אל נא, רפא נא להן

So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “O God, pray heal her!”

(Bamidbar 12:10) "And the cloud departed from above the tent": An analogy: A king says to a pedagogue: "Chastise my son — but not until I leave!" For a father is mercifully inclined to his son. Now does this not follow a fortiori, viz.: If the L-rd is mercifully inclined to the righteous in the time of His wrath, how much more so in the time of His (good) will! As it is written (Isaiah 49:8) "In a time of (good) will I (most certainly) will answer you!" (Ibid.) "And, behold, (after the cloud had departed), Miriam was as leprous as snow": We are hereby taught that she was stricken with intense (i.e., highly visible) leprosy, and that she was fair-skinned (for which reason it looked like snow). And thus is it written (Shemot 4:6) "And the L-rd said further to him (Moses): Place now your hand into your bosom … and, behold, his hand was leprous as snow." (Ibid.) "And Aaron 'turned'": He was "turned" from his leprosy. R. Yehudah b. Betheira says: He who says that Aaron was stricken (with leprosy) is destined to pay for it. He who spoke and brought the world into being covered up for him (by not mentioning it explicitly in the verse) and you would reveal it! He who says that Tzelafchad was the mekoshesh ("the wood gatherer" [viz. Bamidbar 15:32]) is destined to pay for it. He who spoke and brought the world into being covered up for him and you would reveal it! And he who says that the ban was placed on Akavya b. Mehalalel (viz. Berachoth 19a) is destined to pay for it. "And Aaron turned to Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous": Scripture hereby apprises us that whenever he looked at her she became leprous. (Ibid. 11) "And Aaron said to Moses: Pray, my lord, do not impute transgression to us in that we have been foolish and have sinned.": He said to him: If we have been willful (in our sin), forgive us, as if we were unwitting. (Ibid. 12) "Let her not be as a dead one": Just as a dead body imparts tumah in a tent, so, a leper imparts tumah by entrance (into a house). Aaron hereby said: Our sister loses on all accounts: I (being her kin) cannot quarantine her nor declare her tamei nor declare her clean. In passing we learn that Aaron expounds that one (a Cohein) does not inspect the plague-spots of his kin. "who leaving his mother's womb": He should have said "who leaving our mother's womb," but Scripture here is being euphemistic. "and half his flesh has been consumed": He should have said "and half our flesh," as in (Bereshit 37:27) "for he is our brother, our flesh," but Scripture here is being euphemistic. (Ibid. 13) "And Moses cried out to the L-rd, saying: 'Lord, I pray You; heal her, I pray You.'": Scripture hereby teaches us proper conduct — that one's requests should be prefaced by two or three words, of imploration. And what is the intent of "saying"? Moses said: Answer me whether You will heal her or not — and the Holy One Blessed be He answered him, viz. (14) "And the L-rd said to Moses: Now if her father had spat in her face, etc." R. Elazar b. Azaryah says: In four places Moses requested (to be answered by the Holy One Blessed be He), and he was answered. Similarly, (Shemot 6:12) "And Moses spoke before the L-rd, to say: "The children of Israel would not listen to me, etc." What is the intent of "to say"? Moses asked the L-rd to answer him whether or not he would redeem them. And He did answer him (Ibid. 7:4) "And I will take out My hosts. My people, Israel, from the land of Egypt." Similarly, (Bamidbar 27:15) "And Moses spoke to the L-rd to say: (16) Let the L-rd, the G-d of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation." What is the intent of "to say"? Moses said to Him: Answer me as to whether or not You will appoint leaders (for them). And He did answer him, (Ibid. 18) "Take for yourself Joshua the son of Nun." Similarly, (Devarim 3:23) "And I implored the L-rd at that time to say." What is the intent of "to say"? He said to Him: Answer me as to whether or not I will enter the land. And He did answer him, (Ibid. 26) "It is enough for you, etc." Here, too, let "to say" not be written. But, (the intent is that) he asked Him to answer whether or not He would heal her, and He answered "Now if her father had spat in her face, etc." (Bamidbar, Ibid. 13) "G-d, I pray You; heal her, I pray You": Why did Moses not prolong his prayer? So that Israel not say "His sister is in distress and he stretches out his prayer." Variantly: It is not that Moses prays and the L-rd hears his prayer, but (in the order of) (Iyyov 22:28) "You (the tzaddik) will decree, and it will be fulfilled for you," (Isaiah 58:9) "Then, when you (the tzaddik) call, the L-rd will answer." R. Eliezer was asked by his disciples: How long shall a man be in his prayer? He answered: Not longer than Moses, of whom it is written (Devarim 9:18) "And I fell down before the L-rd (in prayer) as at first, forty days and forty nights." And how short should he be in prayer? He answered: Not shorter than Moses, of whom it is written "G-d, I pray You; heal her, I pray You." There is a time to be short and a time to be long.

