Love as Strong as Death: Eros and Thanatos in the Sinai Theophany

Franz Rosenzweig opens the second section of The Star of Redemption with the evocative quote from Song of Songs, “Love is as strong as death” (Song 8;6)-and asks: “as strong as death” or stronger? How does Eros transcend Thanatos in the Sinaitic Revelation? He expands upon the classic analogy in the rabbinic corpus of a male lover possessing the female beloved, the Sinai theophany likened to the consummation of a groom and bride at their wedding. In this paper, I explore this analogy as depicted in the midrashic corpus, specifically the late midrash Pirqe deRabbi Elizer ch. 41, which culls from many of the classic sources in a seamless retelling of the biblical account (Exod. 19:2-20:18, and 24:7). The midrash addresses some of the following exegetical questions: What do the Israelites actually hear of the Decalogue? What is mediated by Moshe? Why does Moshe need to intercept the giving of the Law at Matan Torah? I expand upon these questions, unpacking the analogy of Revelation as an encounter with death. Further, I explore how the theophany is inscribed across gender: it is Israel (as the woman possessed) who dies and is brought back to life by the consummation of love. Finally, I circle back to the radical appropriation of this imagery by Rosenzweig and Buber who claim that the experience of Revelation may be ongoing, inscribed into the hermeneutic process.