Voices of WRJ: B'shalach

I travel. A lot. I am often on the road for all or part of three weeks every month. As a result, I never completely unpack, keeping a set of travel basics ready to go. Then I add to that depending on the nature of the trip -  business, vacation, Reform movement meeting, outdoor activities, includes Shabbat, etc. I have friends who can travel for a week with a large backpack or small duffel bag, but that’s not my approach. I am not a minimalist traveler; and yet, even for someone like me who tries to anticipate everything I might need and bring it along, it’s a little difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that Miriam and the women while fleeing Egypt, used their precious space to bring their hand drums with them. And yet, as we see in this week’s portion B’shalach, not only did the women carry the drums, they kept them easily accessible and were able to immediately access them and play them in celebration after crossing the Red Sea.

The tof, or hand drum, sometimes called a timbrel, is explained as a wooden hoop covered with either one or two skins, sometimes with small bells or other jingling metal set in the rim. It was used exclusively on joyous occasions, apparently played only by women. Not quite a modern tambourine, but that’s the usual comparison that is made.

Maybe the women simply anticipated that they would have opportunities to celebrate in the future, despite the uncertainty they faced as they left Egypt. And perhaps they had so few possessions that their drums were considered indispensable treasures. But no matter the reason they carried the drums with them, what a legacy they left us!

Attend Shabbat worship at a WRJ Fried Women’s Leadership Conference, district convention, or Union of Reform Judaism Biennial. All it takes is the first few notes of Debbie Friedman’s Miriam’s Song to have women leaving their seats, encouraging others to join them, dancing and singing as they thread their way around the sanctuary or convention hall. It’s a joyous celebration as we remember the miracles Adonai wrought for our ancestors, taking them from slavery to freedom. “Sing a song to the One whom we’ve exalted.”

Perhaps it’s just a simple lesson then – no matter how difficult the moment in which we find ourselves, it will pass and there will be joy and reason to celebrate. We can anticipate and plan for those moments – bringing our timbrels along so we’ll have them when we need them.

My suitcase may not have room for a tambourine, but in studying B’shalach I did find one way lighten the load for travel.  I downloaded WRJ’s The Torah: a Women’s Commentary to my Kindle. This commentary, published in 2007 and featuring the work of more than 100 of the world's leading Jewish female Bible scholars, rabbis, cantors, theologians, historians, philosophers, sociologists, poets, and archaeologists, is a remarkable source of insight and inspiration – and now it can go with me everywhere, taking up no extra space or weight. And, going forward, I think I will tuck an egg shaker into the travel basics kit….

Blair Marks is immediate past president of Women of Reform Judaism and a member of Temple Kol Emeth in Marietta, Georgia. Blair serves on the Oversight Committee of the North American Board of the Union for Reform Judaism and on the Board of Governors of Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion. She and her talented guitarist husband Joe share a love of music. Parasha B’shalach holds a special place in her heart, having been sponsored by WRJ’s Southeast District in The Torah a Women’s Commentary and memorialized by WRJ at Temple Kol Emeth in their sanctuary’s stained-glass windows, showing the women dancing with their timbrels.