מחול : In Defense Of Biblical Dance In Praise & Worship to YHVH…
by Bill Carlson
Sometimes you’ll hear people say that Praise and Worship in corporate/mixed-dance is not allowed between men and women in Judaism, and that it never has been allowed, and that it is universally forbidden. Or you’ll hear others say that dancing in a circle is pagan and that it was never done by Israel. This article disproves those false notions, and gives a source for you to be able to defend against these attacks.
First of all: The context is not dancing or holding hands at a bar; rather the context is choreographed dance, unto YHVH, in Praise and Worship, with a team of men, women, children, and families that are dedicated in ministry to serve YAH in offering up their lives as a sacrifice of Praise unto Him.
Most Messianic Congregations do allow for men and women dancing together, such as in the Hora, but some will appeal to the supposed ‘final word’ of Orthodox halakha saying that it is forbidden to do so. However, there were many Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Oriental Orthodox communities that did so up until more recent times. Some still have dance during celebrations and events with both men and women together.
I’ve heard tons of people in the 20+ years that have witnessed Messianic Dance in Praise and Worship unto YAH, being done by men and women and even whole families, say how much it ministered to them, and especially that the men would be humble enough to join in and also dance unto YAH. Holiness is one of the standards taught in most dance ministries, and that is what I’ve seen demonstrated by our local dance team, of both men and women, for many many years now. It is a ministry to YAH, and a blessing of being in one accord in corporate worship – even for whole families.
With some congregation and churche attitudes today, I shudder to think what would have happened to the woman who dared to wipe Yeshua/(Jesus’) feet with her hair and kiss His feet. Also in view of some attitudes I see today, I ponder how, for 200 or so years, in this country, small church communities in the U.S., who by their actions obviously understood that we are now supposed to be brothers and sisters in Messiah could possibly have come together on occasion for a pot-luck dinner after a hard week’s work and actually dared to hold a square-dance and not have their out of wedlock birthrate going through the roof like it is today!
It is important to note that in the Tabernacle, and in the 1st Temple (and in the 2nd Temple pre-Herod), there was no court of the Gentiles nor court of the women. There was only: The Outer Court, The Inner Court, and The Holy of Holies. Messiah Yeshua/(Jesus) in His Word declares that we are now a Royal Priesthood, a nation of priests/priestess’, and the middle wall of partition is broken down. While many of the modern Orthodox in Judaism try to bring that partition back up with a rope down the center isle (and it seems that some Messianics would like to follow that same tradition), let’s look at earlier Orthodox Judaic beliefs and practices more closely.
A brief overview to Orthodox & Judaic practices
both old and modern, in regards to corporate/mixed-dancing
Oriental Jewry – [NOTE: The Sephardi-Oriental/Yemenite Judaic communities are considered the closest to Biblical practices in their culture, language–since they were the most isolated in their region, and separated from Ashkenazi European influence.] “There are many communities, such as the Moroccans, Georgians, Libyans, and Ethiopians, in which spontaneous group folk dancing is important, yet the Jews of Yemen and Kurdistan Jewry are among the most prominent traditional cultures attributing dynamic importance to dance in the daily and festive life of the community. Dance among the Jews born in Yemen comprises stylistic diversity characteristic of urban and rural settlements as well as including women and men. Dancing usually takes place during ceremonies and celebrations…”*[Jewish Dance from the Bible to Hasidism by Dvora Lapson (director of the Dance Education Department of the Board of Jewish Education in New York, and was an instructor in Jewish dance education at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion) and Amnon Shiloah (Professor of Musicology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem).
{From Encyclopedia Judaica 22 Volume Set 2nd edition by Skolink, Fred (editor), 2006.}
–http://www.jewish-theatre.com/visitor/article_display.aspx?articleID=2694
Kurdistan Jewry – “…The history of the community began well before the destruction of the First Temple and continued for many generations. Ancient tradition has it that Jews were settled in Kurdistan 2,800 years ago, part of the Ten Tribes dispersed by the Assyrian king Shalmaneser. Kurdish Jews identify themselves as amongst those described in the Prophets: “…the king of Assyria captured Samaria. He deported the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, at the [River] Habor, at the River Gozan…” (2 Kings 17:6), places which are in fact within the Kurdistan region…. During celebrations and parties there was no separation between men and women; holding hands, they danced folkloric dances together….”
