Parashat Terumah, Exodus 25:1-27:19

For liberal Jews, the connection to Tabernacle, Temple and sacrificial system is something we rejected long ago.

We recently observed the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. (Lovers of American history will note that this birth-date is shared by Abraham Lincoln.) I've always wondered if Darwin's interest in biology was hereditary or environmental. His grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, came up with his own theory on evolution, which he published in verse! Alas, the elder Darwin did not live to see his grandson, but it is nice to imagine that Erasmus' writings were cherished by young Charles.

We do, however, know that other people were very taken with the ideas of Erasmus Darwin. Among them was Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, who, spending a very rainy summer on Lake Geneva, whiled away the hours with her companions in conversation and storytelling. One of their more interesting topics of conversation was Erasmus Darwin, for according to reports he had animated dead matter.

This fired Mary's imagination that soggy summer and she came up with a story about the reanimation of dead matter. Published in 1818 under her married name of Mary Shelley, this tale is more familiar to us from film adaptations starring Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee. The actual title of the novel is Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus.

This fascination with giving life to dead matter is an interest that can be found in various cultures. Jewish folklore has the story of the golem. In the Talmud, Adam, formed from dust "kneaded into a shapeless mass" is described as being a golem at an early stage of creation before "a soul was infused into him." (Sanhedrin 38b, Soncino translation) The most well-known Jewish tale is the legend of the Golem of Prague. The idea of the golem has inspired many writers and film-makers who have entertained us with modern perspectives on this legend. Another tale about giving life to inanimate objects would be familiar to North Americans from a classic cartoon. Based on a poem by Goethe  , 1940's Fantasia features Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer's Apprentice, bringing broomsticks to life. Today, many of us feel we are on the verge of turning fiction into reality: whether it is through the creation of life in a biological lab or the eventual blurring of lines between human and artificial intelligence.

At first glance Parashat Terumah appears to be as removed from the creation of life as possible. It deals with the construction of the Tabernacle and its accoutrements, all of which is described in excruciating detail. Then again, the instructions are from God and so we had better get it right!

Yet from rabbinic midrash to modern biblical scholarship, we are given examples of how the building of the Tabernacle contains many similarities to the story of creation. Scholars such as Jon Levenson have analyzed the structure of the narrative that occupies the latter chapters of Exodus. The similarity in structure between Exodus 39-40, which details the building of the Tabernacle, and the story of creation is "powerful evidence that, as in many cultures, the Temple was conceived as a microcosm, a miniature world." (Jon Levenson, Creation and the Persistence of Evil, p, 86) The similarities are brought out strikingly in a midrash that Levenson quotes:

On the first day it is written: "In the beginning God created heaven and earth," [Genesis 1:] and it is written, "You spread the heavens like a tent cloth," [Psalm 104:2] and of the Tabernacle what is written? "You shall then make cloths of goat hair." [Exodus 26:7]
On the second day: "Let there be an expanse," and it speaks of a separation, as it says: "that it may separate [mabdil] water from water." [Genesis 1:6] And of the Tabernacle it is written: "so that the curtain shall serve you as a partition [hibdula]."[Exodus 26:33]
On the third day water is discussed, as it says: 'Let the water . . . be gathered." [Genesis 1:9] And of the Tabernacle it is written: "Make a laver [kiyor] of copper and a stand of copper for it. . . . Put water in it."[Exodus 30:18]
On the fourth day he created lights, as it is written: "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky." [Genesis 1:14] And of the Tabernacle it is written: "You shall make a lampstand of pure gold." [Exodus 25:31] …

Jon Levenson, Creation and the Persistence of Evil, p, 97

Parashat Terumah also contains words that can be termed the language of creation: The verb used most frequently is asah, to make. This is the same verb that is used with the creation of humanity: Let us make (na'aseh) humanity (Genesis 1:26) More importantly, as was brought to my attention by my colleague Rabbi Debra Landsberg, these chapters that deal with inanimate objects use words that may be associated with living beings:
The walls of the tabernacle are called tselah, which is also the word for "rib." (See especially Exodus 26.) The word for the edge of a cloth is safah, "lip." (As in Exodus 26:4.) For the width of the enclosure on the front, or east side, fifty cubits: fifteen cubits of hangings on the one flank (la-katef) (Exodus 27:13-14), katef being the Hebrew word for shoulder. The description of how the cloths are connected is literally "as a woman is joined to her sister." (Exodus 26:3. See last year's commentary for more on this phrase.)

