Torah Portion Beshallach – Holy Choreography

I was a dancer in my teens.  I still need to "feel the movement" in a biblical passage in order to understand the words at a deeper level.  I believe that prayer is, at its source, sacred dance and communal choreography.

Therefore, I am overjoyed each year when we reach the Torah portion Beshallach in which is embedded the ancient Song of the Sea, for which this Shabbat gets its name, Shabbat Shira, the Sabbath of Song.  And it is not only about the ancient ballad, or the contemporary, special music that many congregations bring on this special service... it also refers to Miriam and the women dancing with their timbrels.  In some congregations this is an occasion to sing Debbie Friedman 's "MIriam's Song" and dance with tambourines weaving through the aisles of the synagogue. 
 

 

B'shallach means literally “In the sending" - referring to when Pharaoh let our people go out of Egypt - the tight places - into the wilderness.   I take this very personally, as if reminding myself that we have times in our life when we press for freedom, and then are "sent," freed, allowed to go, and find ourselves dancing across some impossible sea through some unimaginable wall of water, to an unknown wilderness place of not-knowing. Part of us is ecstatically delighted at this new freedom, and another part of us is frightened and confused, ready to complain and express disappointment.   Our ancestors did just that: witnessed the miracles, and sang and danced in triumphant gratitude which we honor with a special melody (Exodus 15:1-21), but would not be able to sustain that mood for long.

When chanting this portion, it is customary for the whole congregation to rise, as they do when the passage containing Ten Commandments is chanted.  This too is communal choreography, everyone becoming elevated at once, and expressing that moment of unity, triumph, and awe as if hearts are beating in unison. An echo of this moment is reenacted at morning and evening services when Mi Chamocha is sung in one of many melodies, ranging from slow and melodic to fast-paced and rhythmic, depending on the mood and season of the service.

I believe that every one of our prayers serves as practice for when we need that guiding instruction, or a way to express a strong emotion.  So, when we find ourselves coming out of an impossible situation, as if the seas had just miraculously parted, we should recognize that instant as a “Mi Chamocha moment,” and sing out those joyous words of gratitude and awe, “Who is like You Holy One, among the mighty! Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, working wonders! (Exodus 15:11).

In our narrative, in the very next chapter, soon after the joyous dance and song, our people's expansive mood and consciousness shrank into fear and grumbling. "If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots, when we ate our fill of bread! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to starve this whole congregation to death" (Exodus 16:2).The answer then came:  manna from the hand of God, a portion for each day and double on Friday to serve as food for Shabbat.   One omer of this manna was to be kept in a jar throughout all the ages as a reminder of this miracle.

At their next stop they complained about a lack of water.  Moses brought forth water from the rock as the Holy One again responded to the bitter complaining of the Israelites.  A cycle of Miracle, Satisfaction, Complaining, a New Miracle. 

Are we ever satisfied? Is our faith ever certain and sure?   I can just see this dance - forward, stalled, backward, then forward again. It is the dance of our people, it is the dance of our lives.  May we rejoice in the dance of the crossing over with bold and faithful dance and song, and gain strength for the journey ahead.