*[ http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/kurdish-women]
European Jewry – On Hassadic customs of separation replacing the older mix-dancing practices: “…For Jews living in a Germanic, Slavic, or Hungarian ethnic environment, dancing became the focus of ethical strictures, unceasingly repeated by the rabbis…contra dance and couple dance formations, in some of which the partners of opposite sexes held one another by the hand or waist. In contra dances, the couple figures were distributed among a changing series of partners and at times combined line and couple formations….In Eastern Europe, the peasantry adopted these dances at various periods after the seventeenth century…. As Hasidism assumed its mature form in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, it ritualized and sacralized many aspects of Jewish life…Southern European non-Hasidic communities sometimes preserved the pre-Hasidic popular custom of dancing without handkerchiefs….”
*[ http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Dance/An_Overview]
Austro-Hungarian Transylvania Jewry – “…a Neolog wedding allowed for mixed-sex dancing. Gypsy musicians were hired for Jewish weddings, and played a few Jewish songs (usually “Belz” alongside various Yiddish theater songs and a few Sabbath zmiros) while providing csardas music for dancing….”
*[http://www.dinayekapelye.com/jmromania.htm]
U.S. & Great Britan / Orthodox mixed dancing 1960-1961: “…by 1960, in Great Britain, like in the United States, the majority of Orthodox Jews saw nothing religiously wrong with mixed dancing at social events, even in the synagogue…the rabbis either saw nothing really wrong with it, or justified it as a lesser of evils or they saw nothing at all….finally – the Jewish Chronicle did the sensible thing and asked various British rabbis their view and found that “Ministers Divided on Mixed Dancing (January 13, 1961). They asked 11 United Synagogue rabbis (called Ministers). Eight said there was nothing wrong with mixed dancing, two declined to comment and only one said it was wrong….”
*[ http://onthemainline.blogspot.com/2011/06/great-mixed-dancing-controversy-of-1960.html ]
“Rabbi Senter acknowledged that “in the past” many Orthodox congregations had allowed social dancing at synagogue events….”
*[Is Dancing Kosher? Jews Struggle to Define Orthodoxy – {http://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/28/nyregion/is-dancing-kosher-jews-struggle-to-define-orthodoxy.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm }
*Negiah (Hebrew: נגיעה),[1] literally “touch,” is the concept in Halakha that forbids or restricts physical contact with a member of the opposite sex…”The laws of Negiah are typically followed by Orthodox Jews, with varying levels of observance….Adherents of Conservative and Reform Judaism do not usually follow these laws.” *[http://www.ask.com/wiki/Negiah?qsrc=3044 ]
*Regarding “Tznius” / Negiah (rulings based on interpretations of mainly one section at the close of one Tractate of Talmud), these only appears to be a “universal codified halakha in Judaism” in its present modern day form, because it was expanded and re-interpreted into a stricter application from the 19th century on by the Hassidic ultra-Orthodox community, starting in Europe (although it wasn’t adopted in South Europe for a long time by the Rabbinic Communities who disagreed with the Hassidim stricter interpretations.) These Frum/Hassidic rulings did not fully take place in the U.S. and England until 1960/61; and they never took effect in the ancient Rabbinic Judaic communities in the Oriental/Mid-East that were isolated from the European influence of this Hassidic movement. – Historical evidence shows that mixed-dancing for celebrations and events were permitted and considered proper including in Synagogues in Orthodox communities in various countries including Europe and elsewhere, until the later Hassidic rulings finally became widespread in more modern times.
