Prayer of Praising Hashem for Transforming our Hardships to Happiness, and for Revealing His Light of Redemption

Parashat Beshalach

Prayer of Praising Hashem for Transforming our Hardships to Happiness, 

and for Revealing His Light of Redemption

 

Hashem, this time I want to sing Your praise.

You have transformed my darkest nights to days.

Although I will never fathom your hidden ways,

I feel Your embrace through your warming rays.

 

Now the hidden reason behind my bitterness I see.

It propelled me forward and thoroughly helped me

refine my harshness, and constriction flee,

casting all my failings in the turbulent sea.  

 

Thank you for the power to dance with my feet.

Let my dance transform all bitterness to sweet!

I didn’t forget to bring my drum to mark the beat.

With joyful drum, dances, and song Hashem I greet.

 

Thank you, Hashem for shining Your Might,

through Your multicolored, brilliant light.

You empowered me to reach a greater height,

by thawing the tip of my fearful, freezing fright.

 

You ignited my fire to become aglow,

showing me the straight and upright way to go.

Hashem help me keep going strongly with the flow,

no longer needing to wait for the rising of my dough!

 

It’s time to wipe our tears, we no longer need to cry and whine.

Let us jump Your holy bandwagon, with Your will we align.

Help us surrender our will to Yours considering it ‘mine’

As long as we cleave to Your path, everything will be fine.

 

The light of redemption has begun to shine,

Let us celebrate and lift our cup of wine!

Thank you, Hashem for showing Your sign,

revealing that there is nothing but the Divine!

Based on the Book of Shemot Chapter 15

 

ספר שמות פרק טו פסוק כ וַתִּקַּח מִרְיָם הַנְּבִיאָה אֲחוֹת אַהֲרֹן אֶת הַתֹּף בְּיָדָהּ וַתֵּצֶאןָ כָל הַנָּשִׁים אַחֲרֶיהָ בְּתֻפִּים וּבִמְחֹלֹת :(כא) וַתַּעַן לָהֶם מִרְיָם שִׁירוּ לַהָשֵׁם כִּי גָאֹה גָּאָה סוּס וְרֹכְבוֹ רָמָה בַיָּם: (כב) וַיַּסַּע משֶׁה אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל מִיַּם סוּף וַיֵּצְאוּ אֶל מִדְבַּר שׁוּר וַיֵּלְכוּ שְׁלשֶׁת יָמִים בַּמִּדְבָּר וְלֹא מָצְאוּ מָיִם: (כג) וַיָּבֹאוּ מָרָתָה וְלֹא יָכְלוּ לִשְׁתֹּת מַיִם מִמָּרָה כִּי מָרִים הֵם עַל כֵּן קָרָא שְׁמָהּ מָרָה: (כד) וַיִּלֹּנוּ הָעָם עַל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר מַה נִּשְׁתֶּה :כה) וַיִּצְעַק אֶל הָשֵׁם וַיּוֹרֵהוּ הָשֵׁם עֵץ וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ אֶל הַמַּיִם וַיִּמְתְּקוּ הַמָּיִם שָׁם שָׂם לוֹ חֹק וּמִשְׁפָּט וְשָׁם נִסָּהוּ :(כו) וַיֹּאמֶר אִם שָׁמוֹעַ תִּשְׁמַע לְקוֹל הָשֵׁם אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְהַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינָיו תַּעֲשֶׂה וְהַאֲזַנְתָּ לְמִצְוֹתָיו וְשָׁמַרְתָּ כָּל חֻקָּיו כָּל הַמַּחֲלָה אֲשֶׁר שַׂמְתִּי בְמִצְרַיִם לֹא אָשִׂים עָלֶיךָ כִּי אֲנִי הָשֵׁם רֹפְאֶךָ:

“Miriam, the prophetess, Aharon’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women came out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam called out to them, ‘Sing to Hashem, for He is very exalted; a horse and its rider He cast into the sea.’ Moshe then led Israel away from the Reed Sea, and they went out into the desert of Shur; they walked for three days in the desert but did not find water. They came to Marah, but they could not drink water from Marah because they were bitter; therefore, it was named Marah. The people complained against Moshe, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’” So, he cried out to Hashem, and Hashem instructed him concerning a tree, which he cast into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He gave them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them. And He said, ‘If you listen to the voice of Hashem, your G-d, and you do what is proper in His eyes, and you listen closely to His commandments and observe all His statutes, all the sicknesses that I have visited upon Egypt I will not visit upon you, for I am Hashem, your healer’” (Shemot 15:20-26).

רש”י על שמות פרק טו פסוק כ ותקח מרים הנביאה - היכן נתנבאה כשהיתה אחות אהרן קודם שנולד משה אמרה עתידה אמי שתלד בן וכו’ כדאיתא בסוטה (דף יב) …בתופים ובמחולות - מובטחות היו צדקניות שבדור שהקדוש ברוך הוא עושה להם נסים והוציאו תופים ממצרים:

MIRIAM, THE PROPHETESS TOOK – When did she prophecy? When she was [known only as] “Aharon’s sister,” before Moshe was born. She said, in the future, my mother will give birth to a son [who will redeem Israel]. ...The righteous women of the generation trusted that Hashem would perform miracles for them, (as it states in Sotah 12), so they took drums out of Egypt (Rashi, Shemot 15:20).

Dispelling Bitterness Through Drumming and Dance

Just as the trauma of the Holocaust didn’t end with the liberation of the allies, so did the bitterness of the Israelites not come to an end at the Song of the Sea. Even after everyone was saved, the people were still suffering from trauma and experienced bitterness – which is a kind of disease. By taking a drum or a timbrel in her hand, Miriam began the process of spiritual healing from this profound psychological wound. She began to transform the pain of the bitter memory of the infants cast into the Nile, into utter joy. This is alluded to by the word הַתֹּף/hatof – “the drum,” which is pronounced similarly to טַף/taf – “infants.” Moreover, “all the women followed her, with their timbrels, and בִמְחֹלֹת/b’mecholot – “with dancing,” which shares the root letters מ/ח/ל the same as in מַּחֲלָה/machala – ‘sickness.’ The women thus began to transmute the bitter sickness through their exultant dancing (Based on Rabbi David Fohrman, Refaenu). Similarly, Rebbi Nachman teaches, “By means of dancing and clapping the hands, the judgments are sweetened” (Rebbe Nachman, Likutei Moharan, Mahadura Kama 10:1). Dancing “displaces depression,” and sweats out our bitterness. It is a way that we come out of ourselves. By reducing self-focus, it can bring us to a state of joy.