This week is Shabbat Shira – the Sabbath of Song & 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 “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 is presently evolving. Miriam''s song, in keeping with good circle consciousness, is thus sung in the present tense with women dancing in circular form. Each woman stands equadistance from the center, all with equal access to God, where 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 we call, “The Miriam Code” - the enigmatic 2 verses of Miriam''s song and dance. We strive to create a safe and sacred enviroment 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. What Miriam Sang 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 for she will be the one to pull the covers of your tresses to dress her modest as she launches into her loudest campaign for you to stand and dance majestic on this well-sanded stage sisters, this is why we wear our drums ready on our shoulder blades this is why we strum the strings that cinch and clasp us close to seize this moment at the sea that it may become a fable famous and decree for as long as history needs a precedent to utter unabashed riffs of praise here we are held responsible to sing of the God-drenched things we have seen and we will whirl castles out of sand with our dance unhampered unashamed in''tranced 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 and let us ignite eachother''s dormant scorch of dreams and vision for the secret encoded in our circular chorus will speak for generations of a new paradigm of being of how to be connected and conscious even amidst conflict with a promise of resolution through attunement to the circle of life to which we are all enchained and our dance will evoke an approaching era when the ailments born of institution & competition will dissolve into a thick collodial solvent of equality and common dignity for all will incorporate irregardless of position on the no-longer existent ladder of hierarchy our circle will model what it is to be fully embodied in the present a servant to the womb of the Moment with no future tense impending & impeading the flowing rhythm of our spin here we are free from the hamperings of will-be''s or has-beens Temporality is our temple in this circle where all is ample and transparent ours, a choreography of equality inclusivity of bringing all-of-me into this welcoming crucible of communal commitment known as a circle here we offer limb to reach beyond the limitations of a linear world gone wrong here we are egalitarian and elegant responsive and penetrant embodying ideas and idealizing emotion invoking insight at the lips of the ocean holding up mirrors like the windows of waves -reflecting eachother 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
(photo credit: The Jerusalem Post)