c. 1998 Religion News Service

(Rabbi Rudin is the national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee.)

UNDATED _ Do the usual Valentines containing mushy sentiments fail to convey your true feelings? Do pablum-like poems leave you unsatisfied?

Well, how about substituting commercial Valentines with some love poetry guaranteed to stir passions. The poems are absolutely free. All you need is a Bible.

This is for women who want to be held and kissed:”His left arm is under my head, but his right embraces. … Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, your love is more delightful than wine.” If wine doesn’t do it, try:”Feed me with raisin cakes, restore me with apples. For I am sick with love.” But what if Mr. Right doesn’t succumb to pleas for kisses, wine, raisins, and apples:”On my bed, at night, I sought him whom my heart loves. I sought but did not find him. So I will rise and go through the city; in the streets and the squares …” This is for men who are unable to express their true feelings about female beauty:”Your eyes, behind your veil, are doves. … Your two breasts are two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that feed among the lilies. … Your lips are a scarlet thread and your words enchanting … you are wholly beautiful, my love, and without a blemish.” If that doesn’t get her attention, try:”How fragrant your perfumes. More fragrant than all the other spices. … Honey and milk are under your tongue.” And for those who underestimate the power of love, try these white-hot verses:”For love is strong as death … love’s flashes are the flashes of fire. … Many waters cannot quench love. Neither can floods drown it. If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, contempt is all he would purchase.” Clearly, these are not the sentiments found at your local card shop. But they are found in the Song of Songs, the most erotic book of the Bible. Its eight luscious chapters have been controversial for more than 2,000 years. Indeed, many rabbis did not want to include these sensual love poems in Holy Scripture.

They correctly pointed out that God’s name appears only once in the Song of Songs and the entire collection of romantic poetry is devoid of religious character. While the rabbis were not prudes and were surely aware of the extraordinary power of love, they still had serious reservations about placing such scorching material in the Bible. The Song of Songs was finally inducted into the Bible at a 2nd-century rabbinical convocation in the village of Yavneh in Israel. But it took the personal intervention of one of Judaism’s greatest rabbis to make that happen.

Rabbi Akiba was an extraordinary teacher and a strong leader. Indeed, because of his outspoken political activities, he was brutally executed by the Roman army of occupation in 135. He remains one of the Jewish people’s most famous and beloved martyrs.

Akiba loved the Song of Songs and declared that if the books of the Bible are holy, the Song of Songs is the”holy of holies.”But the great rabbi went even further in praising the sensual poems. He added:”The whole world attained its supreme value only on the day when the Song of Songs was given to the people Israel.” Scholars believe it took Akiba’s personal prestige to convince his colleagues that the Song of Songs, with all its lust and passion, belonged in the Bible. What was it that drew Akiba to the book? No one really knows, but certainly the rabbi was struck by the sheer beauty of the poetry.

Although it has been 1,800 years since Akiba praised the Song of Songs, the centuries have not dimmed the book’s explosive power nor its ability to trigger deep yearnings.

Perhaps Akiba read the beautiful Hebrew verses and perceived something beyond the sensual. The Song of Songs tells of a woman’s faithfulness to her youthful shepherd lover. She is faithful even when a prisoner in King Solomon’s dazzling court. Because of her absolute fidelity, the woman is released from the court and she returns home to her waiting lover. “Of course,”Akiba might have said to himself,”the book is an allegory. The young bride who resists all temptations is the Jewish people and God is the bridegroom. It is the story of a people faithful to its God.” I am grateful to Akiba. Thanks to him, the Song of Songs was preserved forever. And ironically, Akiba and his Roman executioners did agree on one thing: Amor omnia vincit (love conquers all).

END RUDIN