The terminology used in the building of the Tabernacle is reminiscent of that used for the creation of humanity. God breathed life into humanity and gave each one of us a soul; God's dwelling in our midst became the soul of the Tabernacle. Without the Divine Presence, the Tabernacle would have been as much of a golem as the soulless creature formed by human hands.

Many Jews still feel a living connection to the Tabernacle and its later version, the Temple. However, for liberal Jews, the connection to Tabernacle, Temple and sacrificial system is something we rejected long ago. What can we aspire to, those of us who do not draw a line from biblical Tabernacle to ancient Temples built and destroyed to a future Temple in a Messianic Age? What can we shape, form or build that will be infused with that Divine spirit? The answer is not new and it remains our most important, sacred long-range project:

And all your children shall be taught of Adonai, and great shall be the peace of your children. (Isaiah 54:13) Read not banayich (your children) but bonayich (your builders).

Berachot 64a

The next generation is our Divine building project. Whether by birth, adoption, through formal or informal teaching, or role-modeling, we all have a role in creating the Jewish future.

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Michal Shekel

Parashat Mishpatim, Exodus 21:1-24:18, Shabbat Shekalim, Exodus 30:11-16

Why on earth be active in the Jewish community if you do not believe?

If I had to do it all again I'd spend a lot of time practicing piano, violin, drawing, shooting baskets, whatever. While practice doesn't make perfect, it gets you pretty close. One of the most intriguing pieces of information in Malcolm Gladwell's  book Outliers is the 10,000 hour rule; this being the amount of time you must spend doing something to be really good at it. The opportunity to have this much practice is more important than talent alone. If someone had told me this when I was ten, I would now be a terrific animator who just happened to play the banjo with ease and could speedskate with the best of them. There may still be a chance: five hours a day, five days a week and I could reach one of these goals in less than eight years. Nineteen years of practice for two hours a day, five days a week would allow me to be a pretty impressive baton twirler by the time I retire.

Even if I don't make the magic 10,000 hour mark, this bit of information revealed new insight into a well-known verse from Parashat Mishpatim. This portion covers a wide variety of rules (mishpatim) that God wants us to follow. At the very end of the parashah, Moses reads the covenant to the people of Israel, who respond:
All that the Lord has spoken we will faithfully do! (na'aseh ve-nishmah) (Exodus 24:7) The Hebrew na'aseh ve-nishmah has been translated in many ways; the nuances are best summarized by Ibn Ezra:

Literally, "We will do, and we will hear," adding "we will hear" to what they had already said in verse 3—we will do everything that is written down, and we will constantly hear them in that they will never be forgotten from our mouths. Saadia says that it is another case where the Torah is written out of chronological order, and what they really said was "We will hear and we will do." Or it might mean, "We will do" the commandments that are planted in our hearts, and "we will heed" the commandments that have been revealed to us. Or, "We will do" all the commandments He has given us so far, and "we will heed" the commandments that we will be given in the future. Or, "We will do" the positive commandments, and "we will heed" the prohibitions and not do them.

Ibn Ezra on Exodus 24:7 from The Commentators' Bible: The JPS Miqraot Gedolot, Michael Carasik, translator and editor

Na'aseh means “we will do.” Nishmah can mean “we will listen, we will heed, or we will learn.” Either way, one would think that the listening or learning precedes the doing, yet the order is reversed in this verse: Action leads to insight. This is the lesson of 10,000 hours of practice; it is reaching the point when you get so good at something that you are performing at a higher level. So too with mitzvot (commandments).

However, it is safe to say that within Jewish tradition the stress is on the importance of study as a catalyst to everything else. Let's eavesdrop on a rabbinic conversation:

Rabbi Tarfon and the Elders were once reclining in the upper storey of Nithza's house, in Lydda, when this question was raised before them: Is study greater, or practice? Rabbi Tarfon answered, saying: Practice is greater. Rabbi Akiba answered, saying: Study is greater, for it leads to practice. Then they all answered and said: Study is greater, for it leads to action.

