portrays Keneset Yisrael searching for the Holy One, blessed be He, yearning for His closeness yet failing to find it. The background to this: at the Giving of the Torah, Israel attained immense closeness, but with the sin of the Golden Calf, they fell into profound distance - for thirty-eight years, prophetic speech was withdrawn from Moshe Rabbeinu, and Israel was under divine reprimand. Out of that very distance emerges the cry of "Upon my bed at night."
עַל־מִשְׁכָּבִי בַּלֵּילוֹת בִּקַּשְׁתִּי אֵת שֶׁאָהֲבָה נַפְשִׁי בִּקַּשְׁתִּיו וְלֹא מְצָאתִיו׃ - Upon my bed at night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him.
אָקוּמָה נָּא וַאֲסוֹבְבָה בָעִיר בַּשְּׁוָקִים וּבָרְחֹבוֹת אֲבַקְשָׁה אֵת שֶׁאָהֲבָה נַפְשִׁי בִּקַּשְׁתִּיו וְלֹא מְצָאתִיו׃ - I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and in the broad plazas; I will seek him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him.
מְצָאוּנִי הַשֹּׁמְרִים הַסֹּבְבִים בָּעִיר אֵת שֶׁאָהֲבָה נַפְשִׁי רְאִיתֶם׃ - The watchmen who go about the city found me: 'Have you seen him whom my soul loves?'
כִּמְעַט שֶׁעָבַרְתִּי מֵהֶם עַד שֶׁמָּצָאתִי אֵת שֶׁאָהֲבָה נַפְשִׁי אֲחַזְתִּיו וְלֹא אַרְפֶּנּוּ עַד־שֶׁהֲבֵיאתִיו אֶל־בֵּית אִמִּי וְאֶל־חֶדֶר הוֹרָתִי׃ - Scarcely had I passed by them, until I found him whom my soul loves; I held him and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me.
Rashi explains: "The watchmen found me" - these are Moshe and Aharon, who watched over Israel. "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?" - What did you find in His mouth? "Scarcely had I passed by them" - close to their departure from me at the end of the forty years. "Until I found him whom my soul loves" - for He was with me in the days of Yehoshua to conquer thirty-one kings. "I held him and would not let him go" - I gave Him no respite, "until I had brought him into my mother's house" - this is the Mishkan of Shiloh, in gratitude for all that He did for me.
According to this, the entire passage unfolds as follows: "Upon my bed at night" - I was as one sitting in darkness, in distress, throughout those thirty-eight years, and I sought the Holy One, blessed be He, Who had revealed Himself to me at Mount Sinai, but I did not find Him. I turned to the watchmen, Moshe and Aharon, and asked them: Have you seen him whom my soul loves? Have you received any message from Him? Only when the time came to part from them at the end of the forty years did I find Him - in the days of Yehoshua, when the Holy One, blessed be He, accompanied us in the war against the thirty-one kings. And then, "I held him and would not let him go" - I gave Him no respite and did not allow Him to depart from me, "until I had brought him into my mother's house" - when we built Him a Mishkan in the Land, in gratitude for all He had done for me.
The first question: What does Rashi mean by "What did you find in His mouth?" He should have said, "What did you hear from His mouth?" This is a strange expression. "What did you find in his mouth?" is a question fitting for a dentist - four cavities and three fillings! Regarding the Holy One, blessed be He, one would expect the phrase to be: What did you hear from Him, or what message did you receive from Him?
The second question: Rashi explains the phrase as "close to their departure from me," whereas the plain reading of the text suggests the opposite - that Keneset Yisrael departed from them: "Scarcely had I passed by them." Yet it was they who departed, for Israel moved forward into the Land of Israel while Moshe and Aharon passed away; if so, the verse should have said, "Scarcely had they passed from me."
A third question: What is the relevance of the Mishkan of Shiloh here, and why is it linked to this verse?
A fourth question, which poses a difficulty according to the plain meaning of the text: Why do the watchmen not answer at all? She asks them, "Have you seen the one my soul loves?" - and there is no response whatsoever. Scripture does not say "and they answered me," nor "we have not seen," nor anything at all. A question left unanswered.
The explanation of this matter rests on a well-known foundation: At the time of the Giving of the Torah, Israel experienced the fulfillment of "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth," as stated in the Midrashim. But after they sinned, they lost their glory, and throughout all their days in the wilderness they did not even merit the level of face-to-face (panim b'panim), let alone the level of kisses (neshikin). To understand this, let us briefly explain the terminology of the kabbalists in basic terms.