Continuing on the subject of prayer, the Sages taught: There was an incident where one student descended to serve as prayer leader before the ark in the presence of Rabbi Eliezer, and he was excessively prolonging his prayer. His students complained and said to him: How long-winded he is. He said to them: Is this student prolonging his prayer any more than Moses our teacher did? As about Moses it is written: “And I prostrated myself before the Lord for the forty days and forty nights that I prostrated myself” (Deuteronomy 9:25). There is no limit to the duration of a prayer. There was again an incident where one student descended to serve as prayer leader before the ark in the presence of Rabbi Eliezer, and he was excessively abbreviating his prayer. His students protested and said to him: How brief is his prayer. He said to them: Is he abbreviating his prayer any more than Moses our teacher did? As it is written with regard to the prayer Moses recited imploring God to cure Miriam of her leprosy: “And Moses cried out to the Lord, saying: ‘Please, God, heal her, please’” (Numbers 12:13). This student’s prayer was certainly no briefer than the few words recited by Moses.

The Sages taught – It happened once with a student that prayed before the ark in the presence of R. Eliezer, and he prayed too long. His students said to him, ‘how longwinded he is! He said to them ‘Is he more longwinded than Moshe our Teacher, of whom it is written “The forty days and the forty nights…” (Devarim 9:25)?’ It happened again that a student prayed before the ark in R. Eliezer’s presence, and he cut his prayer too short. His students said to him, ‘how brief he is!’ He said to them ‘is he more brief than Moshe our Teacher, of whom it is written “…please G–d, please heal her.” (Bamidbar 12:13)?’ [Berachot 34a]
The value of prayer reveals itself through two things. The first is through the elevation of comprehensions and qualities, be they of the one praying or the one prayed for. For this great lengthiness is required, like the process of changing ingrained motions, which happens gradually. Such was the lengthiness of Moshe our Teacher - forty days, aligned with the days of formation of the fetus⁸⁴See Berachot 60a. It is important to remember that numbers can be more than mathematical measures, they can be a symbolic language as well. Forty days of rain, forty nights on the mountain, forty years in the wilderness. Perhaps forty represents the completion of one stage and the passage to another., like the giving of a new form and heart to the one for whom he prayed. And the second - that once everything needed for elevation has been done within the innerness of the soul, expressed prayer serves to actualize what has already been done within. For this, no duration whatsoever is required, because with one word a multitude of feelings are brought to light.⁸⁵Compare this line to section 1:4 Brevity in prayer serves in the place which requires actualization of that which is already prepared. Therefore, both these paths have a positive aspect, so long as one focuses their heart on heaven, according to what is possible and fit to the need of the hour.

If an outstanding Torah giant such as Moses saw fit to seek elucidation from G–d concerning any doubts he entertained, how much more must we learn how important it is for us – who do not compare to Moses in the slightest degree – to constantly review the text we study in order to be certain that we have not misunderstood any of it. Moses, of course, exhorted the people to be sure to have the right intentions when studying Torah, as we know from 4,39: "Know therefore this day and keep in mind that the Lord alone is G–d in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other."

When judgments beset a person, God forbid, those who pray for him should avoid mentioning his name so that the judgments do not grow stronger, God forbid. As is brought: Noach’s father did not give him a name at birth because the world was then in [a state of] judgment. His father therefore did not want to name him, for through a name he would be discerned and identified by the accusing forces. The judgments could then overpower him. Thus, when Moshe Rabbeinu, of blessed memory, prayed on behalf of Miriam, he did not mention her name. He only said simply (Numbers 12:13), “O God, please heal her!” Because the judgments had beset her, he did not want to explicitly mention her name, as explained. Even so, he hid her name in an amazing allusion within his prayer, for “na r’pha (please heal)” is an exact numerical equivalent of “Miriam Yokheved”—i.e., the name of the sick person and the name of her mother. For it is necessary to mention the sick person when praying for him, but he did not want to mention [her name] explicitly, as above.

4. In addition, I heard that this is the explanation of the verse “O God, pray, heal her, pray!” (Numbers 12:13). On the face of it, the repetition of the word “pray” is quite odd. However, now it is clearly explained. Moshe Rabbeinu, may he rest in peace, asked this of God, that God Himself, as it were, should pray and petition Himself to heal her. Now, how much sweeter than honey is the resolving of this verse.