Every Friday night, during the drasha between Kabbalas Shabbos and Maariv, a public reciting of Shir HaShirim for children takes place in the women’s section. This ensures that instead of the children running around outside and making noise, they engage in something meaningful—for themselves and for all of Klal Yisrael. To prevent noise from disturbing the drasha, the windows of the women’s section are closed.
These windows are actually opaque sliding doors set on a track. However, this Shabbos, something unusual happened— the gabbai did not notice that someone had turned off the lights in the women’s section before Shabbos, leaving the area completely dark, making it impossible for the young tzaddikim to recite Shir HaShirim. But Hashem had other plans. That very Shabbos, the scheduled speaker forgot that it was his turn to give the drasha, and as a result, no one had prepared a drasha for the congregation. Since there was no sermon, there was no need to close the windows of the women’s section, allowing an abundance of light to shine in from the main synagogue. With great focus and heartfelt melody, the children recited Shir HaShirim!!!
This was the first time ever that the lights had gone out, and the first time ever that a speaker had failed to prepare... We clearly saw how beloved Shir HaShirim is before the Omnipresent Yisbarach!!!
כ.ה.
