A JEWISH LOVE POEM

posted September 23, 2024 by Yoav Rahman Varadi

During the Hebrew month of Elul, we strive to experience a unique intimacy with God as we approach the Jewish calendar’s holiest days. This intimacy is perhaps best described in the Song of Songs, a love poem commonly understood as a metaphor for the loving relationship between God and the people of Israel.

According to our sources, the Hebrew word Elul is a backronym for one of the most popular phrases from the scroll: “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.” While normally we imagine God dwelling in the heavens above, during Elul, God joins us on our level. There is a kind of mutual love between God and the people of Israel.

Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad movement, builds on this idea of horizontality between God and the Jewish people. Although usually God is thought of as a king largely inaccessible to the masses, nestled in a majestic palace of which you must navigate the intricate pathways of the palace’s bureaucracy and present yourself in the most dignified manner possible, adhering to a stringent code of attire, speech, and decorum.  But, in the month of Elul, the king ventures out to the open fields beyond the city walls. During this month, the king is made accessible to all. He warmly greets the peasants, and they warmly greet him in turn, allowing for unprecedented intimacy.

What does it mean to share intimacy with the Divine? Of course, this is different for every being. We can connect through prayer, through acts of kindness, through following God’s commandments. In my own experience, I’ve found intimacy with the Divine through strengthening my sense of Jewish peoplehood — through seeking connection with Jewish communities throughout the world. 

In February 2023, I traveled to Romania to learn about Romanian Jewry and foster a sense of connection between our community and theirs.

Upon arriving in Bucharest, my peers and I were greeted with open arms by Mona, the director of the Jewish community’s welfare department, On our second day, we traveled from Bucharest to Cristian, a village in the mountains approximately 115 miles away where we were to take part in Family Camp, a retreat where Jewish families from across Romania congregate to celebrate Shabbat and create community.

When we arrived at the train station, Mona entered the terminal with us and accompanied us to the kiosk where we bought our lunch, just to make certain that we did not get lost or pickpocketed.

She then guided us to the correct platform and gave us Romanian pastries for the journey — a final gesture of kindness after having already gone above and beyond for us over the previous two days. In her deep, quiet commitment to us, I felt God’s presence. 

The day before, Magda, a fiery woman with fittingly bright orange hair, took us on a tour of Jewish Bucharest. She clearly had a background in theater, as she was dramatic and engaging as ever. Walking arm-in-arm through sites of Jewish destruction and sites of Jewish joy, I felt deeply connected to her and to the Romanian Jewish community. My history is theirs and theirs is mine. We are all part of Am Yisrael.

We closed our time in Romania in a gazebo with approximately 50 Jewish families marking the end of Shabbat and the start of the new week. We swayed with our arms around one another singing the Havdalah blessings. In that moment, we became both peasant and king mingling in an open field in the mountains of Romania, the presence of God dwelling amongst us. 

This Elul, may we continue to see the face of God in one another.