Historical understandings in Orthodox Judaism permitting corporate/mixed dancing, until the 19th century Hassidic strict re-interpretations of Tznius in Talmudic literature:
“…Decisors from among the Ahronim (later authorities) disagree regarding touching and are not of one mind even regarding embracing and kissing that are not in “an endearing manner.” ShaKh (R. Shabbetai ben Meir ha-Kohen, Lithuania, 1621–1662) maintained that “even Maimonides only prohibited when one embraces and kisses in a manner of sexual endearment, for we have found in the Talmud in several places that the Amoraim would embrace and kiss their daughters and their sisters” (Siftei Kohen, Yoreh De’ah 157:10). R. Moses Feinstein, a leading American posek, permitted using public transport in New York, even though “it is difficult to prevent touching and bumping against women,” for the reason that “this is not a lustful and endearing manner,” and therefore does not entail “even a Rabbinical prohibition” (Iggerot Moshe, Even ha-Ezer, vol. 2, para. 14). Contemporary poskim who seek to intensify gender separation tend to excessively stress the severity of this prohibition, to include it in the category of prohibitions connected with menstrual impurity, and thereby magnify the severity of the ban on mixed dancing. Dancing was conducted in various Jewish communities in medieval Europe. A noteworthy phenomenon was the institutionalization of dancing in Ashkenazic communities; special public buildings were erected for this purpose. The earliest testimony to the construction of such a building is from the late thirteenth century (1290), in the community of Augsburg (see Friedhaber 1984: 94). Many communities possessed dance houses, and some localities even engaged in mixed dancing, under the supervision and partial limitation of communal regulations; this activity was under the guidance and with the approval of the communal rabbis and sages…. In the first half of the twentieth century, the religious Zionist youth groups and the religious kibbutzim movement engaged in mixed horah dancing… Beginning in the early nineteenth century, this degree of flexibility generally waned in ultra-Orthodox circles… this trend intensified, beginning in the middle of the twentieth century, and resulted in many additional stringencies….The religious Zionist society in Erez Israel, before and after the establishment of the state, until the 1960s…This attitude was clearly influenced by a principle from the time of R. Eliezer ben Joel of Bonn, that, on the grounds of “regilut,” mixed activity by boys and girls or men and women would not necessarily result in sexual stimuli. The ideals of female equality and the participation by women in all spheres of life also aided in justifying the a priori reality of a mixed society….”*[http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/modesty-and-sexuality-in-halakhic-literature]
NOTE: If one reads all the above citation, along with the earlier ones I gave prior to this one above and various other historical articles regarding this subject one can look up on the internet, one can see that ‘touching’ was not strictly forbidden. We can see evidence of this from the earlier records of Orthodox communities across the world. Indeed even in the Talmudic commentaries on the portion itself there are differing interpretation as to the times that touching would be considered inappropriate. Corporate/mixed-dancing in a religious context, as in Synagogues during celebrations and events, was sanctioned by the Rabbi’s and Sages, was frequent, and was not considered a sinful event…Until the Hassidim came to power much later on.
In addition to the comments above, there is one more Rabbinic quotation I’ll give that shows even more clearly that the Hassidic 19thcentury demands of imposing their restrictions against all touching of women, as being universal and forbidden in Judaism, is incorrect.
The Pharisees, contrary to what the Talmudic Agada would like you to believe, did NOT originate in Elijah’s, or even in Ezra’s time, but as the P’rush sect during the Maccabeen period. This can be looked up in Ency. Judaica. They comprised a very tiny percentage of the Israeli population, less than 1%. They were only fully in power in the Sanhedrin from the time of Hillel the 1st or from 50 years or so before Yeshua Messiah’s birth until 70 A.D. This accounts for about only 120 years of Israel’s 2200 or so years of existence beginning with Abraham’s circumcision until the destruction of the 2nd Temple in 70 A.D. By the 1st century, many (all) of the Pharisees had adopted the practice of not touching, nor even hardly speaking to women in public. This was also done because they held the view that women were considered inferior. There are plenty of commentaries that show that was their view of women. When the Tznius laws were expanded and re-interpreted in order to be practiced in a stricter sense by the Hassidim in the 19thcentury, it was done so by demanding to include Rabbinic additions to the Niddah laws of Torah to justify their stricter application. Today it is taken so far that in many branches of the Ultra-Orthodox no touching is permitted whatsoever aside from one’s wife, and some even not being allowed to touch/approach ones wife for ½ of the month on either side of a wife being “Niddah”. This is NOT universal nor forbidden in Judaism. For seven centuries we have documentation in many countries, some even going back at least to the 1200’s, of corporate-mixed-dancing being permitted in Orthodox communities, allowed even in Synagogues, during events and celebrations overseen by the Rabbis and Sages prior to the 19th century Hassidic rulings (as well as continuing today in those ancient Judaic communities that were isolated from European Hassidic influence, and even in the U.S. & England, and Israel). The Hassidim finally won out in the rulings of 1960/61.
