Erotic love poetry in the Bible, you ask where? Songs of Songs, “Shir HaShirim,” the Song of Solomon. It is in the third section of the Hebrew Bible in the writings, and we chant it on Passover. It has a unique melody that is used only for three books of the Bible, in the Jewish tradition, and Eastern European music. It roughly sounds like this and it is used for Ruth in Ecclesiastes too.
[Foreign Language]
Now, what is the book about? Well, it is a collection of love songs that bear a considerable resemblance to both Asian and modern love songs in the near east. The lovers draw on each others physical beauty, which they described by means of far fetched similes. As popular air of love songs do, and on their sexual enjoyment of each other which is like into delightful sensations of taste and smells, and it is definitely without any grossness.
Appreciations of the sights, sounds and smells of the land of Israel, in most people, most scours attributed to by the third century B.C.E. And the book is entirely profane, God has never mentioned, so why would it be in the Bible? Well, first of all, it is attributed to King Solomon, who lived about a thousand B.C.E. So, 700 years before the book was actually written.
And it was accepted as canonical without reinterpretation. For a marriages ordained in the Bible, and a husband and wife sexual satisfaction is never regarded as shameful by the Bible or by the Rabbis. However, there are still was a discussion in a Yamya, and discussion about the missioner, and you die in three, never five, records the question, raised at Yamya in about ninety is to whether the book should be included.
But Rabbi Akibah who lived in the second century could not believe that was ever an argument about whether Songs of Songs should be included in the Bible because it was reinterpreted as an allegory of God in Israel. And basically, the way it was reinterpreted was that God in Israel had a relationship, God delivered her from Egypt. Chosen to be his people, bestowed upon her the precious gift of the Torah.
Sometimes he did not served God faithfully and backs with but God always took it her back. And so, that is how they interpreted this book in order to make it clear that it belonged in the Bible. But we should appreciate it for what it is. And it is read at Passover because of the illusions of spring, and of beauty, and of love, and the land of Israel. And, I want to sing for a few of the verses that have popular melodies there, I will tell you one story.
The first story is, there is a verse in here that says “I am to my beloved as my beloved is to me”, this is on Chapter six verse three. [Foreign Language]. Well, that was interpreted as, I am to my beloved as my beloved is to me. Now, what interpretations he browses among the roses or lilies, or it can also be a shepherd. So, when my first child was born, it was a girl, but my mother did not know and she asks us to call her whatever.
The baby was born and tell her, now she knew the baby will be named with an “s”, because after my father who die a few years before. So, we called her when the baby was born, that is three in the morning and woke her up and she said, “What was it?” And I said, “well, I will sing you a song.” [Foreign Language] Trying to tell her obviously it was a girl named is Sashannah. But my mother knows Hebrew while and she is of course bias and thought it was a boy, said, you had a boy, you named him Shepherd? Translating from the Hebrew, it is three o’clock in the morning; I thought that was pretty good.
So let me sing in a few of the popular melodies from this beautiful book, you should definitely read it for your enjoyment. And try and understand on both the literal level of love poetry and on the level of music. Okay, so couple of the tunes on chapter one verse 15, [Foreign Language]. Chapter two verse two, [Foreign Language], and then the verse eight there [Foreign Language].
That means, “hurt my beloved, there he comes leaping over mountains, bounding over hills. And then, here is a very popular wedding song, chapter two verse 16, as my beloved is to me and I am his, who browses among the lilies [Foreign Language]. Well, verse six in chapter three, who is she that comes from the desert like cones of smoke, and clouds of myrrh and frankincense. [Foreign Language]. Sorry my voice is not better because it is a really some very beautiful songs.
Anyway, so those are some of the beautiful, [Foreign Language], turn back, turn back oh made of shalom, turn back, turn back when He gaze upon you. Chapter seven, I am to my beloved and his desire is for me, come my beloved that is going to the open. It is lodged among the hidden shrubs; let us go to the vineyards and see if the vine has flowered. It is beautiful poetry. Song of Songs, “Shir HaShirim,” the Song of Solomon. Read them.
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