Gan Na’ul achoti challah, gal na’ul mayan Chatum

An enclosed garden is my sister, my bride
A hidden fountain, a sealed spring. (Song of Songs 4:12)

There is a mystery at the center of the Beloved and at the center of my experience of love. I can experience that mystery as a secret garden, whose blossoms and fruit wait to be revealed, savored and appreciated. Or I can experience that mystery as a concealed fountain whose waters flow from the hidden depths. Both images lure me deeper, humbling me with the realization that there is so much that I still don’t know. Yet in that awareness, my desire is sparked; my curiosity is kindled. The mystery draws me onward along the path of love.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Metzora).

To hear the chant, use the audio players. To download a chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

• The Secret Garden (melody)  
• The Secret Garden (harmony)  
• The Secret Garden (mix)  

To download the PDF file for this chant, click The Secret Garden PDF. For the musical notation, click The Secret Garden notation PDF.

Nofet titofna siftotayich kalah,
d’vash v’chalav tachat l’shonaych

Your lips, my bride, drip honey.
Honey and milk are under your tongue. (Song of Songs 4:11)

One of the most important spiritual challenges we face is the need to sweeten the bitterness that is in us. Bitterness can accumulate within us, even without our knowing it, made from small or large disappointments, regrets, unhealed grief, grudges, anxieties or resentments. That bitterness forms the obstacle to fully stepping onto the Path of Love.

According to the Baal Shem Tov, here are the steps we must take in order to sweeten that bitterness:

• Hachna’ah: Being humbled, surrendering, yielding
• Havdalah: Discerning God’s Presence in the midst of it
• Ham’takah: Sweetening our bitterness

First we face and taste the bitterness within us, and are humbled by it. Then we look into that bitterness and find the seed of soul-growth. When we focus on that seed and water it with our compassion and awareness, the sweetening begins. Here in the Song of Songs, we can savor the rewards of this journey of transformation. The milk and honey under our tongues are the taste of the Promised Land. That taste inspires us to find voice for the love that is in us.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Tazria).

To hear the chant, use the audio players. To download a chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

• Honey and Milk (melody)  
• Honey and Milk (harmony)  
• Honey and Milk (mix)  

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Honey and Milk PDF. For the musical notation, click Honey and Milk notation PDF.

Libavtini achoti Chalah

You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride. (Song of Songs 4:9)

Once I have glimpsed the truth of our Unity; once I have been touched by ultimate Beauty; once I have been seen and known and taken into the Divine embrace… I will never be the same. My Heart has been captured, enraptured and overcome. This love feels like a danger, a threat to my life as habit, a risk to being “normal.” This practice acknowledges that danger, and then encourages me to persist on this journey of awakening.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Shemini).

To hear the chant, use the audio players. To download a chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

• Libavtini (1)  
• Libavtini (2)  
• Libavtini (mix)  

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Libavtini PDF. For the musical notation, click Libavtini notation PDF.

Kulach yafa rayati, u’mum ayn bach

You are all-beautiful, my friend,
There is no blemish in you. (Song of Songs 4:7)

Being “in love” means to experience an extraordinary state of heightened sensitivity and expanded perception. From that state we can know the truth of an underlying perfection that holds, supports and suffuses this imperfect world. When I am “in love,” there is really no particular object of that love, yet everything that I touch or see or taste becomes the focus of that love. When I am “in love,” even the most difficult challenges are received as messages and goads to go deeper, see wider, and surrender more fully.

This practice is an opportunity to taste that state, and then remember the glimpse we have received, so that glimpse can be our compass as we traverse this path of love.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Tzav).

To hear the chant, use the audio players. To download a chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

• Perfect (melody)  
• Perfect (harmony)  
• Perfect (mix)  

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Perfect PDF. For the musical notation, click Perfect notation PDF.

Mi zot olah min-hamidbar

Who is that rising from the wilderness… ? (Song of Songs 3:6)

I open to the Mystery that rises up out of the wilderness, responding to the call of the unknown. Who is this? She is the Shechina, the Divine presence who was hidden and is now making herself known, rising into my awareness. Who is this? She is my soul rising like fragrant incense towards the heavenly expanse, offering herself up to the Oneness.

To view context from Shir HaShirim through the Love at the Center project, click Shir HaShirm (Terumah).

To hear the chant, use the audio player. To download the chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

• Rising from the Wilderness  

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Mi Zot Olah PDF.

Shir Delight: A Journey Through the Song of Songs ©2004 Rabbi Shefa Gold. All rights reserved.