Inlaid With Love
“Its interior is inlaid with love.”
Song of Songs 3:10
This verse describes the palanquin of King Solomon.
On the simple level, the apirion (palanquin) is a type of carriage, a kind of “house” built for the king (Solomon = Shlomo, the king of peace, an allusion to the Holy One, Blessed be He). Its exterior is built from matter, but its “inside”—that is, its internality—is filled entirely with love.
The Zohar explains that this is an allusion to the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence). The entire exterior sometimes seems harsh, coarse, and full of judgments. But the internality of creation, the “inside” of the vessel, is inlaid with infinite love. Even if there are judgments and severities, on the inside, everything is done from the Creator’s love for His creations.
The Ramchal, in “The Way of God” and “Adir BaMarom,” emphasizes that God’s conduct in the world is full of calculations, judgments, and rectifications. But if you enter into the depth of the divine thought, you will discover that it is all entirely love. Therefore, “its interior is inlaid with love” means that at the end of the road, after all the klipot (shells/husks) and trials, it is revealed that the only engine that moves creation is love.
The Tanya describes the “hidden love of God.” Even if a person’s heart seems cold, their interior is always inlaid with love. Inside, there is a Jewish point that is never extinguished. This is that same essence—the internality of the soul is an infinite love for God.
Baal HaSulam explains that from the outside, the vessels seem full of self-reception, but the inner foundation of the vessel, the root of every soul, is love. The “inside”—meaning the inner world, the true will—is all inlaid with love, meaning it is connected to the Supernal Light.
In Mashiach consciousness, this means:
Even when the world is full of separation and hatred,
the “inside” of existence,
of a person and of reality,
is built on absolute love.
“Its interior is inlaid with love.”
The internality of every reality,
every soul, and every event,
is pure divine love.
The soul is never lost.
One who merits to cleave to the light of the Torah—
not necessarily in external study,
but in an inner consciousness of unity—
lives simultaneously in this world and in the World to Come.
The body is here,
but the soul is already living at home.
Rav Kook adds:
“In the future, the body will be as purified as the soul.”
This is a preface to the future in which the entire world will live this way,
not just individuals.
Reflect:
Where in your life does the “exterior” seem harsh, difficult, or full of judgment right now?
Can you hold the possibility that beneath that surface, the deep interior of the situation is “inlaid with love”? What shifts when you consider this?
Can you connect with the “hidden love” within your own heart, the part of your soul that is always and forever connected to the Source, no matter what the surface looks like?
The conversation continues below.