#34 Bemidbar  (Maqam Rast)

Maqam Rast - similar to the Arabic word for 'head,' Rast is applied to the opening portions of each book of the Torah and at other beginnings. Rast is the primary maqam from which all other maqamat are drawn.

Bemidbar

In the Wilderness

The place of the word 

or no words

the single word

m’dabber

the place of speaking

the word

working.

The matter, the thing

economy of words

heart of the matter

combustible puff of self

inscrutable chemistry of the desert.

BeMidbar, in the Wilderness.    

this is the thing  [see Numbers 30:2]. 

Davar -- the pure articulation 

Midbar – the place

essence to essence

source to source. 

Encountering the midbar

the deepest 

as we are leaving it. 

Not telling the full story

until the end.