פרשת בהעלותך תש"ל - האשה הכושית

"And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman."

(1) (Bamidbar 12:1) "And Miriam and Aaron spoke (vatedaber) against Moses": ... How did Miriam know that Moses had ceased from marital relations (with his wife Zipporah)? Seeing that Zipporah did not adorn herself as other (married) women did, she asked her for the cause and was told: "Your brother is not 'particular' about this thing" (intercourse, [being constantly "on call" for the word of G-d]). Thus Miriam learned of the matter. She apprised Aaron of it and they both spoke of it (as being a troublesome precedent for others.) R. Nathan says, "Miriam was alongside Zipporah at the time that it was stated (Numbers 11:27), 'A youth ran out,' ... when she heard Zipporah saying, 'Woe to the wives of these [men newly chosen for prophecy.' Through this Miriam knew and told it to her brother...

ותדבר מרים ואהרן AND MIRIAM AND AARON SPAKE — ... And whence did Miriam know that Moses had separated himself from his wife (for this was the statement she made; cf. Rashi below)? R. Nathan answered: “Miriam was beside Zipporah When it was told to Moses, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp’ (Numbers 11:17). When Zipporah heard this, she exclaimed, Woe to the wives of these if they have anything to do with prophecy, for they will separate from their wives just has my husband has separated from me!” It was from this that Miriam knew about it, and she told it to Aaron.

"because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman."

על אדות האשה BECAUSE OF THE [CUSHITE] WOMAN — because of her having been divorced by Moses.

הלא גם בנו HAS HE NOT ALSO [SPOKEN] WITH US, and we have not separated from our spouses! (Sifrei Bamidbar 100).

S.v. Because of the Cushite woman whom he had married: According to the simple meaning, they were saying, "And did Moses not find a woman from the Children of Israel to take as a wife, that he went to take [one] from the daughters of Cush, who are uncircumcised? And was it because the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke with him, that he became haughty; such that he not want to marry a woman from the daughters of Israel and sought a woman from far away?"

"'Did he not also speak with us,' and we married from [within] Israel, and did not become haughty about this."

S.v. For he had married a Cushite woman: Since we did not find in another place that Moses took a Cushite woman, the verse tells you [here] that he definitely married a Cushite woman. But they did not speak about Zipporah not being from Israel, because that had then been out of his control; since he had been a fugitive and could not go go to Egypt among the Children of Israel.

"And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of (al odot) the Cushite woman whom he had married"

"And Miriam spoke... against Moses because of (al odot) of the Cushite woman whom he had married" - meaning to say because of the insult to his wife committed by Moses in his separating from her. And they said, "If he did this because Zipporah was black like a Cushite, behold when he married her, she was already a Cushite - can a Cushite change his skin? And nevertheless, he took her [as a wife] and had children from her. So, if so, what did he see now to separate from her?" And they also said, "If it was on account of the needs of prophecy that he separated from her, 'was it only with Moses that the Lord spoke; did He not also speak with us?' And [yet] we did not separate from [our spouses], from when we became prophets. So, if so, why did Moses separate from his wife on account of his prophecy? Did the Lord not also speak with us, and the Lord heard our words. And since we speak to Him and the Lord hears our voices without this separating, why did Moses separate from his wife?

"And the Lord heard"

וישמע השם. G'd heard. The Torah had to write these words [although we know that G'd hears every word spoken by anyone Ed.] to tell us that Miriam and Aaron did not say what they said within earshot of any other creature [a third party which was not involved. Ed.]. Another reason the Torah wrote these words is to tell us that G'd heard this directly from Miriam and Aaron and not as a complaint from Moses. Moses did not complain to G'd about having been slighted in the way of others who are insulted.

... and He called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forth."

ויצאו שניהם AND THEY BOTH WENT FORTH — And why did He bid them go further and so separate them from Moses? Since we say that one should utter only a part of a man’s good qualities in his presence, but that the whole of them should be told only in his absence. Similarly we find in the case of Noah, that in his absence (i.e. when Scripture speaks about him) it says of him: “a righteous and whole-hearted man” (Genesis 6:9), whilst in his presence (i.e. where God is speaking to Noah) it states, (Genesis 7:1) “for thee I have seen righteous before me”, (and it does not add: whole-hearted) (Sifrei Bamidbar 102).

ראיתי צדיק [THEE] HAVE I SEEN RIGHTEOUS — It does not say “righteous and wholehearted” (as it does at the beginning of the Sedrah); from here we say that only a part of a man’s good qualities should be enumerated in his presence (since here God is speaking to Noah and calls him only “righteous”), but that in his absence the whole of his good qualities may be told (since when the Torah speaks about him in the earlier passage it calls him “righteous and wholehearted”) (Eruvin 18b).