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In the Fever of Love: An Illumination of the Song of Songs
You don't have to be a mystic to enjoy Rabbi Shefa Gold's new commentary on the Song of Songs, but it may make you into one. Rather than address herself to the reader, she speaks directly, and passionately, to God, The Beloved. She invites us to share in her conversation with life itself, with the mystery that wells "at the center of every molecule, at the heart of my being." IN THE FEVER OF LOVE breathes new life into the ancient practice of both Jews and Christians to read the Song as an allegory of the love between God and human beings. This rich, poetic text of can be used for pondering, praying, and perceiving life in a deeper way by people of any faith, but remains deeply rooted in Judaism's down-to-earth approach to the world. Rabbi Gold brings a modern psychological awareness to this ancient text.For those who want specific directions, she appends ten "commandments" from the Song which can be maxims for daily living.
112 pages, Paperback
First published November 19, 2008
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February 10, 2016
The Song of Songs is one of the most fascinating books of the Bible, and not just because of its unapologetic sexual candidness, or its centrality in the Passover Seder. As Gold notes in her introduction, the 2nd C. mystic Rabbi Akiva believed the book to be the "Holy of Holies." Fast forward many centuries: Franz Rosenzweig, sketching "The Star of Redemption" on postcards to his mother from the trenches of WWI, argues that the Song of Songs must be understood as the central text of Judaism.
If we take Rosenzweig seriously (and I think there's reason to), we cannot expect a single exegetical book to open up the text in its entirety. Gold's book is not where to turn for a detailed commentary on the original Hebrew, its translation, or the symbolic meaning packed in each line (if you want that check out the Anchor Bible series). It is no ultimate source, but is intended to be a supplement to the literature.
Gold hails from the reconstructionist tradition, self-identifies as a mystic, and this edition contains illustrations. Let that be a warning, but not necessarily a deterrence. When she's good she's very good. Glossing "I am dark and beautiful, Oh Daughters of Jerusalem.../Do not see me as only dark/for the sun has stared at me..." she says, very beautifully IMO, "My dark beauty shines in the life that I have lived, the mistakes that I have made...Yet my darkness is still a mystery which I offer up...I have quarreled with my life. My argument with the World is exhausting..."
If we take Rosenzweig seriously (and I think there's reason to), we cannot expect a single exegetical book to open up the text in its entirety. Gold's book is not where to turn for a detailed commentary on the original Hebrew, its translation, or the symbolic meaning packed in each line (if you want that check out the Anchor Bible series). It is no ultimate source, but is intended to be a supplement to the literature.
Gold hails from the reconstructionist tradition, self-identifies as a mystic, and this edition contains illustrations. Let that be a warning, but not necessarily a deterrence. When she's good she's very good. Glossing "I am dark and beautiful, Oh Daughters of Jerusalem.../Do not see me as only dark/for the sun has stared at me..." she says, very beautifully IMO, "My dark beauty shines in the life that I have lived, the mistakes that I have made...Yet my darkness is still a mystery which I offer up...I have quarreled with my life. My argument with the World is exhausting..."
Displaying 1 of 1 review