Chapter I

אני לדודי ודודי לי הרועה בשושנים

"I am [drawn] to my friend and my friend is [drawn] to me; he who grazes his sheep in rose-like pastures"1

The first letters of the four Hebrew wordsאני לדודי ודודי לי form the word Elul2 [the last month of the Jewish year].

Earlier, the verse states:3 "My friend is [drawn] to me and I am [drawn] to my friend; he who grazes his sheep in rose-like pastures."

Rashi explains this verse in the following manner: " 'My friend is [drawn] to me' Whatever He [G-d] desires, He requests only of me, the Jewish people. Only to me does He say to bring the Passover offering; to sanctify the first born; to build a Tabernacle; to bring offerings. He does not demand such things from any other nation. 'And I am [drawn] to my friend.' Only of Him do I ask that my needs be provided for, and of none other. 'He who grazes his sheep in rose-like pastures,' G-d sees to it that His sheep the Jewish people graze [receive their sustenance] in good pastures [in an abundant manner]."

We must understand the difference between the two verses [which, except for the order of personalities, seem entirely similar].

The matter is as follows: There are two ways in which an individual may be aroused to spiritual service: by being awakened from on high, or by self-arousal. Arousal from on high takes various forms. The verse states:4 "He devises means that none of us should ever be banished. In other words, G-d gives man ample opportunity to follow the proper path of Torah and mitzvos. Even if an individual strays from the correct path, G-d sees to it that he is provided with the opportunity to repent and make amends. G-d thinks long and hard, as it were, of ways to save even those individuals who feel they have severed all connections with their fellow Jews.

Indeed, every individual can choose the manner in which he leads his life, as the verse states:5 "Behold! I have placed before you today life and goodness, death and evil; choose life." G-d allows man to follow either the path of goodness (wherein a person enjoys both material and spiritual success), or the path of evil (which is a physical and spiritual death sentence). Ultimately, we ourselves are responsible for choosing the way in which we live. When, however, an individual chooses the evil path and descends, G-d forbid, ever lower, until he cuts himself adrift from Judaism and severs his ties with the Jewish people, then G-d in His infinite mercy sees to it that even this person returns to Him.

Sometimes this G-dly awakening comes about through a dream, sometimes through a sudden memory, so that a person will "out of the blue" be reminded of one of his parents, or a friend from his youth. Such incidents may suffice to arouse passionate feelings of heartbreak and dissatisfaction with his present spiritual state. The individual will become contrite, and make an iron-clad resolution that from this day onwards, he will become an observer of Torah and mitzvos, break his non-kosher eating utensils, and sever his relationships with evil friends. [In a positive sense,] he begins to wear tefillin, eat kosher, observe family purity, keep Shabbos, and do all the other mitzvos.

This, then, is one way in which a person can be awakened to teshuvah and G-dly service. A second manner of spiritual awakening is that of self-arousal.

People err6 in thinking that the sole purpose of teshuvah is to repent for past misdeeds. Indeed, [the truer goal of] teshuvah is to become better and more refined than one was. This kind of teshuvah comes about by contemplating the real purpose for man's placement on this world.

Herein lies the difference between the two verses cited at the beginning of the discourse. "My friend is [drawn] to me..." alludes to an individual's arousal to return to G-d, facilitated from on high. "I am [drawn] to my friend..." refers to an individual's self-arousal to teshuvah and divine service.

In summary: Though G-d offers us the choice to do good or evil, should a person make the wrong choice, then "my friend is [drawn] to me...," i.e., G-d arouses the person to repentance through a dream or memory, so that even one who has banished himself from the Jewish fold will return. "I am [drawn] to my friend..." alludes to spiritual self-arousal, brought about by contemplating the purpose of man's creation.