Biblical Babe: Miriam

R. Yossi son of R. Judah says: Three good leaders had arisen for Israel, namely Moses, Aaron and Miriam, and for their sakes three good things were conferred [upon Israel], namely, the Well, the Pillar of Cloud, and the Manna.

The Well -- for the merit of Miriam;

The Pillar of Cloud --for the merit of Aaron;

The Manna -- for the merit of Moses.

When Miriam died the well disappeared, as it is said, "And Miriam died there," and immediately follows [the verse], "And there was no water for the congregation...."

(1) A certain man of the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. (2) The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw how beautiful he was, she hid him for three months. (3) When she could hide him no longer, she got a wicker basket for him and caulked it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child into it and placed it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. (4) And his sister stationed herself at a distance, to learn what would befall him. (5) The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe in the Nile, while her maidens walked along the Nile. She spied the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to fetch it. (6) When she opened it, she saw that it was a child, a boy crying. She took pity on it and said, “This must be a Hebrew child.” (7) Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a Hebrew nurse to suckle the child for you?” (8) And Pharaoh’s daughter answered, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother.

(20) 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. (21) And Miriam chanted for them: Sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously; Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.

(1) מרים הנביאה, “Miriam the prophetess;” the word “prophetess” is used here to describe Miriam’s extraordinary ability to use words to express her feelings. According to Rash’bam, the word is also used as describing someone who preaches to people to behave morally and ethically correctly. Compare when G-d told Moses that his brother Aaron would be נביאך, which can hardly mean: “your prophet,” as Moses outclassed him in that department.

(2) ....On the tenth of (Nisan) Miriam died and her well disappeared....

"And there was not water for the congregation"

The people lacked water as a punishment because they did not mourn for her appropriately. The text tells us about Moses's and Aaron's deaths "the Children of Israel wept for them," and here, (in the story of Miriam's death), it doesn't say "they wept for her," and it does say, "She died there and they buried her there." In the place that she died, that will be her burial place forever, and she was forgotten as dead from the heart, and they did not feel her absence at all. Therefore, they lacked the water so that they should know retroactively that the well existed because of the merit of Miriam.

(1) The well in Miriam’s merit. For immediately after Miriam died they no longer had water. You might ask: Why was the well not in Aaron's or Moses's merit? The answer is that it was in the merit of Miriam waiting for Moses by the water, to see what would happen to him when he was placed there in the box [as a baby] (Exodus 2:4). In return, this merit of the well, i.e., the water that God provided for the congregation was on her behalf.

§ Rav Avira taught: In the merit of the righteous women that were in that generation, the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt.