Abstract
A midrashic source dating from the early middle ages quotes the famous second-century sage Aqiva as saying: “Had the Torah not been given, the world could have been conducted by the Song of Songs alone.”¹
What a world that might have been! Instead of the quaking, fiery mountain, and the earth trembling at God’s voice, we would have only, “I will go into the mountain of myrrh, the hill of frankincense” (Song. 4:2). Instead of forty years in the wilderness, we would have only, “Who is she who ascends from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved” (8:5)? Instead of all the