Paul Goldfinger ©. Bunche Beach.  Ft. Myers, Fla.    Spring, 2018.   Click to enlarge.  Blogfinger.net

By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.

At the Passover seder,   “Solomon’s Song of Songs” (from the Bible)  is read.   Much of it is about romantic love, but it also has something to say about Spring.

This is from Meyer Levin’s Israel Haggadah for Passover.  A Haggadah is a guide book which is read at seders.  There are many versions of Haggadahs, and one could search Blogfinger’s archives by typing in “Passover” into the search box at the upper right. One was written by an Ocean Grover.

As those attending a seder know, everyone gets a chance to read. The father says, “Like all people, our people in ancient, pastoral times celebrated the liberation of the earth itself from wintry darkness, and rejoiced in the yearly rebirth of nature.  This is beautifully described in Solomon’s Song of Songs read by the mother:”

For, lo, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone;

The flowers appear on the earth;

The time of singing is come,

And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

The fig tree putteth forth her green figs,

And the vines in blossom give forth their fragrance.

Paul Goldfinger © Neptune Township April 16, 2019. Spring is emerging. ©

GRAHAM BICKLEY with THE  NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA   From South Pacific