SONG OF SONGS:
4. Your neck is like the Tower of David, built as a
model; a thousand shields hanging on it, all the quivers of the mighty men.
5. Your two breasts are like two fawns, the twins of a
gazelle, who graze among the roses.
6. Until the sun spreads and the shadows flee, I will
go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.
70 SOULS THAT DESCENDED TO EGYPT: Yocheved
TALMUD
SHEVUOTH: Daf 17 – Sins of the Temple and Marital Relations
BOOK OF JEREMIAH: Chapter 17
Week 17 in
the Jewish calendar is the last week of Teveth,
which includes the 24th of Teveth,
the yahrzeit of Rabbi Schneur Zalman
of Liadi, the Alter Rebbe. As mentioned in the previous week, the verses from
Song of Songs for this week has some of the most open uses of the metaphor of
the female body as a reference to qualities of the Jewish People.
One of the
references made in Song of Songs is to “two breasts,” which is related to
childbearing and procreation, themes of the month of Teveth. Rashi notes that this is a
reference to Moshe and Aharon as well as to the two tablets containing the Ten
Commandments. Rashi further explains how the laws on the first tablet (between
man and G-d) correspond to those on the second one (between man and man).
Similarly, the Alter Rebbe’s name, Shneur, means Shnei Or, two lights, and the Alter Rebbe fulfilled the potential
of his name, revealing the light of Chassidus
and the deep secrets of the Torah, which comprise the Tanya and other holy
works, as well as a light in the revealed aspects of the Torah, which comprise
his Shulchan Aruch, known as Shulchan Aruch HaRav, and other works as
well.
Of the
seventy souls of the Jewish people that descended to Egypt, the seventeenth one,
who is not explicitly mentioned, is Yocheved. Yocheved is the mother of Moshe
and Aharon. She, like Miriam, was also involved in the discreet task of midwiving Jewish children.
Daf Yud Zayin (Folio
17) of Shvuot speaks of the
prohibitions against not properly taking one’s time when leaving the Temple, as
well as taking the shortest path out. It also discusses entering the Temple
grounds in an abnormal manner. The daf then
switches to a different Mishnah,
which leads to a discussion of how to withdraw from a woman that becomes a Niddah (impure due to menstruation) at
the time of intercourse. The daf appears
related to two distinct themes of this month,
sins related to the Temple, as well as marital relations.
Chapter 17 of the Book of Jeremiah
contains one of the main themes of the month, multiplying after being very
small in number. This theme is found in the song of the wild goose in Book 1,
which is contained in this chapter (the wild goose is the Perek Shirah animal for Week 15, also in the month of Teveth):
5. So says the Lord: Cursed is the man who trusts in man and
makes flesh his arm, and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6. He shall be like a lone tree in the plain, and will not
see when good comes, and will dwell on parched land in the desert, on
salt-sodden soil that is not
habitable.
7. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord; the Lord shall
be his trust.
8. For he shall be like a tree planted by the water, and by a
rivulet spreads its roots, and will not see when heat comes, and its leaves
shall be green, and in the year of drought will not be anxious, neither shall
it cease from bearing fruit.
It is also interesting that the chapter include references to
nature and to trees, as the following week is that of Rosh Chodesh Shevat.
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