As there is no real פרשת השבוע this שבת, I thought it was appropriate to say something on the special קריאה that we do have, namely, שיר השירים.

Simply because I like the song that is set to these words, I wanted to discuss in particular the פסוק of "כשושנה בין החוחים...בין הבנות". רש"י on the פסוק says that just like roses are punctured by the thorns that grow on their stems, yet they remain standing complete in form and bright in color, so too כלל ישראל is constantly being tempted and persuaded by the other nations to follow them in their זנות and to worship other gods. Nonetheless, we remain steadfast in our beliefs and in our אמונה and stay faithful to the רבונו של עולם.

The ספורנו on this פסוק points out something interesting. He says that just as a rose can only grow stronger and better amongst the thorns, so too "רעיתי" (a.k.a. כלל ישראל) only comes back harder and with a stronger resolve when it is put through the trials and tribulations of being amongst the nations of the world.

Throughout history, this has been the case, from the days of the שופטים where there was a cycle of עבירות, צער, הצלה ע"י שופט, ותשובה, to our current day and age, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, where there has been an influx of שמירת המצוות ולימוד התורה like our nation has never seen before, we do our best when we are put to the test. Sometimes we ח"ו forget the specialness we received at הר סיני and begin to follow the leads of the other "בנות", but at the end of the day, ה' reminds us who we really are, and we cling back on to him more tightly than ever before with even stronger אמונה.

In this way שיר השירים is very appropriate for זמן חירותינו. Although כלל ישראל suffered greatly in מצרים, ה' constantly guarded and protected His nation and eventually brought them out ביד רמה ובזרוע נטויה, bringing them to הר סיני and making them His for all eternity.

Right now we are being tested even further by the current so-called President of the United States, who wants to stop ארץ ישראל from protecting itself against the terrors of the surrounding nations, a very literal take on “כשושנה בין החוחים”. However, we know the רבונו של עולם is forever watching His people and His land, and we will אי"ה come out of this terrible צער stronger than we ever were.

May we be זוכה to not need to be tested any further, and be able to bask in the זיו השכינה with the coming of משיח במהירה בימינו אמן!

Have a wonderful שבת חול המועד and an inspiring and meaningful second day(s) of יום טוב.

חג כשר ושמח!

מרדכי שמחה טיפנברון