Zeir Anpin comprises six sefirot - Chessed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod - and represents the Holy One, blessed be He, the masculine aspect (dechura). Malchut corresponds to the Congregation of Israel, the feminine aspect (nukva), the aspect of the Shechinah who is with us in exile. When Israel is on a high level, there is union (zivug): just as in an earthly union there is an outflow of bounty that brings about reproduction and procreation, so too in the supernal union the partzufim unite with one another, and Zeir Anpin pours out bounty into Malchut, and Malchut channels that bounty down into the lower world. Malchut possesses no light of her own at all - all her light is what she receives from the aspect of Yesod of Zeir Anpin, and that is what she brings down here.
This connection manifests at several levels: There is a back-to-back connection (achor b'achor) - an inferior union, so to speak, back-to-back. There is face-to-back and back-to-face. And the higher level is face-to-face (panim b'panim), when Malchut stands in her full stature and perfection. Such was the case in the days of King Solomon, of whom it was said that the moon was at its fullness (seihara b'ashlemuta) - the sefirah of Malchut is the aspect of the moon, which receives its light from the sun, which is Zeir Anpin, and it was then in its complete perfection. And higher still is the union of kisses (zivug de-neshikin) - a mouth-to-mouth connection.
The aspect of "face" (panim) is the outpouring of abundance, whereas the aspect of "back" (achorayim) is the realm where the impure forces (kelipot) hold sway. "From my flesh I shall see God": the site of impurity and waste elimination in a human being is the back, which is why the forces of impurity cling there, being spiritually the lower aspect. To this the verse alluded: "your following after Me in the wilderness" - specifically "after Me" (achorai) rather than face-to-face, a remarkable allusion to their spiritual level, indicating that they were distanced from Hashem, blessed be He, in an aspect of back-to-back. This is how Rabbeinu Chaim Vital explains the matter in Sha'ar HaPesukim on Yirmiyahu 2.
However, Moshe and Aharon merited the level of face-to-face even in the wilderness, as it is written: "And Hashem spoke to Moshe face to face." Evidently Aharon attained this as well, and the proof is that Scripture says, "Mouth to mouth I speak with him," rather than "Face to face I speak with him." If Moshe had been unique relative to Aharon in the level of face-to-face as well, Scripture would have singled him out for it. Rather, Aharon certainly also merited face-to-face, while Moshe surpassed him by meriting the level of mouth-to-mouth, which is the aspect of kisses (neshikin), as is known.
Rashi himself explained similarly on the verse "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth": There are kisses on the hand, and kisses on the shoulder, but the most significant of all are mouth to mouth, like a bridegroom to his bride. Kissing the hand is customary among Sephardim - a person approaches a rabbi and kisses his hand. Yemenites, by contrast, did not have the custom of kissing the hand, because the Gemara states that sweat from a person's hand can be lethal poison, so they kiss the shoulder instead. But "kisses of his mouth" is a reality we do not find anywhere in the physical world except between husband and wife, who are one flesh. Even a parent kissing a child - this is not the kiss of the mouth. It is the expression of the greatest closeness that exists. Therefore, the earthly union corresponds to the supernal union, and its aspect of "kisses of his mouth" corresponds to the union of kisses (zivug de-neshikin), in accordance with the holy Zohar.
Now the question is clarified with wonderful precision. When the watchmen - who are Moshe and Aharon - found them, the people of Israel said to them: Surely the Holy One, blessed be He, speaks with you face-to-face, and this is "the one my soul loves" - we know you have seen Him. But our question is: "What did you find in His mouth?" - do you also merit the union of kisses, the aspect of mouth-to-mouth? Is such tremendous closeness to God possible even now, even in our reality today?
And why did Moshe and Aharon not answer them? The answer is not stated explicitly in the verse because the question itself was not stated explicitly - for "what did you find in His mouth?" is not explicit, and only Rashi reveals its intent. Furthermore, it was out of honor for Aharon, who did not merit the same level as Moshe. For had Moshe replied, "I merited mouth to mouth, while Aharon my brother merited only face to face," this would have been an affront to Aharon. Therefore, no answer is recorded here at all.
And the intention of the Jewish people in their question was: they thought that if the Holy One, blessed be He, had become completely reconciled with Aharon, perhaps there was hope that He would also become reconciled with them. For initially, Aharon merited, and all of Israel merited, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth"; yet at the incident of the Golden Calf, it is written, "And Hashem was angry with Aharon," and he was brought close once again through the merit and prayer of Moshe. They therefore sought to know whether he had been completely brought close - for Aharon was involved in the incident of the Calf, and if he had returned to the level of kisses, it would signify that they too, having stumbled with the Calf, had hope for that great closeness.
And Rashi comes to establish for us the true meaning of the verse: both the question and the answer were concealed out of honor for Aharon, and also because of the principle, "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter," for such intimate, internal matters are best kept hidden. The more hidden a matter is, the more honored it is. With a person who lacks dignity, everything is exposed, and with a single glance one knows exactly where he stands. The more distinguished and honorable a person is, the more reserved and concealed he is. How much more so regarding the honor of Heaven, where such inner matters are fittingly conveyed in concealment.
