ספר בראשית

In support of the arguments just quoted, our author sees ‎further proof in Song of Songs 8,1 where Solomon says: ‎מי יתנך ‏כאח לי, יונק שדי אמי, אמצאך בשוק אשקך‎, ”if only, when I find You in ‎the street you were like a brother to me, someone who had ‎nursed at my mother’s breast; so that I could kiss you in the ‎street” (a public place, without feeling ashamed). In this verse ‎Solomon alludes to two types of “love,” i.e.‎אהבה מגולה ‏‎, “love ‎openly displayed,” and ‎אהבה מסותרת‎, “loves that is concealed.” ‎The love between a man and his wife is considered as “hidden ‎love,” as it is expressed within the privacy of their home. The love ‎between brother and sister, on the other hand, is described as a ‎love that is openly displayed; so much so, that on occasion ‎brothers and sisters are observed kissing in public and no ‎embarrassment attaches to this display of their fondness for one ‎another in spite of that love being displayed openly.‎Solomon portrays the ‎כנסת ישראל‎, the collective soul of the ‎Jewish people, expressing the wish to be able to display its ‎fondness for G’d and G’d’s fondness for the Jewish people openly, ‎publicly; [although, ideally, the relationship of G’d and the ‎Jewish people is portrayed (allegorically) as like that between ‎groom and bride, a brother-sister type relationship also has its ‎advantages as it may be displayed openly before the gentiles. ‎Ed.] This is an allegory of G’d’s proximity being found in ‎the form of the previously mentioned “sparks” of the ‎‎Shechinah, in the most unlikely places, “on the street,” as ‎opposed to “inside the synagogue or Yeshivah.” This loving ‎relationship is completely devoid of any physical attraction or ‎desires between the parties concerned. Love such as this, has been ‎described as ‎אהבה עזה כמות‎, a love as powerful as death, in Song of ‎Songs 8,6. It is recognizable when the person concerned is able to ‎accept painful afflictions as willingly and even joyfully, as he ‎would welcome manifestations of G’d’s grace discernible as such ‎to any ordinary human being. Our sages in B’rachot 54 ‎explain the word ‎מאדך‎ in the first paragraph of the keriyat ‎sh’ma as referring to this kind of love, where the Torah asks ‎us “to love the Lord your G’d with all your heart, with all your ‎soul, and with all your capacity.” (Deut.6,5) The word ‎מאד‎ there is ‎understood as an alternative for the word ‎מדה‎, i.e. we are to ‎accept with love every attribute of G’d with which He sees fit to ‎relate to us. For a person who is truly convinced that everything ‎that the Creator does is intended for our benefit, even if this is ‎not immediately apparent, it is possible to say, without being ‎hypocritical, ‎גם זו לטובה‎, “this (unwelcome blow of fate), is also ‎meant for the best.”‎When a person has attained this level of spiritual maturity, ‎what had been intended by G’d as a reminder that he must ‎perfect himself further, will be converted into an act of Mercy ‎rather than an act of Justice and reproof. When looked at ‎allegorically, this is the message of Deut. 8,15 that “G’d makes ‎water come out of a rock in the desert that is as hard as granite.” ‎The word ‎מים‎ is usually a symbol of “life-giving” material, whereas ‎the word ‎צור‎, symbolizes something rock-hard, unyielding. The ‎manner in which a person is able to accept what must at first ‎glance appear as a harsh decree by G’d determines the extent to ‎which it is converted into a benevolent decree, something that ‎will be recognized as such retroactively by the person concerned. ‎Yaakov was able to accept what appeared as harsh in such a ‎spirit, thereby displaying what Solomon described in Song of ‎Songs as ‎אהבה עזה‎, a powerful love for G’d. This is why he was ‎now able to settle in the land in which both his forefathers had ‎always remained “strangers,” though they sojourned there many ‎years, Yitzchok during all of his life. Our author understands the ‎word ‎מגור‎ in the verse above as derived from ‎ויגר‎, “he was afraid,” ‎i.e. as opposed to his father who was never at ease.‎