Just as a circle has no beginning or end and every point is equidistant from its center, so is this true for souls. Truly, it is impossible to rank them, for each is the most beloved in the scale of values that is its perfected virtue.
Each creature will eventually attain its full potential and shine with the unique revelation of Divine beauty that only it can manifest. The spiritual bliss of the world to come is the intensely abiding joy of finally becoming who you are. When that happens the distorting veneer of hierarchy will melt away and, behold, we will find ourselves standing in a circle with HaShem at its center, and we will dance together in holy celebration.
In the future the Holy One will make a circle dance for the tsadikim. He will seat Himself among them in the Garden of Eden and each one of the tsadikim will point with his finger and say, “This is our G‑d for whom we have waited, that He might save us. This is the Lord for whom we hoped, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation[9].”[10]
In the circle world, it will be gloriously clear that every soul is equally precious and singularly beautiful in a way that cannot be ranked. Similarly, it will not anymore be possible to look to one’s neighbors for guidance in serving G‑d, for each person has a unique soul-specialty, and in that area they are the world’s foremost expert. There is nowhere to look for instruction except straight from HaShem, who metaphorically sits at the circle’s center, equidistant from all its holy points.
On that eternal day, everyone will be satiated with knowledge of G‑d to the fullest capacity of their joy and all hierarchies of status will dissolve. In wonderment they will discover that on the scale of enlightenment all have become equal.
The paradigm shift goes deeper still, for R. Epstein explains that the conventions of gender in kabbala echo the physical differences between men and women. Bestowal is a masculine role; receiving is a feminine one. Consequently, in the linear scheme, the teacher is masculine in relation to the student who is influenced by him. In the circle world these hierarchical rankings between human beings will end, for no one will receive spiritual guidance from neighbors, spouses or even teachers. All will turn straight to the Holy One for inspiration, and on that day, says R. Epstein, all power disparities will cease, including the archetypal source of them all, the hierarchy of gender, with its asymmetrical distribution of authority and dependency.
All this Miryam knew and intended when she led the women in their circle dance. Miryam drew the future into the present, initiating the Jewish nation into the secret truth, promise, and yearning of the circle world: The day will come, blessed and welcomed by all, when power disparities will cease and perfect equality reign, when every soul will shine with its glory, and all will become the most dearly beloved of their Creator.
Miryam phrased her song in the present tense for she was actually holding that consciousness within herself as she sang and danced. The lights of the circle world are so vast that they cannot fit into the brain as an isolated organ of consciousness. They require full body participation (for example in dance), and even a collection of them in coordinated activity (in this case all women) to create a container sufficiently spacious to hold their revelations. Moshe spoke in future tense, for he knew about circle consciousness, and that it would eventually reign, but he could not, in the present, access that state himself.