Besides the contentions in the commentaries on Talmud itself (such as by Maimonides only prohibited a hug and even a kiss if done in a sexual manner/motivation) we also have conflicting statements in Talmud itself to the “Tznius” portion in the end of that tractate. One important Talmudic quote, that shows the modern Hassidim’s contentions are false and misleading, is quoted in full following.
This is by Rabbi Aha, who was quoted more often in the Jerusalem Talmud (which was finished some 200 years before the Babylonian Talmud) than he is in the Babylonian Talmud. “In Ketubot 17a we see: ‘Rabbi Aha took the bride on his shoulder and danced. The Rabbis asked him: “May we do the same?” He answered: “If the bride be on your shoulder like a beam, you may; otherwise not.”’ (i.e.: if apart from sexual motivation, yes, otherwise not.) Hardly universal forbidding of all touching! And this is from one of the very Rabbi’s quoted in Talmud itself!
Dancing in a Circle
Another argument one will sometimes hear, is that ‘circular’ or dancing in a circle, is a pagan practice and that it was not done by Israel in Praise Dance unto YHVH; the following shows that notion is not the case.
The main words used in Hebrew for dance that show circular-dancing:
“The Hebrew word chagag (hah-gahg Strong’s #2287) means (kindred to the root chuwg [hoog]) to go round in a circle, hence– (1) to dance ~ root word chuwg (#2328): -TO DESCRIBE A CIRCLE, TO DRAW A CIRCLE, as with a compass.
Two other related words also yield the same basic theme: Strong’s # 2329 is spelled and pronounced the same as #2328, chuwg (hoog): “a circle, sphere, used of the arch or vault of the sky,” Finally there is the Hebrew word chagah (hah-gah Strong’s #2283). According to Strong it means: from an unused root mean.(ing) to revolve. Machol (mah-coal Strong’s #4234) is also used several times in scripture. It means: “a (round) dance” which comes from another root word (#2342) chul (hool).
Hebrew forms of the word showing circle/round-dance used in relationship to Dance in Praise and Worship to YHVH are used in several places, as in: Psalms 149:3 [machol: 4234 in commentaries: a ‘round-dance’] Let THEM praise <01984> (8762) his name <08034> in the (ROUND/CIRCLE)-dance <04234>: let them sing praises <02167> (8762) unto him with the timbrel <08596> and harp <03658>. Scholarship who notes this, agrees that this was the form of dance the Hebrew word describes here that the THEM/plural/group were commanded to do. “WHIRLING” Hebrew word for dance, is 2342/Khool – a separate word and is used in Judges 21:21.
Machol (round/circle dance) is also used of dancing in: Psalms 150:4, and again in a PLURAL/group dance in Jeremiah 31:13; and again in Lam.5:15., to name just a few, as well as other places that a round/circle, or even a whirling around in a circle is indicated by different Hebrew words.
Choreographed dance is also mentioned in the Talmud as taking place in the 2nd Temple on Sukkot as well, in the two courts, through here I’m not appealing to Talmud to prove the point. The words that indicate whirling/twirling around (also in a circular/round motion), do not necessarily mean un-choreographed or wild at all; but where David danced, it is implied in the Hebrew word 3769 kaw-raw, which does indicate a wild dance. The notion some people have, that YHVH ONLY intended in His Commands for us to Praise Him in Dance, that is: un-Choreographed, and/or wild and disorganized, is ridiculous! The various Hebrew words that are employed and scholarship shows otherwise.
All of these studies on the Hebrew words for dance and related subjects can be found in many sources and scholars writings, here are just a few locations:
www.bethhillel.com/pages.asp?pageid=85963
The_Biblical_Basis_of_Dance_in_Worship.html
www.hamishkandavid.org/id55.html
Following are brief comments in critique of the document/article:
“Praise Dance, Worship Dance – by Jim Feeny”.
