Biblical Bellydancer: Her Name is Peace

Song of Songs 7:1

Her name may mean ‘She who is from Shulem’ but most likely means - ‘She Who is Peace.’ Shulamit, or the Shulamite as some name her, is the heroine of the Song of Songs - her name corresponding to King Solomon - Shlomo - who’s either the author or recipient of the poem.

Ilana Pardes reminds us that

"The bulk of this ancient love poem revolves around a dialogue between two young lovers: the Shulamite, as the beloved is called, and her nameless lover."

Mystical Jewish readers have imagined her as the essence of the Jewish people, or alternatively as the Shechina - the Divine Feminine Presence. Some imagine her as the soul. And when this one before the last chapter opens - she is fleeting - or dancing? - and her lover wants to see more of her, wants to see her dance:

שׁוּבִי שׁוּבִי הַשּׁוּלַמִּית שׁוּבִי שׁוּבִי וְנֶחֱזֶה־בָּךְ מַה־תֶּחֱזוּ בַּשּׁוּלַמִּית כִּמְחֹלַת הַמַּחֲנָיִם׃

Return, Return,

O Shulamit!

Return, Return,

That we may gaze upon you.

“Why will you gaze at the Shulamit

In the dancing of two camps?”

Song of Songs 7:1

The request to return repeats four times -- and many have made much of its meaning, suggesting for instance, that it alludes to the four historical exiles of the people of Israel from the homeland.

In the text of Midrash Rabbah on Genesis, however, the rabbis debate her identity as the core concept of the nation’s yearning for peace, with four different readings, perhaps in line with the four times the word ‘return’ refers to her:

“One sage claims: The Shulamit is She Who is Peace, the nation blessed by eternal peace that dwells within it; another suggests that one day in the future the nation will benefit from this divine peace; and yet another suggests that Shulamit is the Hebrew nation’s superpower of keeping the peace between God and the world - for had this nation not been around - the world would have already been destroyed.”

Yet modern, daring and critical readers with a feminist lens suggest a much more sensual reading of the Shulamit’s identity.

Angela Yarber, Pastor and artist, who created compelling contemporary icons of biblical heroines including the Shulamit.

She suggests the Shulamit is in fact a bellydancer and what’s hidden here are not only the admiring compliments of her ability - but also hints as to who the fans - and writers of this poem - might be:

“Calling the Shulamite holy is my way of affirming female sexuality, the beautiful variety of the body’s shapes and sizes, and including the LGBT community in the canon of saints….Shulamite is the center of our attention. She is a dancer made famous by the erotic love poetry dedicated to her sensuous curves in Song of Songs.

I first encountered the Shulamite in a passing reference by dance historian Wendy Buonaventura. She listed the Shulamite as an example of a bellydancer in the Hebrew bible. It was only an example, merely an item on a long list of historical references. Nonetheless, this brief mention was enough for me to translate the text, embark on an exegetical adventure, and begin to ask questions about the movement vocabulary embedded in the Hebrew.

Just listen to these words - in my translation:

“How beautiful are your sandaled feet, O prince’s daughter.

The curves of your (quivering) thighs like jewels crafted by artist hands.

Your vulva a rounded bowl; may it never lack wine.

Your belly a mound of wheat hedged by lotuses.

Your breasts like two fawns…”

In bellydance quivering bellies, trembling thighs, shaking buttocks, and shuddering breasts are precisely the point. Hip shimmies, rib cage isolations, and abdominal rolls are part and parcel of bellydance’s movement vocabulary. The intention of the dance is to make these parts of the body—the stomach, breasts, hips, and butt—tremble, quake, roll, shake, shimmy, bounce, and jiggle.

..The history of bellydance provides a fascinating lens for deciphering the gender of the Shulamite’s lover. Historically, bellydance was performed by and for women only; men were not permitted. It was either a dance form celebrated in all-female groups in homes or within the confines of all-female harems. In such harems, women were “set apart” from men and lived, learned, and loved within the harem. Women often learned to read, write, play musical instruments, and dance in these harems. Bellydance often provided women with an opportunity to explore their sexuality, staging imitations of the sex-act or engaging in same-sex love. Because of the queer history of bellydance, one cannot help but deduce that the Shulamite’s lover may have been another woman, delighting in same-sex love. “

That is a radical and refreshing reading.

Whoever she was and however she was dancing, she who brings peace is dear to our hearts, more sought after and needed than ever - return, return! Come dance with us, you are the soul of peace.

There are multiple musical variations on the theme, with this classic by Yemenite Israeli Diva Shoshana Damari as just one more nod of appreciation of her sacred sensual legacy, reminding us to love our bodies, love each other, and not forget to dance, body and soul, all of us together.

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