"Go forth and gaze, daughters of Zion, upon King Solomon" (Song of Songs 3:11). The sages of Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 1:3 read that word tziyyon as m'tzuyanim — the distinguished ones, the children marked for God by circumcision, by the laws of haircutting, and by tzitzit. And the King, again, is not Solomon. It is the King to whom shalom belongs, the One who reconciles His creatures.
The Peacemaker Between Fire and Flesh
Look at how many quarrels God has refereed. He made peace between fire and Abraham when Nimrod threw him into the furnace. He made peace between the sword and Isaac on the wood of the altar. He made peace between the wrestling angel and Jacob at the Jabbok ford (Genesis 32:25). Every element in creation is capable of destroying a human being, and the King of Peace keeps calling them off.
Rabbi Yochanan expands the picture. "Dominion and dread are with Him" (Job 25:2) — a line that flows into the daily Kaddish. Rabbi Yaakov of Kfar Chanan unpacks the code. "Dominion" is Michael. "Dread" is Gabriel. One is fire, the other water, and they stand in the court of Heaven without burning or drowning each other. In all the days of the world, the sun has never gashed the moon. The constellations of the zodiac have never jumped the line.
The Miracle Inside a Miracle
Rabbi Avin goes deeper still. Every single angel is half fire and half water, and God holds those two halves together without either one winning. The plague of hail in Egypt proved the same principle. "There was hail, and fire igniting itself within the hail" (Exodus 9:24). Rabbi Yehuda imagined it as bowls of hail filled with fire like the chambers of a split pomegranate. Rabbi Nechemiah imagined it as fire and hail mixed like oil and water in a lamp, burning together.
Rabbi Acha offers a parable. A king had two elite legions who despised each other — until war came. The moment the enemy rose against their king, they forgot their feud and fought side by side. So, too, fire and hail are natural enemies. But when God went to war for Israel against Pharaoh, they made peace inside a single cloud. A miracle within a miracle.
Daughter, Sister, Mother
Then the midrash turns to "the crown with which his mother adorned him on the day of his wedding." Rabbi Yitzchak searched all of Scripture and found no verse where Bathsheba crowned her son Solomon. So what crown is this? It is the Tent of Meeting, crowned in blue, purple, and scarlet.
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai asked Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Yosei what he had heard from his father on this verse, and the answer astonished him. A king had an only daughter and loved her so much he could not stop calling her by closer and closer names. First "my daughter," then "my sister," finally "my mother." So God called Israel "daughter" — "Listen, daughter, and see" (Psalms 45:11). Then "sister" — "My sister, my darling" (Song of Songs 5:2). Then "mother," reading u'l'umi ("my nation") as u'l'ami ("my mother") in (Isaiah 51:4). When Rabbi Shimon heard this, he stood up and kissed the younger rabbi on the head.
Four Fires on the Mountain
Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin, in the name of Rabbi Levi, closes with an unforgettable scene. When God told Moses, "Make for Me a dwelling place," He first showed him four fires up on high — red, green, black, and white. Moses panicked. "Master of the Universe, where am I supposed to find red fire, green fire, black fire, white fire?" God answered, "Build it from the pattern you are shown on the mountain" (Exodus 25:40). Use earthly dyes that match the colors of the heavenly flames. "You with your dyes," God said, "and I with My glory."
If you build below what I have above, God told him, I will contract (m'tzamtzem) My infinite Presence and come dwell among you. Seraphs stand above; acacia boards stand below. Stars pin the firmament above; golden hooks pin the fabric below. The Tabernacle was the heavens, translated into thread and wood. It was the wedding canopy at Sinai, and it was a rehearsal for the Temple yet to come.
"Go forth and gaze, daughters of Zion (tziyyon)" (Songs 3:11) -- children who are distinguished (m'tzuyanim) for Me [as opposed to the children of idolators] through circumcision, through haircutting, and through tzitzit. "... upon King Solomon (Shlomo)" (ibid.) -- upon the King to whom the peace (shalom) belongs (i.e., God Himself). Another interpretation: "Upon King Solomon" -- the King who brought peace between (hish'lim) His works with His creatures. He made peace between fire and Abraham our Father (i.e., when Nimrod threw Abraham into a furnace), he made peace between the sword and Isaac our Father (i.e., when intervening to prevent Isaac's sacrifice), [and] he made peace between an angel and Jacob our Father (Gen 32:25-31). Another interpretation: "Upon King Solomon" -- the King who makes peace with His creatures. Said Rabbi Yochanan, "The dominion and the dread [are with Him]" (Job 25:2).