Chapter 8:11-14
Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-Hamon,
He gave that vineyard to watchmen,
anyone would give a thousand pieces of silver, for its fruit.
I have my very own vineyard,
So keep your thousands, Solomon,
And pay two hundred to those
Who must guard your fruit.
Oh woman in the garden,
All our friends listen for your voice,
Let me hear it now!
Hurry, my beloved,
Be my gazelle, my young stag
On the mountain of spices.
I have my very own vineyard.
Its precious fruit is unique, incomparable.
I have been searching the world for grapes like this, Trespassing in the vineyards of Solomon,
While my own precious fruit
has been sweetening on the vine,
nurtured in the soil of this surprising life.
And all those rainstorms I have suffered
Have made my fruit plump with Compassion, juicy with a love that is at once given and received.Oh Woman in the garden, Oh Shechina,
Ancient Mother,
Origin hidden in all things!Oh Holy Innerness shining out! I listen for your voice…
In the scent of gardenia
In the cry of a newborn,
In the silence before words are even possible.Your face shines with a Light from Beyond. You are crowned by my longing for You. Let me open to Your Mystery,
Let me enter Your garden.
In the Fever of Love ©2008 Shefa Gold. All rights reserved.
Illustrations ©2009 Phillip Ratner, courtesy of the Dennis & Phillip Ratner Museum and the Israel Bible Museum collection. All rights reserved.
Practice
Chant: Let Me Hear Your Voice
Commentary
We aspire to be “the Listening Friends” who loyally listen for the voice of Shechinah. She is whispering always, gifting Her Wisdom and Love to all who enter the Garden of this life with the requisite attention, receptivity, strength of purpose, longing and open-hearted expectancy. In listening, we surrender to the widest embrace.
Bridge to Torah
The Torah of Ha’azinu begins with Moses (the awakened part of each of us) calling out to Heaven and Earth to Listen, witness and amplify the message of the Great Mystery that is flowing through him. The Song of Songs takes that same message and channels it through the vehicle of Love.
The Song calls on Shechina, the Divine imminence that is hidden in every particle of Heaven and Earth, “Oh Woman in the garden.” But now we are the ones who are vowing to listen attentively to the inner voice of Heaven and Earth. By listening in love and in friendship with all life, we witness, and amplify the message of Love.
Click to see Deuteronomy 32:1–32:52 in Hebrew and English (JPS 1985) or the associated Torah Journeys page.
Question for Contemplation
Can I become one of the listening friends in this garden of love?
Resources
View Love at the Center Resources.
See also SHS Commandment 10.
Click to see Song of Songs Chapter 8:11-14 in Hebrew with the English JPS (1985) translation.