By Rebbetzin Lauren Levin
This week’s parsha, Parshat Chukat, is heavily dominated by the triumvirate who led the Jewish people from slavery to freedom: Miriam, Aharon and Moses. Whilst the image many people hold is that the generation’s leadership was a duet consisting of Moses and Aharon together, as they were the ones who met with Pharoah and they were the ones who held court, the Bible says otherwise. The prophet Micha proclaims in the name of God:” For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam” (6:4). It was the three siblings TOGETHER who formed the leadership. Rashi (1040-1105) explains the division of roles that Moses taught the laws, Aharon facilitated atonement, and Miriam was a teacher and mentor for the women.
Chapter 20 begins by telling us of Miriam’s passing. It is a brief description with sparse details. Yet the stories that follow shed much light on the void that was left behind. Immediately following Miriam’s passing, we read that ‘The congregation had no water’ (20:2) which leads the sages to conclude that in Miriam’s merit, despite living in a desert, they had been sustained by a miraculous well of water. This ceased to exist when she died. Bubbling with grief, anger and self-pity the people ‘assembled against Moses and Aharon’. They lost themselves and instead of comforting the two grieving siblings, turned against them. The Abarbanel contends that Moses and Aharon felt so vulnerable at this point that they literally feared for their lives. How were they to provide for water that had been in their sister’s merit? Such a ‘lynch’ came at a time when they were reeling not only their personal loss, but adjusting to having lost a third of their team.
Such is the backdrop to the misdemeanour at Mei Meriva, the episode that precluded Moses and Aharon from entering the land of Israel. The fateful episode cannot be divorced from having just lost Miriam. The nation and the leadership seem to be crumbling without her. The Talmud (Taanit 9a) explains that following its temporary cessation, the well reappeared in honour of Moses and Aharon, the remaining two siblings. This is highly symbolic of the atmosphere following Miriam’s death: the void (represented by the lack of water) was immense. Moses and Aharon themselves wavered and struggled temporarily before finding their footing again.
Why was the well in Miriam’s merit? This same passage in the Talmud teaches:
“Three good sustainers rose up for the Jewish people during the exodus from Egypt, and they are: Moses, Aaron and Miriam. And three good gifts were given from Heaven through their agency, and these are they: The well of water, the pillar of cloud, and the manna. He elaborates: The well was given to the Jewish people in the merit of Miriam; the pillar of cloud was in the merit of Aaron; and the manna in the merit of Moses.”
The manna was in Moses merit: just like the manna came from heaven to earth each day, Moses’ life’s mission was to connect heaven and earth; bringing the word of God to the Jewish people on earth. The clouds of glory were in Aharon’s merit: just as the clouds demonstrated protection and tranquillity, Aharon’s invaluable role was to maintain peace within the nation. And Miriam?
Miriam features in a few biblical stories, but the one in which she features as a protagonist is when she leads the women in song following the crossing of the sea. Her brother Moses had already led the nation in song, but Miriam’s song was different. Moses sang a verse, and the people repeated after him, reflected through the wording ‘and then Moses sang, and the children of Israel’. Yet when it came to Miriam it was a different type of song. With the atmosphere high following the national miracle and song, Miriam went out before her beloved people: “Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels.” Just seeing Miriam, the women burst into song and dance. Her response was to then join their song, as the verse continues, “and Miriam answered them”. She was not the composer; she was the facilitator. She empowered the women to sing their own song, with their own lyrics. This is the essence of the well. It takes water from concealed depths and enables people to bring it out into the world for consumption. This was the mantra of Miriam’s life: helping people to realise their own true potential as is evident through every episode we read about her.
In the inaugural week of a historic Israeli cabinet and in an era when religious female leadership is being debated vigorously, we would do well to look back at our nation’s debut leadership team. We see how critical Miriam’s role was to her co-leaders (who were also her devoted siblings) and to the nation at large. Moreover we celebrate the uniqueness of each one of their roles, which played to their individual personalities and talents, as well as their innate differences as human beings. Ultimately, just like the Biblical triumvirate were united and generated harmony within the people, our prayer is that we never lose sight of the vision that we are one nation with one heart.