Drash – Chol Hamoed Pesach

Rabbi Gary J. Robuck

A Love Song for a Turbulent Time
Chol Hamoed Pesach

Rabbi Gary J Robuck 

Pesach enjoys tremendous popularity among Jews.  Because it is primarily a home-based festival, the threshold to participation is low. Seder evokes sweet memories, and is adored for its food, song, stories, and even silliness.  However, the messages emerging from the pages of the Haggadah, like the rituals we reenact, are timeless.  And amidst all the fun, we take seriously the moments spent contemplating the price and the perils of freedom as well as the mitzvah of passing Jewish traditions on to our children and grandchildren.

But just as Shabbat doesn’t end at the conclusion of the Friday night meal, the observance of Pesach doesn’t end at home when we proclaim, “Next Year in Jerusalem”. Instead, Pesach is also a time to be in shule.  On Shabbat Chol Hamoed Pesach, several seasonal practices are introduced.  On Shabbat morning, we read a special Torah selection (Ki Tisa) and Haftarah – you just must read Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones signifying the reconstitution of Israel, can note the inclusion of special selections in the Siddur (Ya’aleh V’yavo, Hallel) and are given the opportunity to hear the reading of Shir Ha’shirim, the Song of Songs.

But permit me to pause a minute and to comment briefly on a bit of rabbinic genius.  When the division of the Torah into parashiot – possibly in the years just following the return from Babylonian exile, it was determined that each festival would be enriched by the reading of a different Megillah, a “scroll” taken from the Ketuvim, the last of the three sections of the Tanach.  Therefore, at Shavuot those in attendance at shule can be inspired by the story of Ruth’s uncommon faith and fidelity, on Yom Kippur, recall the story of Jonah’s misguided mission, at Purim delight in the tale of Esther’s bravery, and at Sukkot, consider our finitude along with Ecclesiastes.

The reason for the reading from Shir Hashirim at Pesach is less clear.  At first blush, and I use this phrase advisedly, it tells a tale of erotic union and presents graphic love poems set amidst vineyards and verdant fields. Historically, some have regarded these as profane and questioned their inclusion in our holy books as inappropriate even while attributing authorship to no less than King Solomon.

Fortunately, these dissenters (prudes) did not win the day.  Instead, Shabbat Chol Hamoed allows us to sit quietly and to listen to Shir Hashirim, a story unlike any other in the Tanach.  It is, in my view, a highly descriptive, even suggestive work that describes a consuming, unspoilt love between two persons. Such love is “Kodesh”, truly holy and as such, entirely appropriate.  But knowing as we do about Jews and their opinions, you might see it differently and hold, as Rabbi Akiva did, that it is in fact a flowery metaphor illustrative of the love between God and Israel.

However, understood, and notwithstanding the question of its true authorship, Shir Hashirim evokes the pure and passionate love of youth, best reflected in the memorable words of the author: “I am my beloved and my beloved is mine” (7:11).

In a world and at a time like ours of war and division, it is comforting to hear aloud this rhapsody of union and love, a Pesach love story.