The Song of Songs (Shir Hashirim), composed by King Solomon, expresses Hashem’s love for his People. A short summary related to the history of the Chosen People will reveal the motives that led to the writing of Shir Hashirim, precisely during the Kingdom of Solomon.

Our sages teach the originality of Shir Hashirim: “All songs are holy but Shir Hashirim is the Holy of Holies”. What is so special about this song?

The Song of Song conceals a lofty secret about the world’s creation: the love between the People of Israel and God. It is the aspiring goal of every creature. The entire universe was created for the unique purpose that men serve their Creator, and the People of Israel were chosen for this mission. Love of God is the pinnacle of divine service.

The book Chovot Halevavot describes how enhancing one’s character traits may lead to the ultimate goal: loving Hashem.

The Song of Songs manifests the love between Hashem and his People. All songs express love, but Shir Hashirim is the ultimate manifestation of this love. It was written by King Solomon. Why?

To understand the above, we ought to reflect on the history of the Jewish People.

Since the birth of Abraham our forefather, the Jewish People experienced many successes and failures, both in the spiritual and material realms.

Periods of light and periods of darkness followed one another; through difficult times, the Jewish People reached a pinnacle. No other People merited witnessing the miracles of the exodus from Egypt, receiving the Torah, and 1000 years of ongoing prophecies. In parallel, no other People were so cruelly victimized through the horrors of concentration camps, such as Auschwitz.

Although the history of the Jewish People is a succession of victories and failures, we can trace a common line of direction.

The birth of the Jewish People originates with the birth of Avraham Avinu. The conception of the Jewish People draws its roots from the three Avot (Patriarchs) who instituted the notion of belief, albeit as individuals and not as a nation.

Avraham Avinu and Yitzchak gave birth to Yishmael and Eisav and after Yaakov Avinu, the list was closed.

Thereafter, the Jews were established as a nation. Their descent into Egypt followed, preparing the People to access the largest gate in their history. After the exodus from Egypt, the People represented an entire nation and not just a few families. This was an additional step in the divine project.

The children of Israel received the Torah, built the Tabernacle and entered the land of Israel. They were now a nation with a Torah and a country. But did not yet have a King and a Temple. Their country was surrounded by enemies who gave the Bnei Israel no respite.

After a few years, the prophet Samuel (Shmuel Hanavi) crowned King Saul as the King of Israel. But wars continued to break out and the situation failed to provide the optimum conditions for security and for building the Temple. Then, King David was crowned. His Kingdom began with conquering wars and David finally succeeded in overthrowing Israel’s enemies. A few hundred years after entering the land, the People finally enjoyed a period of prosperity and security.

King David took advantage of this quiet period to begin planning the construction of the Beit Hamikdash, but Hashem sent him a message through Natan Hanavi: “the building of the Beit Hamikdash will be assigned to a man of peace. Although King David conquered territories on Hashem’s orders and restored Israel's security within Israel’s borders, he failed to achieve an apogee for the People of Israel. The Torah views success as a peaceful as opposed to a war-like endeavour.
And this noble goal was achieved during the reign of King Shlomo. This period was unquestionably the apex of the Jewish people’s spiritual and material success: a durable and sincere peace with surrounding nations and an abundance of good and well-being. In this context, King Solomon undertook to build the Beit Hamikdash, the hope of the entire People.
This period concretely represents the success of the People of Israel: a People settled on their land, living in prosperity, at peace with other nations and at peace with themselves on a spiritual level, through the construction of the Beit Hamikdash, inhabited by the Divine Presence.
This era lasted many years. But following the death of King Shlomo, the monarchy was divided in two and never again did the People experience such a fruitful period under one King. The unholy king, Jeroboam ben Nevat, ordered the end of the service in the Beit Hamikdash and instituted idol worship instead. This led ten of Israel’s tribes to abandon the path of the Torah. This was the first step in a tortuous process leading to Israel’s decline. This process has been prolonged for more than 2000 years, from King Shlomo's kingship to our gruesome exile.
In conclusion, the period of the reign of King Shlomo represented the apogee of the Jewish people in all areas. Therefore, this period was conducive to the writing of the Song of Songs, which expressed the eternal love between the People of Israel and the Creator of the world.