This week is Shabbat Shira – the Sabbath of song, of poetry. It is thus named because the weekly Torah reading contains Shirat Hayam, the song sung in exultation after the miraculous parting of the Sea of Reeds. In truth, though, there are two songs sung. One by Moses and the other by Miriam.
The 18th century Hassidic writer the Meor V'Shemesh shares a powerful paradigm-shifting commentary that contrasts these two songs.
He bases his writings on the Kabbalistic principles of linear verses circular consciousness. According to Kabbalah, line consciousness is essentially masculine. It is hierarchical, progress-oriented, future-directed, competitive; the epitome of the world's current state of affairs. Line consciousness correlates with Moses' song, rendered in the future tense of the opening lines to the song, “Az Yashir – I will sing”.
Circle consciousness, on the other hand, is egalitarian, rooted in the present, supportive, non-hierarchical. It is a feminine paradigm. And more than that, it epitomizes Messianic consciousness, the glowing state of affairs towards which our world evolves. Miriam's song, in keeping with good circle consciousness, is thus sung in the present tense with women dancing - embodied - in circular form. Each woman stands equidistant from the center, all with equal access to God. In the circle everyone is holy and wholly rooted in their own source of wisdom. These circle-enacting women, according to the Meor V'shemesh, were able to access a higher revelation than Moses, history's greatest prophet.
We live in promising times where fundamentals of circle consciousness are at the core of the work that so many of us are engaged in today. I have the honor of leading weekly women's circles here in Jerusalem. Our meetings are based on a model of group work culled directly from what I call, “The Miriam Code” - the enigmatic 2 verses of Miriam's song and dance from this week's parsha. We strive to create a safe and sacred environment for growth by using the circle principles of full embodiment, presence, inclusivity, creativity and a pervasive sense of equality. It is deep and powerful work. (To read more about the Miriam Code please go to:http://www.havayah.com/tools.html)
I bless us all that we may each in our own way taste the fruits of circle consciousness flooding into and rounding out the angles of our all-too-linear world.
The Circle
Women raise your voices
in rightful raucous!
Beat drum, sing song
and stun anyone
who ever called
you too timid
to sing.
For the Spirit alone
instructs your lips and
limbs as to the allowance
of their bend
and propriety is defined by
the prophetess
who abides within.
It is she who launches
her loudest campaign
for you to stand and dance majestic
on your life's well-sanded stage.
Sisters, this is why we wear our drums
ready on our shoulder blades.
Ready to up and utter unabashed
riffs of praise.
Here we are held
responsible to sing
of the God-drenched things
that we have seen.
For we handmaids
have a mandate to hand-make
our own music,
to move muscles
and meet quotas
of creative output
through inspiration
and through struggle
to sway on sand-dunes
undone by a tune
to be emboldened
in our God-given right
to self-expression.
So let us ignite each other's
dormant scorch of dreams.
For ours is a choreography
of equality
inclusivity
of bringing all-of-me
into this welcoming crucible of
communal commitment
known as a circle.
Here we offer limbs to reach beyond
the limitations
of a linear world gone wrong.
Embodying ideas
and idealizing emotion
invoking insight
at the lips of the ocean.
Holding up mirrors
like the windows of waves
-reflecting each other
face to effervescent face.
And so it was, is and will be
in one graceful gesture
at the parting sea.
That the women set out with clapping feet
to circle in a consciousness
of present tense
and equality.
The 18th century Hassidic writer the Meor V'Shemesh shares a powerful paradigm-shifting commentary that contrasts these two songs.
He bases his writings on the Kabbalistic principles of linear verses circular consciousness. According to Kabbalah, line consciousness is essentially masculine. It is hierarchical, progress-oriented, future-directed, competitive; the epitome of the world's current state of affairs. Line consciousness correlates with Moses' song, rendered in the future tense of the opening lines to the song, “Az Yashir – I will sing”.
Circle consciousness, on the other hand, is egalitarian, rooted in the present, supportive, non-hierarchical. It is a feminine paradigm. And more than that, it epitomizes Messianic consciousness, the glowing state of affairs towards which our world evolves. Miriam's song, in keeping with good circle consciousness, is thus sung in the present tense with women dancing - embodied - in circular form. Each woman stands equidistant from the center, all with equal access to God. In the circle everyone is holy and wholly rooted in their own source of wisdom. These circle-enacting women, according to the Meor V'shemesh, were able to access a higher revelation than Moses, history's greatest prophet.
We live in promising times where fundamentals of circle consciousness are at the core of the work that so many of us are engaged in today. I have the honor of leading weekly women's circles here in Jerusalem. Our meetings are based on a model of group work culled directly from what I call, “The Miriam Code” - the enigmatic 2 verses of Miriam's song and dance from this week's parsha. We strive to create a safe and sacred environment for growth by using the circle principles of full embodiment, presence, inclusivity, creativity and a pervasive sense of equality. It is deep and powerful work. (To read more about the Miriam Code please go to:http://www.havayah.com/tools.html)
I bless us all that we may each in our own way taste the fruits of circle consciousness flooding into and rounding out the angles of our all-too-linear world.
The Circle
Women raise your voices
in rightful raucous!
Beat drum, sing song
and stun anyone
who ever called
you too timid
to sing.
For the Spirit alone
instructs your lips and
limbs as to the allowance
of their bend
and propriety is defined by
the prophetess
who abides within.
It is she who launches
her loudest campaign
for you to stand and dance majestic
on your life's well-sanded stage.
Sisters, this is why we wear our drums
ready on our shoulder blades.
Ready to up and utter unabashed
riffs of praise.
Here we are held
responsible to sing
of the God-drenched things
that we have seen.
For we handmaids
have a mandate to hand-make
our own music,
to move muscles
and meet quotas
of creative output
through inspiration
and through struggle
to sway on sand-dunes
undone by a tune
to be emboldened
in our God-given right
to self-expression.
So let us ignite each other's
dormant scorch of dreams.
For ours is a choreography
of equality
inclusivity
of bringing all-of-me
into this welcoming crucible of
communal commitment
known as a circle.
Here we offer limbs to reach beyond
the limitations
of a linear world gone wrong.
Embodying ideas
and idealizing emotion
invoking insight
at the lips of the ocean.
Holding up mirrors
like the windows of waves
-reflecting each other
face to effervescent face.
And so it was, is and will be
in one graceful gesture
at the parting sea.
That the women set out with clapping feet
to circle in a consciousness
of present tense
and equality.
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