This article needs to be addressed, as the author’s article is based on incorrect and misleading premises and conclusions, and has faults in proofs used to arrive at his conclusions on what Scripture has to say concerning dance. Starting from his very first sentence, his opening premise itself is highly misleading: “…A significant biblical fact is that the following terms — praise dance, praise dancing, worship dance, worship dancing, praise and worship dance, and praise dance ministry — are commonly used by those endorsing this form of worship, yet none of these terms occurs even one time in the bible….”
While perhaps not employed as proper-nouns in Scripture, these terms are virtually all used as action-verbs in Scripture; though he’s giving readers the impression these concepts are absent entirely from Scripture (later in his article he attempts to show that while most translators translate ‘dance’ in certain places, it might not mean ‘dance’ there, but even those statements of his are invalid – more on this later). So even by his opening statement he’s showing his agenda is to denigrate Worship Dance in general, which is noted by his conclusion/(premise) in his closing statements (which is contrary to Scripture’s commands) in his article: ‘(due to actions that are pagan or immodest, ancient & modern)’–>“…That reason alone should bring great inhibition to dancing in church…”.
Pagan groups’ actions in ancient times, or modern immodest and wrong behavior on the part of some, are NOT reasons to “BRING INHIBITION TO DANCING IN CHURCH” ! To even suggest we inhibit right dancing in worship is completely contrary to YAH’s commands in Scripture instructing His people to PRAISE/WORSHIP IN DANCE !
Addressing the pagan practices in ancient times: Pagan-dancing to a foreign god, is as disassociated from dancing unto YHVH in Praise and Worship, as is: Pagans sacrificing a goat on an altar vs. the Cohen of YHVH sacrificing the goat on Yom Kippur! Though they may appear to be similar somewhat in practices, they are not at all related and are an eternity apart. To try and compare pagan practices, as being on any kind of a yard-stick or parity, to any form of ministry unto YHVH which is outlined in Scripture, is a dangerous backwards proof-texting as one can (falsely) sow dispersions and denigrate all the commanded forms of Praise and Worship by such an (false) appeal by noting that the pagans did the same things in their pagan-worship practices. Pagans sang, prayed, danced, sacrificed, etc…; yet to attempt to use their (pagans) practices, to relate to Worship unto YAH, is insulting at best, and a completely backward premise.
In spiritual circumspection one examines the counterfeit from the True; NOT illustrating and critiquing the True/Holy from the profane! Trying in this way to equate the two is itself profane. One could use such false circular reasoning to even say the post-19th century Hassidic views on dance are wrong; for example: ‘The pagans method of dance was often done by male only dancers, such as the male priests of baal dancing to a pagan god on Mt. Carmel; therefore we can conclude (falsely) that the Hassidic practice of males only dancing to YHVH is a pagan practice and displeasing to YAH.’
Is this type of exegesis of Scripture valid? OF COURSE NOT! Yet that is the type of circular reasoning that is used all the time by those who have an agenda to prove something against dance or that other things they’re against is wrong. One such example that is: ‘Witches and cults dance in ‘circles’, we don’t see Israel dancing in circles, so dancing in circles is pagan and an abomination to YHVH’! Besides the fact that this is an example of backwards-circular reasoning, there are several words used for ‘dance’ in Scripture unto YHVH, and several of those mean in Hebrew ‘circular/round dance’!
Exegesis/Isogesis from something not stated in Scripture is an argument from silence which all to often results in false conclusions. Such as: ‘The reason one doesn’t see mixed-dancing in Scripture unto YHVH is it was never allowed.’ This same type of argument is used by those who are anti-Torah to say the Shabbat is done away with saying, ‘All the ten-commandments are restated in the N.T., but the command to keep the Shabbat day is not restated, so we know the Shabbat was done away with.’ Again, this is an example of backward-circular reasoning.
Following that train of thought, while there are several verses that say to Praise YAH in dance, there are very few examples given that specify who was dancing on those few occasions that were shown (Miryam, David, etc…). To say that men and women never danced in corporate Praise and Worship during Israel’s 1000’s of years of history, because we only have a very few examples of women and men dancing separately, is again reading a definitive statement into the text of something that isn’t there. Then if one is backing up that notion by citing the couple of examples of pagans dancing in mixed-company, this still doesn’t prove the notion that corporate-dancing unto YHVH is wrong or was never done. (Again, for the reasons of pagan sacrifice, song, and prayer not being used as examples to invalidate the valid: Sacrifice, Song, Prayer as I outlined above).
