Thou shalt play… with enthusiasm and curiosity… while listening attentively for the voice of the Shechinah.
Playing helps us to find our power, our humor, and our love. We are commanded to “Go out and play!” Experiment with who you think you are. Try on some new identities. The Song commands us to be a wild stag, a King, a shepherd, or a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots. In other words… it is an invitation to Play! Without playing, we become grim and dull. The Song commands us not to take ourselves so seriously. It would be better to take our playing more seriously!
Imagination is essential. Without a dynamic and fluid vision of Love, we cannot attempt to rise to Love’s heights or explore its depths. Imagination expands the range of what we consider possible. We cultivate the imagination by taking time to dream; closing our eyes to outer distractions, we open the eye of the heart to inner treasures. We nurture the imagination by honoring the images, feelings, colors and flavors that are glimpsed, and by planting those glimpses as seeds in the fertile soil of our lives. We refine the imagination through continual and concerted practice.
Oh woman in the garden,
All our friends listen for your voice,
Let me hear it now! Song of Songs 8:13
Our passion, creativity, playfulness and imagination allow us to enter the Garden. And there, the Song tells us, we must listen for Her voice, that Divine voice that has been whispering to us all along.
See also Shir HaShirim (Ha’azinu).