*The continuation of the verse, "He makes peace in His heights" (עשה שלום במרומיו) is incorporated into the daily Kaddish prayer. What follows is a description of the peace that God makes in His heights, which the Kaddish requests be brought down to Earth as well. Said Rabbi Ya'akov of K'far Chanan, "the dominion" -- that is Michael; "and the dread" -- that is Gabriel; "... are with Him" -- and they are made peaceful (mash'limim) with Him, and one does not bring harm upon the other. And Rabbi Yochanan said, in all its days, the sun has never sustained damage by the moon, nor has one zodiacal constellation preceded its fellow (i.e., out of order), nor has a zodiacal constellation ever seen what precedes it. The firmament is made of water, and the angel is made of fire, yet they reside with one another, and one does not bring harm upon the other. Said Rabbi Avin, it is not only that [He brings peace] between angel and angel, but even [within a single] angel itself -- half of it is fire and half of it is water, and He makes peace between them. And [each angel] has five aspects -- "and his body was like beryl, etc." (Dan. 10:6). And it is written, "And there was hail, and fire" (Ex. 9:24). Rabbi Yehuda said, bowls of hail filled with fire. Rabbi Nechemiah said, fire and hail intermingled with one another. Said Rabbi Chanin, the explanation of Rabbi Yuda (Yehuda) is that it is like the seed of a split pomegranate that can be seen from the outside (see Bamidbar Rabbah 12:8 (Sefaria tr.)) The explanation of Rabbi Nechemiah is that it is like is that it is like this lantern of a lamp (candila), in which water and oil are mixed as one, and it is kindled above them (ibid.)."And there was hail, and fire igniting itself (mitlakachat) [within the hail]" (Ex. 9:24). What is the meaning of "mitlakachat"? Said Rabbi Yuda bar Simon, it perishes (mita) [and] regroups (mit'kariya) to perform its mission. Said Rabbi Acha, [this can be likened] to a king who had two strong legions (ligionot) that hated one another, but as soon as the king's war came upon them, they made peace between themselves. So too fire and hail hate one another but as soon as the war of the Holy One Blessed be He came upon Egypt, "there was hail, and fire igniting itself [within the hail]," a miracle within a miracle."With the crown with which his mother adorned him on the day of his wedding" (Songs 3:11). Said Rabbi Yitzchak, we reviewed all of Scripture, and we were unable to find anywhere [where it said that] Bathsheba fashioned a crown for her son Solomon; rather, this [refers to] the Tent of Meeting, which is crowned with blue, and purple, and worm-scarlet. Said Rabbi Chunya, Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai asked Rabbi Elazar b'Rabbi Yosei: "Might you have heard from your father what the meaning is of 'the crown with which his mother adorned him?" He said to him, "Yes." He said to him, "What is it?" He said to him, "It [refers to] a king who had an only daughter and he loved her excessively. He did not move from his love until he called her, 'My sister.' [After that] he did not move from his love until he called her, 'My mother.' Thus at the beginning of the Holy One Blessed be He's love for [the Children of] Israel, He called them 'My daughter' -- 'Listen, daughter, and see' (Ps. 45:11). He did not move from His love until He called them 'My sister,' as it is said, 'My sister, My darling' (Songs 5:2). [After that] He did not move from His love until he called them 'My mother,' as it is said, 'Listen to Me, My people, and to My nation (u'l'umi), etc.' (Is. 51:4). [Although read as u'l'umi,] it is written as 'u'l'ami' ('and to My mother')."*Note that although Masoretic orthography has ולאומי, it appears that the orthography that Rabbi Yosei had before him was ולאמי, which lends itself to the midrashic reading of "and to My mother." Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai stood up and kissed him on the head, and said, "Even if I came only to hear this one thing from you, it would have sufficed for me."Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin, in the name of Rabbi Levi, said, at the time that the Holy One Blessed be He said to Moses, "Make for me a dwelling place (mishkan, usually rendered as 'Tabernacle')," he had to bring four poles and stretch out the Tabernacle upon them. Rather, it teaches us that the Holy One Blessed be He showed Moses up on High red fire, green fire, black fire, [and] white fire, and [then] said to him, "Fashion for me a dwelling place." Moses said to the Holy One Blessed be He, "Master of the Universe! And from where can I find red fire, green fire, black fire, [and] white fire?" He said to him, "[Build it] based on the building-pattern which you are shown on the mountain"*i.e., Moses was to build the Tabernacle with materials that simulated the colors of the heavenly fires, but not with the fires themselves (see Shir HaShirim Rabbah 3:11) (Ex. 25:40). Rabbi Berachya in the name of Rabbi Levi: [This can be likened] to a king who presented himself to a member of his household in a garment completely covered with jewels. He said to him, "Fashion for me the like." He said to him, "My lord king, and from where can I find [the means] to fashion a garment completely covered with jewels?" He said to him, "You with your dyes, and I with my glory." Thus said the Holy One Blessed be He to Moses: "If you fashion for Me below that which I have up above, I will depart from my Heavenly Council and descend and contract (m'tzamtzem, i.e., reduce the infinite size of) my Shekhinah [in order to dwell] among you below." Just as above, [there are] "Seraphs standing in attendance" (Is. 6:2), so too below [there are] "[beams of] acacia wood standing in attendance" (Ex. 26:15). Just as above [there are] stars, so too below [there are] hooks. Said Rabbi Chiyya bar Abba, it teaches that the golden hooks in the Tabernacle resembled the stars that are affixed in the firmament."On the day of his wedding (chatunato)" (Songs 3:11) -- that was the wedding ceremony (chitonim, i.e., between God and Israel on Mount Sinai). "And the day of his heart's joy" (ibid.) -- that is the Tent of Meeting. Another interpretation: "On the day of his wedding" -- that is the Tent of Meeting; "And on the day of his heart's joy" -- that is the building of the Eternal House. Therefore it is said, "And it was on the day that Moses completed, etc."
