Song of Songs Rabbah 6:4

¹“You are fair, my love, like Tirtza, lovely like Jerusalem, formidable like banners” (Song of Songs 6:4). “You are fair, my love, like Tirtza.” Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon interpreted the verse regarding offerings. “You are fair, my love, like Tirtza,” these are the offerings, as you achieve acceptance [ mitratzim ] with offerings, just as you say: “It will be accepted [ venirtza ] for him, to atone for him” (Leviticus 1:4). “Lovely like Jerusalem,” these are the consecrations in Jerusalem, just as it says: “Like the consecrated flock, like the flock of Jerusalem” (Ezekiel 36:38). Another matter, “you are fair, my love, like Tirtza,” these are the women of the generation of the wilderness [ tiran ], as Rabbi said: The women of the generation of the wilderness were upright. They stood and asserted themselves and did not give their rings for the incident of the Golden Calf. They said: If the Holy One blessed be He smashed the hard idol, this soft idol, all the more so. ). “Lovely like Jerusalem,” as anyone who wants and seeks molds of Peor, he would go and find in Jerusalem; that is what is written: “And their idols from Jerusalem and from Samaria” (Isaiah 10:10). ). ²Another matter, “you are fair, my love, like Tirtza,” when you wish [ at rotza ]. When you wish, you need not seek to learn from anyone. Who said to them to bring wagons and cattle to bear the Tabernacle? Was it not of their own accord that they brought them? That is what is written: “They brought their offering before the Lord: six covered wagons [and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two princes and an ox for each; they brought them before the Tabernacle]” (Numbers 7:3), corresponding to the six firmaments. But are they not seven? Rabbi Avun said: Where the king rests under his canopy [is not counted among the rest]. Six corresponding to six earths: Eretz , arka , adama , gei , tziya , neshiya , tevel ; is singled out as uniquely governed by God’s righteousness, it is not included with the others. and it is written: “He will judge the world [ tevel ] with righteousness” (Psalms 98:9). Six corresponding to the six orders of Mishna; six corresponding to the six days of Creation; six corresponding to the six matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, Zilpa, and Bilha. “Covered [ tzav ],” like canopies; tzav , colored; and the word color ( tzeva ). tzav , arranged in order; and the word tzava , army, which indicates ordered rows of soldiers. tzav , that the hosts [ tzava ] of Levites stood over them. It was taught in the name of Neḥemya: They were like covered wagons, so the service vessels would not [fall and] break. “And twelve oxen,” corresponding to the twelve princes: “A wagon for every two princes, and an ox for each” (Numbers 7:3), this teaches that they did not purchase them with money; rather, this one brought an ox and this one brought an ox, this one brought a wagon and this one brought a wagon. “They brought them before the Tabernacle,” this teaches that they gave them to the congregation. “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying” (Numbers 7:4). What is “saying”? The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Go out and say to them words of praise and consolation.’ Rabbi Hoshaya said: The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘I ascribe to you [merit] as though I needed [something] in which to hold my world, and you brought it to me.’ At that moment, Moses was afraid. He said in his heart: Perhaps the Divine Spirit has left me, and has rested on the princes, or perhaps a different prophet arose and introduced this halakha . The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Moses, had I said to them that they should bring [these items], I would have told you to tell them; however, “take from them, and they shall be”’ (Numbers 7:5). What is “take from them”? These matters originated with them. Who gave them the counsel? Rabbi Simon said: It was the tribe of Issachar. They said to them: ‘This Tabernacle that you are crafting, does it float in the air? Craft wagons for it upon which it may be carried.’ That is why the verse praises the tribe of Issachar, as it is stated: “From the children of Issachar, possessors of understanding of the times” (I Chronicles 12:33). What is “of the times”? Rabbi Tanḥuma said: For astrology. Rabbi Yosei bar Kasrai said: For intercalation. “To know what Israel should do” (I Chronicles 12:33), as they knew how to cure skin disease. “Their leaders were two hundred” (I Chronicles 12:33), these are the two hundred heads of Sanhedrins that the tribe of Issachar produced. “And all their brethren at their command” (I Chronicles 12:33), this teaches that all their brethren would agree with their [decisions in] halakha , like halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai. At that moment, Moses said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, perhaps one of the oxen will die, or one of the wheels will break and the offering of the princes would be invalidated, resulting in the Tabernacle service being abrogated?’ Immediately, “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Take from them, and they shall be to perform…” (Numbers 7:4-5). “They shall be”—I will grant them existence so that they will live and endure in the world for ever and ever. Until when did they endure? Rabbi Yudan and Rabbi Huna [said] in the name of bar Kapara: Until the Gilgal; that is what is written in Hosea: “In Gilgal they slaughtered oxen, their altars are like heaps upon the furrows of the field” (Hosea 12:12). Where did they sacrifice them? ). Rabbi Avun said: They sacrificed them in Nov. Rabbi Abba said: They sacrificed them in Givon. Levi said: They sacrificed them in Shilo. The Rabbis say: They sacrificed them in the permanent Temple. Rabbi Ḥama said: The source for the Rabbis is as it is written: “King Solomon slaughtered a feast offering of…cattle [ zevaḥ habakar ]” (II Chronicles 7:5). Zevaḥ bakar is not written, but rather, zevaḥ habakar . Which cattle? You must say: “The two wagons and the four cattle” (Numbers 7:7), and it is written: “the four wagons and the eight cattle” (Numbers 7:8). Rabbi Meir says: They endure [even] now, and they have not become blemished, they have not grown old, and they have not become tereifa , but rather, they are alive and well. The matters may be inferred a fortiori : If the oxen that were assigned by man to the Tabernacle service, [God] granted them existence to live and endure for ever and ever, Israel, which cleaves to He who endures forever, all the more so, as it is stated: “But you, who cleave to the Lord your God, all of you live today” (Deuteronomy 4:4).