Lessons in Torah Or
The commentary of the Metzudos Dovid explains: This verse is an analogy for the Jewish People in the time of exile. Hashem asks: The Jewish People seem to be spiritually immature and underdeveloped. Are they ready to “get married” to Hashem (to experience the full connection to Hashem with the coming of Moshiach)?
In the next verses (ibid.), the Jewish People answer that they are ready to “get married” to Hashem, because they had steadfast devotion to Him during the time of exile.
The Alter Rebbe will explain the beginning of this verse on a non-literal level:
This is the meaning of the subsequent verse in Shir Hashirim, “אָחוֹת לָנוּ קְטַנָּה”—we have a young sister. (Shir Hashirim 8:8)
Meaning that she (the soul of the Jew doing the Mitzvah) becomes a “אָחוֹת—sister” to Hashem, and this word can also mean “אַחַת—united.”
She actually becomes completely united with Hashem’s very Essence and Being, as it were, through the fulfillment of the action Mitzvos.
As it is written earlier in the chapter of Shir Hashirim, (8:3) “His [Hashem’s] right hand hugs me.”
This is like someone who hugs his friend, grasping him from all sides. So too, when a Jew does a Mitzvah or says words of Torah, Hashem “hugs” him, as it were, surrounding him from all sides. Thus, a Jew becomes united with Hashem by fulfilling a Mitzvah.
Rashi on this verse explains the word “אָחוֹת,” which usually means “sister,” to mean “אִחוּי—bound together,” or “united.” He thus translates the phrase “אָחוֹת לָנוּ”—she, [the Jewish People] are bound up and yearning to unite with us, [meaning with Hashem]. The Alter Rebbe is explaining this phrase according to Rashi’s interpretations.