Kiddushin 40b, Soncino translation

Or if you prefer, here is a similar teaching that has made its way from the Talmud (Shabbat 127a) to the siddur (prayerbook):

These are things that yield interest during your life, while the principal remains for you in the world-to-come: honoring your father and mother, doing kindness, arriving early to study morning and evening, welcoming strangers, visiting the sick, providing for the bride, burying the dead, paying attention to prayer, bringing peace between one person and another; and the study of Torah is like them all [talmud torah keneged kulam].

Translation from My People's Prayer Book, vol. 5: Birkhot HaShachar,

  Lawrence Hoffman, ed.

Talmud torah keneged kulam, the study of Torah is equal to all the other mitzvot, is not that simple and not everyone agrees with it. Shimon ben Gamliel warns that "Study is not the primary thing but the doing." (Avot 1:17) Even study (nishmah) can be taken to its extreme and the deed (na'aseh) gets lost. Study without deed is meaningless. Rabbi Huna is even more adamant than Shimon ben Gamliel: "He who only occupies himself with the study of the Torah is as if he had no God." (Avodah Zarah 17b) Whoa! Too much Torah and you're the equivalent of an atheist?! Rabbi Huna certainly catches my attention with that!

His is a radical way of saying that Judaism is more concerned with the na'aseh then the nishmah. The doing takes precedence, and not only in the word order in this verse. As has often been said: Judaism is about deed not creed. While other religions worry about faith, our greatest concern is action. Let's call it living expression rather than giving expression. You can be a Jew and not believe. This is not easy for a rabbi to say, but we know our synagogues include members who are there for communal, cultural and ethnic reasons. You can be a Jew and question your beliefs. That's an even bigger part of our synagogue membership. Why on earth be active in the Jewish community if you do not believe? Because being part of a community matters. Deeds count. Na'aseh. 

Sometime this month a new advertising campaign will begin on subway trains in Toronto. It is organized by an atheist organization and based on a similar campaign in London, England. Sponsored by the Freethought Association of Canada, it will feature posters such as: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." (In England the campaign was in reaction to a Christian group's campaign that non-believers will end up in a lake of fire.) The idea behind the campaign is to promote dialogue.

In the past couple of weeks I've been getting calls from the media looking for reaction to this campaign. Frankly, I don't see how dialogue can take place on something we inherently disagree about. I can't prove God exists. How do you prove a relationship? They can't prove God doesn't –though the use of "probably" is more agnostic, than atheist. They're imagining a being, I'm dealing with relationship. In response to their campaign my billboard would quote Martin Buber:

God cannot be inferred in anything—in nature, say, as its author, or in history, as its master, or in the subject as the self that is thought in it. Something else is not "given" and God then elicited from it; but God is the Being that is directly, most nearly, and lastingly, over against us, that may only be addressed, not expressed.

Martin Buber, I and Thou, pp. 80-81

Okay, that's a bit wordy for a billboard. Perhaps an excerpt from Midrash Eichah Rabbah (proem 2) would be catchier in a rabbinic sort of way: "If only they had forsaken Me but kept My law." That's right, better to forget God, but keep on doing.

What's important is na'aseh, the doing, our doing. As long as folks live a civil, moral and ethical life, then let them believe what they like. As my friend's bubbie (grandmother) used to say, "They should live and be well."

For all of us na'aseh must be the first step; deeds are what sustain the world. For some of us this leads to nishmah: a soulful awareness of the reason for the deeds, an understanding which further enhances our lives and our appreciation for the world.

Na'aseh ve-nishmah allows me to engage life on so many more levels than na'aseh alone. I may never be a virtuoso musician, a world-class athlete, or a successful business-person no matter how many hours I allocate to these tasks. But every minute I devote to na'aseh, doing, gives me a deeper comprehension of life and the One who bestowed this precious gift on all of us.

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Michal Shekel

Parashat Yitro, Exodus 18:1-20:23

Being a workaholic is a no-no.

