The passage opens with the famous verse, "…for your love is better than wine" (Song of Songs 1:2). But almost immediately, we're whisked away to a completely different topic: cheese. Specifically, the cheese of the gentiles. The Mishnah in Avoda Zara (2:5) tells us that Rabbi Yishmael is questioning Rabbi Yehoshua about why the Sages prohibited it.

Rabbi Yehoshua explains that it's because non-Jewish cheesemakers often used the stomach contents of an animal carcass to curdle the milk. Now, Rabbi Yishmael, never one to shy away from a good logical challenge, points out that the stomach contents of a burnt offering are even more ritually stringent, yet a priest is allowed to swallow them raw! He even gulps it down!

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish chimes in, explaining that they treat it like a tainted cup. You can't benefit from it, but you're not liable for misusing consecrated items if you consume it. It's not considered food.

So, Rabbi Yishmael presses the issue: if stomach contents aren't food, why does it make the cheese non-kosher? But instead of answering directly, Rabbi Yehoshua throws a curveball. He asks, "Yishmael, my brother, how do you read it? ‘For Your love [dodekha] is better than wine,’ or ‘Your love [dodayikh] is better than wine?'"

Now, dodekha is the masculine form of "your love," suggesting the woman (Israel) is speaking to the man (God). Dodayikh, on the other hand, is the feminine form, implying God is speaking to Israel. It seems like a random detour, right?

Rabbi Yishmael answers that it's vocalized dodayikh, in the feminine. But Rabbi Yehoshua counters with another verse, "Your oils [shemanekha] have a goodly fragrance" (Song of Songs 1:3). Since "oils" is in the masculine, he implies, so too must "love" be in the masculine in the first verse.

So why the dodge? Why not just answer the cheese question? Rabbi Yonatan suggests it's because the prohibition was new, and they didn't want people questioning it before they'd accepted it. Timing is everything, it seems.

Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta and Rabbi Ḥagai, citing Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman, bring up Proverbs 27:26: “Lambs [kevasim] will be for your garments.” They point out that the word kevasim can also be read as kevashim, meaning "concealed items." The implication? Conceal matters of Torah from young students until they're ready.

Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai adds, "These are the ordinances that you shall place [tasim] before them" (Exodus 21:1). The word tasim is related to sima, meaning "treasure." Just as you don't reveal a treasure to everyone, not all Torah knowledge is for everyone, all the time.

The text continues, exploring other examples of things that are intentionally obscured or revealed only to those who are ready. Rav Huna and Rabbi Ḥama bar Ukva bring up ambiguous verses in the Torah, where it's unclear which phrase a particular word belongs to. Rabbi Yitzḥak notes that some things God told Moses were meant for everyone, while others were only for the worthy.

Rabbi Eila even says there are matters one seals [meshikin] in one’s mouth, derived from yishakeni. It's a secret you keep. He reconciles the verses "I store Your saying in my heart" (Psalms 119:11) and "With My lips I have recounted all the ordinances of Your mouth" (Psalms 119:13) by saying that David kept things to himself while his mentor, Ira HaYa’iri, was alive, and only spoke openly after he passed.

What does it all mean? On the surface, it's a quirky debate about cheese and obscure verses. But underneath, it's about the delicate art of teaching, the importance of knowing when to reveal and when to conceal. It's a reminder that not all questions have easy answers, and sometimes, the most important lesson is learning when and how to ask them. Perhaps, like a good cheese, some truths need to age before they’re ready to be savored.