My Perfect One: Typology and Early Rabbinic Interpretation of Song of Songs by Jonathan Kaplan

Abstract

Reviewed by: My Perfect One: Typology and Early Rabbinic Interpretation of Song of Songs by Jonathan Kaplan Deborah Green Jonathan Kaplan. My Perfect One: Typology and Early Rabbinic Interpretation of Song of Songs. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. xiv + 225 pp. In this monograph, Jonathan Kaplan explores the role of Song of Songs in the tannaitic layer of midrash (the earliest stratum of rabbinic interpretation, pre-200 CE). Kaplan begins by covering the history and contexts of the various sources of these midrashim (Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai, Mekhilta [End Page 209] Devarim, Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Sifre Devarim) and cautions against reading the midrashim without accounting for their initial cultural milieu. He argues that these early midrashim should be considered something other than halakhic (legal in orientation) and asserts that that the rabbis “have a profound interest in exploring the shape of Israel’s national narrative and in relating aggadic traditions” (3). While this argument is a bit overstated, Kaplan’s decision to confine his study only to the tannaitic layer has historical and contextual value. In the book’s introduction, he also describes the Song itself and touches on the various scholarly theories surrounding the inclusion of the Song in the canon. These points lead him to deliberate on aspects of love as presented in the Torah (i.e., love of God) and those presented in the Song (i.e., erotic love). Chapter 1 addresses the question of genre, specifically, whether the tannaitic readings of the Song should be considered allegory, mashal (parable), or figuration. With the title of the book in mind, the reader will not be surprised to learn that Kaplan argues for a figural or typological reading of the midrashim—but not before an extremely detailed description of the rise of allegory as a method of ancient interpretation and its expressions in Christian literature. Kaplan also gives a useful assessment of the arguments of Daniel Boyarin and David Stern on the role of mashal. In chapter 2, Kaplan turns to the interpretation of the Song in relation to Israel’s national story and situation (past, present, and future). He covers several aspects of the “nation” theme: comparison of Israel to the nations, Israel as God’s special or chosen people over and against the other nations, and Israel being surrounded or possessed by other nations (e.g., Egypt). The third and fourth chapters concern metaphors the rabbis employ for the female and male lovers in Song of Songs. Kaplan begins by looking at three types of description of the female in the Song: a short self-description offered by the woman (1:5–6, 8:10), a short description by the man (usually heavily laden with metaphor as in 1:9, 1:15, and 4:1), and a long description by the man (4:1–7, 4:9–15, 6:4–10, and 7:2–10a). In his discussion of the long description, Kaplan includes comparisons to poetry known by its Arabic name as wasf (which describes another’s body part-by-part, p. 98). In the chapter on the role of the male lover in the Song, Kaplan discusses how the rabbis align Israel, Moses, and the rabbis themselves with the male lover through imitatio Dei, as rabbinic interpretation usually assigns God to the role of the male lover. “Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder,” is slightly inapt as a title for chapter 5, as most of the discussion centers on divine intimacy and immanence even when Israel is in exile. Once again, Kaplan covers a variety of topics while discussing verses from the Song—predominantly those from chapters three and five of the Song, in which the female searches for her male companion. Kaplan focuses on how the rabbis employ verses from these parts of the Song to refocus the poem on God’s attending to Israel during the enslavement in Egypt, Israel’s exodus, and the wilderness journey. Kaplan stresses that the Shekhinah’s (i.e., God’s) presence with Israel in exile constitutes a significant revision of a biblical theological concept from Deuteronomy (i.e., that God is not present when Israel is in exile). Kaplan underscores that...