Among our most precious commodities is time. There never seems to be enough of it. Technological advances that promised to free us from the shackles of the analog clock have merely chained us to a digital timepiece. The pursuit of free time brings to mind a book I read in my youth (and which I have mentioned before) called Cheaper by the Dozen. This was the biography of Frank Gilbreth Sr. and Lillian Gilbreth and their family of twelve children. The Gilbreths were efficiency experts and pioneers in what was called time and motion studies. Much of what they did would today be called ergonomics. They were looking for the most efficient ways to carry out tasks in order to increase productivity and save time. Frank had started life as a bricklayer. Through analyzing film of bricklayers at work, he and Lillian determined that the number of steps a person uses in laying bricks could be cut from 18 to about 4. In Cheaper by the Dozen, Frank explains why he wanted to save time. While I can't remember the quote exactly, it was something to the effect that people should have more time to do the things they wish to do, even should it be Mumblety-Peg.  (This is a knife-throwing game that used to be played by boys. Recess ain't what it used to be.)

This week's parasha also contains an efficiency expert; in fact the portion bears his name: Yitro, or Jethro in English, is the father-in-law of Moses. He meets up with Moses after the latter has successfully led the Children of Israel out of Egypt and fought the Amalekites. Now they are settling into life in the wilderness. The purpose of Jethro’s journey is to reunite Moses with his family:

Jethro priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, how the Lord had brought Israel out from Egypt. So Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after she had been sent home, and her two sons — of whom one was named Gershom, that is to say, "I have been a stranger in a foreign land"; and the other was named Eliezer, meaning, "The God of my father was my help, and He delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh." Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought Moses' sons and wife to him in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God. He sent word to Moses, "I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, with your wife and her two sons." Moses went out to meet his father-in-law; he bowed low and kissed him; each asked after the other's welfare, and they went into the tent.

Exodus 18: 1-7

This is the only snippet of information we have concerning Moses' relationship with his family. Unfortunately, it is not very positive. He needs to be told that his father-in-law is approaching with his wife and kids. Commentators question where they have been. What does it mean that Zipporah had been sent home? Ibn Ezra notes that the same language is used elsewhere in reference to divorce. Bekhor Shor explains that Moses is only reunited with his family after the Exodus. According to Sforno, they now have a place to stay. Most interesting is Hizkuni's comment that this meeting actually occurred after the revelation at Sinai. This would mean that Moses' sons were not present at the giving of the Torah!

Okay, Moses has been awfully busy. First there were all those meetings with Pharaoh, many of them outside of business hours. Subsequently, there were some plagues. Then there was the dramatic crossing of the Sea of Reeds. Just when it looks like things are quieting down, the Israelites grumble and the Amalekites attack. But surely with all this behind him, Moses can take a short break. Not quite. Jethro notices that Moses is overwhelmed with work, settling disputes from sun-up to sundown. Jethro the efficiency expert has a solution: delegate:

But Moses' father-in-law said to him, "The thing you are doing is not right; you will surely wear yourself out, and these people as well. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. Now listen to me. I will give you counsel, and God be with you! You represent the people before God: you bring the disputes before God, and enjoin upon them the laws and the teachings, and make known to them the way they are to go and the practices they are to follow. You shall also seek out from among all the people capable men who fear God, trustworthy men who spurn ill-gotten gain. Set these over them as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and let them judge the people at all times. Have them bring every major dispute to you, but let them decide every minor dispute themselves. Make it easier for yourself by letting them share the burden with you. If you do this — and God so commands you — you will be able to bear up; and all these people too will go home unwearied."

Exodus 18:17-23

It's not just that life will be easier for Moses, or that the people will be empowered. What Jethro proposes is the biblical equivalent of striking a balance in life. Being a workaholic is a no-no. And Moses is to set the example in the Torah. Later in the Talmud, even God sets an example of efficient time management:

Rav Judah said in the name of Rav: "The day consists of twelve hours; during the first three hours the Holy One, Who is blessed, studies Torah, during the second three God sits in judgment on the whole world, and when God sees that the world is so guilty as to deserve destruction, God moves from the seat of Justice to the seat of Mercy; during the third quarter, God feeds the whole world, from the horned buffalo to the brood of vermin; during the fourth quarter God plays with the leviathan, as it is said, There is leviathan, whom You have formed to sport therewith (Psalm 104:26)."

