Miriam's Well

The Well's Source

(א) וַיָּבֹ֣אוּ בְנֵֽי־יִ֠שְׂרָאֵל כָּל־הָ֨עֵדָ֤ה מִדְבַּר־צִן֙ בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הָֽרִאשׁ֔וֹן וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב הָעָ֖ם בְּקָדֵ֑שׁ וַתָּ֤מָת שָׁם֙ מִרְיָ֔ם וַתִּקָּבֵ֖ר שָֽׁם׃ (ב) וְלֹא־הָ֥יָה מַ֖יִם לָעֵדָ֑ה וַיִּקָּ֣הֲל֔וּ עַל־מֹשֶׁ֖ה וְעַֽל־אַהֲרֹֽן׃

(1) The Israelites arrived in a body at the wilderness of Zin on the first new moon, and the people stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there. (2) The community was without water, and they joined against Moses and Aaron.

מֵיתִיבִי רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בְּרַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר שְׁלֹשָׁה פַּרְנָסִים טוֹבִים עָמְדוּ לְיִשְׂרָאֵל אֵלּוּ הֵן מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן וּמִרְיָם וְשָׁלֹשׁ מַתָּנוֹת טוֹבוֹת נִיתְּנוּ עַל יָדָם וְאֵלּוּ הֵן בְּאֵר וְעָנָן וּמָן בְּאֵר בִּזְכוּת מִרְיָם עַמּוּד עָנָן בִּזְכוּת אַהֲרֹן מָן בִּזְכוּת מֹשֶׁה מֵתָה מִרְיָם נִסְתַּלֵּק הַבְּאֵר שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וַתָּמׇת שָׁם מִרְיָם וּכְתִיב בָּתְרֵיהּ וְלֹא הָיָה מַיִם לָעֵדָה וְחָזְרָה בִּזְכוּת שְׁנֵיהֶן
The Gemara raises an objection from a baraita: Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda, says: 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. When Miriam died the well disappeared, as it is stated: “And Miriam died there” (Numbers 20:1), and it says thereafter in the next verse: “And there was no water for the congregation” (Numbers 20:2). But the well returned in the merit of both Moses and Aaron.

(ו) עֲשָׂרָה דְבָרִים נִבְרְאוּ בְּעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת בֵּין הַשְּׁמָשׁוֹת, וְאֵלּוּ הֵן, פִּי הָאָרֶץ, וּפִי הַבְּאֵר, וּפִי הָאָתוֹן, וְהַקֶּשֶׁת, וְהַמָּן, וְהַמַּטֶּה, וְהַשָּׁמִיר, וְהַכְּתָב, וְהַמִּכְתָּב, וְהַלּוּחוֹת. וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים, אַף הַמַּזִּיקִין, וּקְבוּרָתוֹ שֶׁל משֶׁה, וְאֵילוֹ שֶׁל אַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ. וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים, אַף צְבָת בִּצְבָת עֲשׂוּיָה:

(6) Ten things were created on the eve of the Sabbath at twilight, and these are they: [1] the mouth of the earth, [2] the mouth of the well, [3] the mouth of the donkey, [4] the rainbow, [5] the manna, [6] the staff [of Moses], [7] the shamir, [8] the letters, [9] the writing, [10] and the tablets. And some say: also the demons, the grave of Moses, and the ram of Abraham, our father. And some say: and also tongs, made with tongs.

What Is the Nature of the Well?

אָמַר רַבִּי חִיָּיא: הָרוֹצֶה לִרְאוֹת בְּאֵרָהּ שֶׁל מִרְיָם יַעֲלֶה לְרֹאשׁ הַכַּרְמֶל וְיִצְפֶּה וְיִרְאֶה כְּמִין כְּבָרָה בַּיָּם — וְזוֹ הִיא בְּאֵרָהּ שֶׁל מִרְיָם. אָמַר רַב: מַעְיָן הַמִּיטַּלְטֵל טָהוֹר — וְזֶהוּ בְּאֵרָהּ שֶׁל מִרְיָם.

Rabbi Ḥiyya said: One who wants to see Miriam’s well, should do the following: He should climb to the top of Mount Carmel and look out, and he will see a rock that looks like a sieve in the sea, and that is Miriam’s well. Rav said: A spring that is portable, i.e., that moves from place to place, is ritually pure and is regarded as an actual spring and not as drawn water. And what is a movable spring? It is Miriam’s well.

