In the Fever of Love: Im tim’tz’u

Im tim’tz’u et dodi mah-tagidu lo she’cholat ahavah ani

If you find my beloved,
You must tell him
That I am in the fever of Love. (Song of Songs 5:8)

With this practice, we connect with our companions on the Path of Love, asking for their understanding, support, reality checks, anchoring, as we fall in love. Being in love requires us to surrender deeply.

Being in love feels like a kind of madness, in that it sometimes requires me to ignore the outer shape of things in order to embrace the inner essence. It tells me that all is well, even in the midst of apparent disaster. Living from that inner essence feels risky; I don’t want to do it alone. That’s why I’m always reaching out to kindred souls, so we can affirm each other’s glimpses, sharing our fragile impressions of the fragrance that love imbues.

When I chant the words she’cholat ahavah ani (that I am in the fever of Love), I am swooning, languorous, dreamy…. As I enter into the state of being in love. Knowing my companions are there for me, without judgment allows me to surrender even further.

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

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click In the Fever of Love PDF. For the musical notation, click In the Fever of Love notation PDF.