Avodah Zarah 3b, Soncino translation

All of which brings us to the Ten Commandments and finding a balance in life. Did I forget to mention that the focal point of this parashah is the Revelation at Sinai? A parashah named after a Midianite priest, the father-in-law of Moses, a section that deals with the nitty-gritty of running the community concludes with God's Top Ten List. Our focus is number four:

Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God: you shall not do any work — you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.

Exodus 20:8-11

In the Mekhilta, Rabbi Yitzhak observes that in other societies days have names, whereas the Hebrew days are numbered in relation to Shabbat; the Jewish world, indeed Jewish time revolves around Shabbat. Sforno picks up on this when he comments that we must remember Shabbat all week when we focus on our mundane work. If we "take care of business" at the proper time and place, we can put it out of mind on Shabbat. Sforno teaches that the world does not revolve around us or our work, it revolves around Shabbat

Efficiency expert Frank Gilbreth, Sr., had Mumblety-Peg; God frolics with leviathan. What joy and fulfillment do you have in life? How much time can you devote to it? Jethro's message to Moses was: Make time for your family. The commandment of Shabbat is to set aside time. Setting something apart is a holy act; the basic meaning of the Hebrew word for holy, kadosh, is "set apart." The Ten Commandments, and the entire parashah, teach us that not only must we act responsibly, we must also rest responsibly.

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Michal Shekel

Reminder: Unless otherwise noted all Bible translations quoted in the weekly studies are from the JPS Tanakh published by the Jewish Publication Society.

Parashat Beshalach, Exodus 13:17-17:16

This week's parasha is generously sponsored by Karen Gold in memory of her father Melvin Gold.

For a long time we missed out on hearing women's voices as part of a community in prayer.

Barbra Streisand and Beverly Sills share more than a monogram. They each have the gift of a beautiful voice perfectly suited to a particular musical genre. How could they not excel as singers? They are part of a sisterhood of musically talented Jewish women which is breathtakingly diverse. It includes Britain's Amy Winehouse and Israel's Chava Alberstein. While we're at it let's toss in Bette Midler, Carly Simon and Dinah Shore. Go back a few centuries and you can add Madama Europa, sister of the Italian composer Salamone Rossi. Let's not forget the trailblazers in liturgical music: Barbara Ostfeld, of the Reform movement who was the first invested female cantor, Erica Lippitz and Marla Barugel the first two female cantors in the Conservative movement, and the influential singer/songwriter Debbie Friedman.

Then there's Miriam, remember her? We first met her as an unnamed child in chapter two of Exodus, keeping a watchful eye on her baby brother as he is put in a basket and floated down the Nile. When Pharaoh's daughter finds the basket, the young girl leaps into action: Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get you a Hebrew nurse to suckle the child for you?" And Pharaoh's daughter answered, "Yes." So the girl went and called the child's mother. (Exodus 2:7-8) In this week's parashah, Miriam, now called a prophetess, is witness once again to an act where her people are saved through the medium of water: the parting of the Sea of Reeds.

This formative event in the relationship between God and Israel leads to a song of victory commonly known as Shirat Ha-Yam, the Song of the Sea, which gives this Shabbat its designation as Shabbat Shira, the Shabbat of Song. Upon witnessing God's might
… Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. They said:
I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously;
Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea. (Exodus 15:1)
The song continues in great detail for eighteen verses, after which
… Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels. And Miriam chanted for them:
Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously;
Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea. (Exodus 15:20-21)

Is this plagiarism or sampling? Can't Miriam come up with an original song? Well, let's look at it closely. Commentators explain that this was a particular type of song. According to the first century writer Philo (On the Life of Moses 1:180) there was a male chorus and a female chorus singing Shirat Ha-Yam. Moses led the men, and Miriam the women. The Hebrew reads va-ta'an Miriam. Though translated as "Miriam chanted," it can also be read as "Miriam responded," and in fact that is the choice given by Ibn Ezra. The twelfth century commentator Bekhor Shor understands the verb to mean that the entire song was repeated. Writing in the early twentieth century, Umberto Cassuto envisioned it somewhat differently, commenting that Miriam and the women sang antiphonally, responding "at the end of each strophe."