Unpacking the Imagery

(א) ולא היה מים לעדה. כשמתה מרים נסתלק הבאר כי היה הבאר בזכות מרים שהיה לה זכות המים ממשה, שנאמר (שמות ב׳:ד׳) ותתצב אחותו מרחוק. ומה שנסתלק עתה במיתתה ראיה שבזכותה היה עמהם, ומכאן שכל ארבעים שנה היה להם הבאר.

(1) ולא היה מים לעדה, “The congregation had no water.” When Miriam died, the well disappeared, because the well was due to the merit of Miriam who merited the water through [watching over] Moses [at the Nile], as it is written, "And his sister was stationed at a distance" (Exodus 2:4). And because it disappeared now, with her death, [Israel] realized that it was with them through her merit, and from here [we can infer] that the well was with them for the whole 40 years [of their wandering].

(ג) וּפִי הַבְּאֵר. בְּאֵרָהּ שֶׁל מִרְיָם שֶׁהָיְתָה הוֹלֶכֶת עִם יִשְׂרָאֵל בַּמִּדְבָּר בְּכָל הַמַּסָּעוֹת. וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים, שֶׁפָּתְחָה פִּיהָ וְאָמְרָה שִׁירָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר כא) עֲלִי בְאֵר עֱנוּ לָהּ:

(3) and the mouth of the well: The well of Miriam that went with Israel in the wilderness on all of the journeys. And some say, that it opened its mouth and uttered song, as it stated (Numbers 21:17), "rise up, O well; answer it."

(כ) וַתִּקַּח֩ מִרְיָ֨ם הַנְּבִיאָ֜ה אֲח֧וֹת אַהֲרֹ֛ן אֶת־הַתֹּ֖ף בְּיָדָ֑הּ וַתֵּצֶ֤אןָ כָֽל־הַנָּשִׁים֙ אַחֲרֶ֔יהָ בְּתֻפִּ֖ים וּבִמְחֹלֹֽת׃
(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.
(ז) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (ח) קַ֣ח אֶת־הַמַּטֶּ֗ה וְהַקְהֵ֤ל אֶת־הָעֵדָה֙ אַתָּה֙ וְאַהֲרֹ֣ן אָחִ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתֶּ֧ם אֶל־הַסֶּ֛לַע לְעֵינֵיהֶ֖ם וְנָתַ֣ן מֵימָ֑יו וְהוֹצֵאתָ֨ לָהֶ֥ם מַ֙יִם֙ מִן־הַסֶּ֔לַע וְהִשְׁקִיתָ֥ אֶת־הָעֵדָ֖ה וְאֶת־בְּעִירָֽם׃ (ט) וַיִּקַּ֥ח מֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶת־הַמַּטֶּ֖ה מִלִּפְנֵ֣י יְהוָ֑ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר צִוָּֽהוּ׃ (י) וַיַּקְהִ֜לוּ מֹשֶׁ֧ה וְאַהֲרֹ֛ן אֶת־הַקָּהָ֖ל אֶל־פְּנֵ֣י הַסָּ֑לַע וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לָהֶ֗ם שִׁמְעוּ־נָא֙ הַמֹּרִ֔ים הֲמִן־הַסֶּ֣לַע הַזֶּ֔ה נוֹצִ֥יא לָכֶ֖ם מָֽיִם׃ (יא) וַיָּ֨רֶם מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶת־יָד֗וֹ וַיַּ֧ךְ אֶת־הַסֶּ֛לַע בְּמַטֵּ֖הוּ פַּעֲמָ֑יִם וַיֵּצְאוּ֙ מַ֣יִם רַבִּ֔ים וַתֵּ֥שְׁתְּ הָעֵדָ֖ה וּבְעִירָֽם׃ (ס)
(7) and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (8) “You and your brother Aaron take the rod and assemble the community, and before their very eyes order the rock to yield its water. Thus you shall produce water for them from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their beasts.” (9) Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as He had commanded him. (10) Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation in front of the rock; and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?” (11) And Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. Out came copious water, and the community and their beasts drank.

ודברתם אל הסלע לעיניהם. הסלע הזה הוא הצור שבחורב, והוא בארה של מרים על דעת רז"ל. ומצינו לו בתורה ארבע שמות, עין משפט וצור וסלע ובאר... צור שנאמר (שמות יז) הנני עומד לפניך שם על הצור בחורב, ונקרא צור על שם השכינה שנגלית שם, וכאן בקדש שלא נגלית נקרא סלע שנאמר ודברתם אל הסלע. באר שנאמר (במדבר כא) היא הבאר אשר אמר ה' למשה. לפי שנסתלק במיתת מרים חזר עתה בזכות משה, ועל כן הזכירו בה"א הידיעה, שנאמר ודברתם אל הסלע.

