Welcome to the South Philadelphia Shtiebel's Art Beit Midrash.
Each session begins with 10-15 minutes of facilitated text study related to the Parsha (weekly Torah portion) followed by 45-50 minutes of studio time/creative interpretation of the texts.
Take a look at the sources and questions below. What do you make of it?
The excerpt below is from Song of the Sea, which the Israelites sang upon crossing the Red Sea when leaving Egypt:
(כ) וַתִּקַּח֩ מִרְיָ֨ם הַנְּבִיאָ֜ה אֲח֧וֹת אַהֲרֹ֛ן אֶת־הַתֹּ֖ף בְּיָדָ֑הּ וַתֵּצֶ֤אןָ כׇֽל־הַנָּשִׁים֙ אַחֲרֶ֔יהָ בְּתֻפִּ֖ים וּבִמְחֹלֹֽת׃ (כא) וַתַּ֥עַן לָהֶ֖ם מִרְיָ֑ם שִׁ֤ירוּ לַֽיהֹוָה֙ כִּֽי־גָאֹ֣ה גָּאָ֔ה ס֥וּס וְרֹכְב֖וֹ רָמָ֥ה בַיָּֽם׃ {ס}
I will sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously;
Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea. (2) The LORD is my strength and might;
He is become my deliverance.
This is my God and I will enshrine Him;
The God of my father, and I will exalt Him. (3) The LORD, the Warrior—
LORD is His name! (4) Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
He has cast into the sea;
And the pick of his officers
Are drowned in the Sea of Reeds. (5) The deeps covered them;
They went down into the depths like a stone. (6) Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power,
Your right hand, O LORD, shatters the foe! (7) In Your great triumph You break Your opponents;
You send forth Your fury, it consumes them like straw. (8) At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up,
The floods stood straight like a wall;
The deeps froze in the heart of the sea. (9) The foe said,
“I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil;
My desire shall have its fill of them.
I will bare my sword—
My hand shall subdue them.” (10) You made Your wind blow, the sea covered them;
They sank like lead in the majestic waters.
(11) Who is like You, O LORD, among the celestials;
Who is like You, majestic in holiness,
Awesome in splendor, working wonders! (12) You put out Your right hand,
The earth swallowed them. (13) In Your love You lead the people You redeemed;
In Your strength You guide them to Your holy abode. (14) The peoples hear, they tremble;
Agony grips the dwellers in Philistia. (15) Now are the clans of Edom dismayed;
The tribes of Moab—trembling grips them;
All the dwellers in Canaan are aghast. (16) Terror and dread descend upon them;
Through the might of Your arm they are still as stone—
Till Your people cross over, O LORD,
Till Your people cross whom You have ransomed.
(17) You will bring them and plant them in Your own mountain,
The place You made to dwell in, O LORD,
The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands established. (18) The LORD will reign for ever and ever! (19) For the horses of Pharaoh, with his chariots and horsemen, went into the sea; and the LORD turned back on them the waters of the sea; but the Israelites marched on dry ground in the midst of the sea. (20) Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels. (21) And Miriam chanted for them:
Sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously;
Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.
Exercise:
- Choose a verse from this passage.
- Prepare one study question to inspire discussion.
- Prepare one art prompt to inspire interpretation.
From the Art Beit Midrash:
I choose the opening psukim of the Shirah. B'nei Yisrael chose to sing this song to Hashem, and they said the following:
I shall sing to Hashem for He is exalted above the arrogant, having hurled horse with its rider into the sea. (V. 1)
....
This is my G-d and I will build Him a Sanctuary, the G-d of my father and I will exalt Him. (V. 2)
Question: The song starts with a description of a plural, group singing of songs of praise. But then it changes to singular - This is MY G-d.....
Was the song call and response? Unison? Individual? Communal?
This concept serves both as a point of discussion and as a prompt to art. Who sang? What did the song sound like/look like? What mood? Was the mood and intention uniform to all? Did the song impact the mood of the people? Was it Peaceful, grateful? Excited, wild? Confused, cacophonous? - RF
Why timbrels? What do they do?
In Verse 20, why is Miriam described as the sister of Aaron and not Moses?
(With Verse 21 in mind:) Choose one phrase of lyrics from a song you like. Write the words, and decorate around it. - EE
Why is the first-person speech of the enemy included in this triumphant song? Is it meant to show God's might? Deflate the power of those words? - EE
Is it an act of tshuva? On behalf of GD? - AP
What is a word (or words) that once frightened you, but no longer does. It could be an idea/concept, or something someone actually might have said. Write down the word(s) and draw a speech bubble around it/them. Now draw a very large speech bubble — maybe as big as your whole page — that includes the first speech bubble + words within it. Think of this large speech bubble as a frame now, and using images or words, tell the story of why those words in the first speech bubble no longer scare you within it. - EE
Art Prompt: In relation to the timbrels and the difference they make, duplicate your piece of art, the second time leaving out a key element, and see what it changes - RVW
- Are there other texts, images, and/or questions that come to mind from this study? How are they in dialogue with each other?