Now, Song of Songs is already pretty heady stuff – love, longing, metaphor piled upon metaphor. But the Rabbah, the commentary, takes it to a whole new level, interpreting the poem as an allegory for the relationship between God and Israel. And in this section? We find a surprising connection to the Temple service.
The verse we're focusing on is Song of Songs 4:1: "Your hair is like a flock of goats that streams down [shegaleshu] from Mount Gilad." What on earth do goats have to do with… well, anything spiritual?
Here's where the Rabbah gets interesting. It makes a play on words. Shegaleshu, "that streams down," is linked to shegelashten, "that you took away." The verse, according to this interpretation, is actually about something taken from Mount Gilad. And what is that? According to Shir HaShirim Rabbah, it's a memorial for the nations of the world – the priestly watches.
Wait, goats, hair, priestly watches…what's the connection?
The Rabbah continues, unpacking the next verse, Song of Songs 4:2: "Your teeth are like a flock of ordered ewes." These "teeth," we're told, represent defined matters: the twenty-four priestly watches, the twenty-four Levite watches, and twelve divisions. These were divisions of men who would come for a month at a time to perform whatever tasks the king – that is, God – would assign them. As the Etz Yosef explains, these divisions of men would each serve for a month.
"That have come up from bathing," the verse continues, referring to those who protect Israel. Isn't it beautiful how a seemingly simple line can evoke such a powerful image of spiritual purity and dedication?
"That are all paired" – this alludes to the fact that, as we learn in Sukkah 55b, at three times during the year – during the pilgrimage festivals – all the priestly watches were equal. Everyone had a role to play, side by side.
"And there is none missing among them," the verse concludes. This echoes the passage in Tamid 31a, “The first, the head and the hind leg…” meaning that each priest had a specific role, and there were always enough priests to fulfill every task. A system of perfect order and completeness.
But the Rabbah doesn’t stop there. It continues, drawing connections between other verses in Song of Songs and the Temple service. "Your lips are like a scarlet thread" (Song of Songs 4:2) – this, we learn, refers to the High Priest pouring the libation, the deputy waving the cloths, and ben Arza striking the cymbals, as described in Tamid 33b. This was the signal for the Levites to begin their song in the Temple.
And what was that song? "Your speech is lovely" (Song of Songs 4:2) – this is the song. The specific psalm the Levites would recite depended on the day of the week. On Sunday, it was "The earth is the Lord’s and all it contains" (Psalms 24:1). Monday: "Great is the Lord and highly to be praised in the city of God…" (Psalms 48:2). And so on, through the week, each day marked by a specific psalm, as we find in Midrash Rabbah.
Finally, on Shabbat, they would recite "A psalm, a song for the Shabbat day" (Psalms 92:1) – a psalm not just for that day, but for the future, "for the day that will be entirely Shabbat and rest for everlasting life."
So, what does it all mean?
The Rabbah is doing something profound here. It's taking a love poem, a celebration of earthly beauty and desire, and revealing its hidden depths. It's showing us that the mundane – the daily rituals of the Temple, the work of the priests and Levites – is actually a reflection of a deeper, more profound love between God and Israel. It's a reminder that even in the most ordinary tasks, we can find the extraordinary, the sacred. And perhaps, that's the most beautiful love song of all.