The ancient Rabbis felt that way about the Exodus, the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt. And they found echoes of that feeling in the most unexpected places, even in the Song of Songs.
Shemot Rabbah, a classical collection of Rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, offers a beautiful reading of the verse, "The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron" (Exodus 6:10). It connects it to the verse from Song of Songs (2:8): "The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills." Imagine Moses announcing to the Israelites that their redemption was at hand: “Today you are leaving, in the month of spring!” (Exodus 13:4). And the people, understandably, ask, "Where is He? Where is God?"
Moses replies, “He is about to arrive!” – like the arrival of a long-awaited lover.
But what does it mean, "leaping upon the mountains?" Rabbi Yehuda offers a profound interpretation. The Holy One, blessed be He, says, "If I scrutinize the actions of Israel, they will never be redeemed." Harsh, right? But sometimes, we fall short. So, where does God look instead? "At their saintly forefathers," says Rabbi Yehuda. As it's stated, "Moreover, I have heard the cry of the children of Israel…and I have remembered my covenant" (Exodus 6:5). The covenant, of course, was made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's on the merit of these eitanim, these mighty ones, that God redeems them. Thus, "leaping upon the mountains" refers to those forefathers, those "heights," as the prophet Micah (6:2) says: "Hear, O mountains, the Lord’s controversy, and you enduring foundations of the earth." Eitanim, meaning mighty ones, is a term that the Sages used for the patriarchs.
Rabbi Nehemya offers another interpretation: maybe the Israelites don't deserve redemption based on their own merits, but God looks to the elders of the generation. He tells Moses, "Go and gather the elders of Israel" (Exodus 3:16). These elders, too, are the "heights." He cleverly uses the example of Jephthah's daughter in Judges (11:37) who asks to "go down upon the mountains." Was she literally going mountain climbing? No, she was going to show the elders that she was a pure virgin, thus perhaps hoping to avert the tragic fate her father had vowed. So, "leaping upon the mountains" can also mean looking to the wisdom and righteousness of the elders.
Then, Rabbi Elazar presents a different angle. God says, "I arranged for Esau that he would establish kings," referring to the verse in Genesis (36:31): "These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom." If God allowed Esau’s descendants to continue establishing kings, how would Israel ever survive? So, God supplants them, rendering them chieftains instead, as it's stated (Genesis 36:15): "These are the chieftains of the sons of Esau." In this reading, "leaping upon the mountains" means overcoming the idolatrous nations, the "heights" of idolatry, as seen in Zechariah (6:1): "Behold, four chariots are coming from between two mountains." The chariots representing four idolatrous nations.
So, what do we take away from all this? It's a reminder that redemption, salvation, whatever you want to call it, can come from unexpected places. Sometimes it's the merit of our ancestors, sometimes the wisdom of our elders, and sometimes it's overcoming the obstacles in our path. And maybe, just maybe, it’s a combination of all three. The voice of our beloved is always coming, leaping upon the mountains, if we only know where—and how—to listen.