Now the second textual nuance is also resolved. "Scarcely had I passed from them" - after Moshe and Aharon passed away and I crossed the Jordan and entered the Land of Israel. And how did I "pass from them"? Because they departed from me. For as long as they were alive, I could not cross the Jordan, since it had been decreed upon them that they would not cross, and as long as I was with them, I could not cross either. Only after they departed this world did I cross.
"Until I found him whom my soul loves" - immediately upon entering the Land. For regarding the Land of Israel it is written, "the eyes of Hashem your God are always upon it," and those who dwell in it merit the radiance of His countenance (he'arat panim), and I strengthened myself in the mitzvot so that sanctity would rest upon me even more. Therefore, specifically when I crossed the Jordan and entered the Holy Land, I returned to meriting those elevated levels of the shining of His countenance.
"I held him, and would not let him go" - by executing vengeance against the enemies of Hashem and conquering the Land of Israel to bring it under the domain of sanctity. That is to say: I will not let go of Him, and the Land will no longer remain in the possession of the seven nations. For as long as it was in their possession, it was as if striking against holiness - the realm of the kelipah, in the aspect of "a maidservant who dispossesses her mistress." But I held Him and would not let Him go - for I executed vengeance against the enemies of Hashem and conquered the Land, where the sovereignty and kingdom of the Creator, blessed be He, would be made manifest.
"Until I brought him into my mother's house" - this is Shiloh. After we conquered the Land of Israel, we built the Mishkan in Shiloh, and there was a partial unification (yichud), as is known. For Shiloh had stone walls below and tapestries above, and it was not a complete house, yet it contained the partitions like the Beit HaMikdash. There is a great secret in this; see Zohar, Parashat Pekudei 241. The complete unification occurred specifically in the eternal House built by Shlomo, whereas in Shiloh, which was not a fully complete house, there was a partial unification.
And there, the Jewish people began to fulfill the mitzvah of pilgrimage (aliyah laregel), as stated in the Midrash and commentators on the verse, "And that man went up from his city year by year." Rashi and the Radak explain that Elkanah would ascend to Shiloh from festival to festival, and the Midrash Aggadah teaches: the route he took in one year, he would not take in another, so as to publicize the matter to Israel and inspire them to do likewise. Each time he would arrive from a different direction, and people would ask him, "Where are you going?" and he would answer them, "We are going up on pilgrimage." In this way he created momentum, and the public began ascending on pilgrimage.
And we hold as established in the Gemara in Chagigah (folio 2a): just as one comes to see, so he comes to be seen. Just as a person comes to see the presence of the Shechinah, so, as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, comes to be seen by him. And those who made the pilgrimage merited to behold the presence of the Shechinah - which is the level of "face to face." It emerges that in the Mishkan of Shiloh, Israel returned to the level of face to face.
"And into the chamber of her that conceived me" - this refers to the Beis HaMikdash itself, the eternal Temple, in which there was complete union. It is therefore called a "chamber" (cheder) because it was an actual, fully built permanent structure, unlike the Mishkan in Shiloh, which was not a chamber since it had tapestries overhead. And just as a bridegroom and bride sit in the chamber of seclusion (cheder yichud), so too it is called here a "chamber" - the place of complete union.
And it is called "horasi" ("she that conceived me"), for from there instruction (hora'ah) goes forth to the world, as it is written: "and you shall go up to the place" - teaching that the place itself is what causes this. The Sanhedrin sat in the Chamber of Hewn Stone (Lishkas HaGazis) adjacent to the Beis HaMikdash, and from there instruction went forth to all of Israel. The place itself grants the power of instruction and proper halachic ruling, for they had Divine assistance from the Holy One, blessed be He, to judge, adjudicate, and bring forth the halachah in accordance with the true essence of Torah. This is deeply profound.
The entire passage charts a journey of distance and return: from "the kisses of His mouth" at the giving of the Torah; through the fall of the Golden Calf, which cast Israel down to the level of concealment (achorayim) throughout their years in the wilderness; to the piercing question Israel put to Moshe and Aharon - "What did you find in His mouth?", asking whether the level of kisses had returned - a question that went unanswered out of respect for Aharon and because "it is the glory of God to conceal a matter." And from there onward began the ascent: "Scarcely had I passed from them" upon crossing the Jordan; finding Hashem, may He be blessed, in the days of Yehoshua through the radiant favor of Eretz Yisrael; holding fast without letting go during the conquest of the Land from the seven nations; a partial union in the Mishkan of Shiloh, where the pilgrimage festivals began and the state of "face to face" was renewed; and finally, complete union in the eternal Temple - "the chamber of her that conceived me," the place from which instruction goes forth to all of Israel.