Since it isn’t clearly stated otherwise, one could just as easily make the case that the very few occasions where we have of only women dancing is because it was out of the norm or because it was a special event that just happened to be performed only by women that day. There’s nothing more that was to be read into it. One might as easily take it this way as being the fact as the other if one is going to start speculating on exegesis based on arguments of silence to make definitive statements.
Then to further back up the argument from silence by stating things like: ‘Such was never done in Judaism, as touching women is forbidden in Judaism, and always has been’ is not correct either. If one reads current Orthodox commentaries one will get the impression that has always been the case; but that is because what you are reading is the modern/post-19th-century Orthodox Hassidic rulings that applied a much stricter view of Talmudic commentary written from 200 to 500 years after the destruction of the Temple. Appealing to Talmud is itself kind of pointless as in Talmud there is always the minority and majority view on any subject that most often totally contradicts itself. Without research (which I did give in my prior citations in this article above) it is not easy to see at first glance that the Orthodox practice for centuries prior to the 19th century (and in some cases past the middle of the 20th c.) did NOT condemn corporate/mixed-dance at celebrations and events, including in Synagogues overseen by the Rabbi’s and Sages. Nor is it obvious that the strict (supposed) universal ban on touching, was not even universally agreed upon in the very Talmudic commentary itself from which they quote (which again: was written centuries after the destruction of the Temple) to make their point! In fact, the Rabbi they consider the greatest of all times, Maimonides, even disagrees with a main and key point of that section of Talmudic commentary, stating that a hug and even a kiss, if done in a non-sexual manner is fine – something modern Hassidic Orthodoxy would completely disagree with and would obviously contradict their “never allowed, etc…” false-premise. So of course in the Hassidic Orthodox commentary you’ll rarely, if ever, see these contentions brought up as they completely invalidate their post 19th century rulings and stance as being ‘universal’.
One more point, the author says where it is translated ‘dance’ by most translators in places, it might not be dance as it isn’t translated as such by…. – and he appeals to LAMSA’s Aramaic Tanakh. But there is a problem with that: a) Lamsa is considered a heretic by conservative scholarship due to certain of his beliefs; and b) The Tanakh (with the exception of Daniel and a chapter elsewhere) is written and was given in HEBREW, NOT Aramaic! It is a mistake to use an inferior source, to contradict a primary and valid source where the valid source is clear. It means next to nothing to say an Aramaic word, as translated by a single translator who is himself questionable, might have a different meaning than the original Hebrew word WHEN WE HAVE THE ORIGINAL HEBREW WORD! That having been said, here is a verse even he admits translators have said does speak of corporate-dance unto YHVH: “…there is some dispute whether Jeremiah prophesied that men would dance with women at the return of Israel from bondage. Let me quote it again: “Then maidens will dance* and be glad, young men and old as well” (Jeremiah 31:13). Some read that as the maidens, the young men and the old men all dancing together….” But then he goes on to use modern Orthodox references and Lamsa to discount that (again, using inferior proof-texting as I’ve outlined above).
NOTE: The word for dance here in Jer.31:13 is also one of the Hebrew words indicating round (or circle) dance: machowl #4234 מחול ]
The arguments by this author (J. Feeny), that I’ve outlined in the critique of his document above, show they are: biased, based on an agenda with an invalid premise and conclusions, that he is building dogma on arguments of silence, and he is using faulty incomplete and inferior proof-texting material.
Conclusion
And David danced before YHVH/the-LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. Let them praise His Name in the dance: let them sing praises unto Him with the timbrel and harp. Praise Him with the timbrel and dance: praise Him with stringed instruments and organs. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness….
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. (2Samuel 6:14; Psalms 149:3; Psalms 150:4; Jeremiah 31:13; Psalms 30:11; Luke 15:20-32). מחול
©Bill Carlson, 2011 and Inner Court Dancers