A very different perspective was put forward by biblical scholars Frank Moore Cross and David Noel Freedman in "The Song of Miriam" (1955). According to their analysis, what we call the "Song of the Sea" is actually the "Song of Miriam," which was eventually ascribed to Moses. In this view, the shorter text is the older and original piece. Why was it necessary to include the short mention of Miriam and her song unless this was the original version of the text? Other scholars following up on this hypothesis explain that the language used indicates that Miriam calls all the people to sing, hence the term Sing to the Lord (Exodus 15:21), at which point Moses and the people respond I will sing to the Lord (Exodus 15:1).

If this is true, the song as it appears in the Torah illustrates a modern problem that even the prophetess Miriam faced: the woman who is not heard. The linguist Deborah Tannen illustrates this phenomenon familiar to many women from business meetings:

Cynthia was a member of a committee to raise funds for a political candidate. Most of the committee members were focused on canvassing local businesses for support. When Cynthia suggested that they write directly to a list of former colleagues, friends, and supporters of the candidate, inviting them to join an honorary board (and inviting them to contribute), her suggestions was ignored. Later that same suggestion was made by another committee member, Barry. Suddenly, the group came alive, enthusiastically embracing and planning to implement "Barry's" idea.

Deborah Tannen, Talking from 9 to 5: Women and Men at Work, p. 277

Further support for Miriam's musical leadership role is found in the extent of her participation. In addition to leading the singing, she also drummed and danced. (Scholars point out that “timbrel” is not an accurate translation of the musical instrument tof, which was probably a hand-drum.) Women in ancient Israel were very much involved in making music, and we've got the archeological evidence to prove it, as the accompanying picture attests. According to Carol Meyers, figurines of ancient musicians only depict women as drummers.

Women in the biblical world apparently were expert percussionists. Because ancient Semitic music was more rhythmic than tonal or melodic, hand-drum skills would have made women essential for most musical performances. The victory song genre itself was exclusively female because of the performance context — that is, in the wake of a military victory. In a world with men as the primary combatants the women who remain behind typically are the ones to greet triumphant soldiers returning from battle. It is no wonder that the composition and performance of celebratory hymns became a women’s genre in ancient Israel.
…the performers of victory songs composed and performed hymns that were imbued with religious meaning, the celebration of God’s redeeming acts. The Song of the Sea, as one of the earliest theological statements in the Bible, therefore is arguably a contribution of female creativity.

Carol Meyers, New Cambridge Bible Commentary, Exodus, pp.117-18, 119

Why is it so important to determine Miriam's role in offering thanks to God at the Sea of Reeds? It is because her voice was muffled and the voices of her daughters eventually silenced. Somewhere between Miriam's joyful reaction to the act of redemption and Madama Europa's singing her brother's liturgical compositions in sixteenth century Italy, kol isha became the reason to deny women this religious outlet. The term kol isha, a woman's voice, comes from the Talmudic phrase kol be-isha erva, a woman's voice is indecent (Berachot 24a). The third century sage Samuel used this phrase to explain that the Sh'ma should not be recited while a woman was singing, because the lustiness of her voice would be a distraction from holy matters. From this developed the traditional prohibition against women's participation in music.

That is not to say that Jewish women stopped singing. Babies over the centuries have been lulled to sleep with the sound of a mother's lullaby. In many Jewish communities women were professional mourners. Women may have also been performers and teachers. But for a long time we missed out on hearing women's voices as part of a community in prayer. Think of it as the vocal equivalent of painting with only half the colours of the spectrum.

There is a reason Torah is chanted and tefillot (prayers) are sung. When words and music embrace, we encounter a new dimension of spirituality. For this reason it is so important to savour the words va-ta'an Miriam, Miriam responded. How fortunate we are that today men and women alike, laity and leaders, can strive to follow her example. Miriam was able to join a momentous occasion with a heartfelt response, creating a transformative experience. This is soul music in its truest sense; it is prayer.

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Michal Shekel

Picture credit: Iron Age terracotta figurine of woman playing the drum excavated at Shiqmona, Israel, scanned from A Feminist Companion to Exodus to Deuteronomy, Athalya Brenner (ed.), p. 212. (Original photograph from the Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem.)