“You will speak to the rock in their presence, etc.” the rock called סלע in our verse here is also the one called צור at Mount Horeb, and it is also the well of Miriam. This is the opinion of our sages [in Taanit 9]. We find that this rock appears under four different names סלע, באר עין משפט, צור,... [It was called] צור, as it is said "I will be standing before you on the rock at Horeb[, strike the rock and water will issue from it]" (Exodus 17:6) And it was called צור, a name for the Shekhinah that was revealed there. And since here at Kadesh God didn't reveal God's self, it is referred to [merely] as סלע, as it is said, "You shall speak to the סלע." [It is also called] באר, as it is said, "It is the same באר where God had said to Moses: 'assemble the people so that I can give them water'" (Numbers 21:16). Since it disappeared with the death of Miriam, it returns now through the merit of Moses, and thus we are reminded of its significance through the ה, as it says, "And speak to הסלע" [instead of סלע, indicating that this is a very specific rock]. (translation mine)

את כל דגי הים יאסף להם – אפילו אתה מכניס להם דגים לאכול היו מתרעמים! והלא הלכה עמהם באר במדבר והיתה מעלת להם דגים שמנים יותר מצרכם! – אלא שמבקשים עלילה היאך לפרוש מאחרי המקום...

כיון שהלך משה אצלם, אמר להם: היד ה' תקצר? (תהלים עח) הן הכה צור ויזובו מימיו ונחלים ישטופו הגם לחם יוכל תת אם יכין שאר לעמו? אמרו: פשרה היא זו! אין בו כח לתת אלינו שאלתינו!

"Could all the fish of the sea be gathered for them?" (Numbers 11:22). Even if you gathered fish for them to eat, they would grumble! Didn't the well of Miriam accompany them in the wilderness and did it not bring up for them more plump fish than they needed? Rather, they wanted an excuse to separate from God...

When Moses went to them, he said to them [quoting God], "Will God's hand fall short?" (Numbers 11:23). [They responded by quoting Psalms 78:20] "'True, He struck a rock and water flowed and streams flooded forth, but can He also give bread? Can He supply food for His people?'" They said, "This is a compromise! He doesn't have the power to give us what we ask for!" (translation mine)

The Well's Healing Properties

מַעֲשֶׂה בְּשִׂיחִין אֶחָד סוּמָא שֶׁיָּרַד בַּמַּיִם לִטְבֹּל, נִזְדַּמְּנָה לוֹ בְּאֵרָהּ שֶׁל מִרְיָם וְטָבַל וְנִתְרַפֵּא.

There is a story of Shihin (a town near Sepphoris) about a certain blind person who went down to bathe in the waters in a cave. He happened upon the well of Miriam, immersed [himself in it], and was healed.

הגה... וי"א לדלות מים בכל מוצאי שבת כי בארה של מרים סובב כל מוצאי שבת כל הבארות ומי שפוגע בו וישתה ממנו יתרפא מכל תחלואיו [כל בו] ולא ראיתי למנהג זה:

RAMA: ... And there are those who say to draw water from wells or natural springs every Saturday night, because the well of Miriam passes through all the wells and natural springs every Saturday night. And one who touches it and drinks from it will be healed from all his afflictions [Kol Bo]. And I did not see (anything) about this custom.

Miriam and Her Well - A Model of Non-Hierarchal Leadership

But this is still treating power as something elite, coupled to public prestige, to the individual charisma of so-called 'leadership,' and often, though not always, to a degree of celebrity. It is also treating power very narrowly, as an object of possession that only the few - mostly men - can own or wield ... You cannot easily fit women into a structure that is already coded as male; you have to change the structure. That means thinking about power differently. It means decoupling it from public prestige. It means thinking collaboratively about the power of followers not just of leaders. It means, above all, thinking of power as an attribute or a verb ('to power'), not as a possession. What I have in mind is the ability to be effective, to make a difference in the world, and the right to be taken seriously, together as much as individually ... one of the most influential political movements of the last few years, Black Lives Matter, was founded by three women; few of us, I suspect, would recognize any of their names, but together they had the power to get things done in a different way.

Mary Beard, Women & Power: A Manifesto (New York: WW Norton, 2017).

How can we best understand what Miriam’s Well represented? Israel in the Bible had two main centers of practice: the Tent of Meeting (or Tabernacle, later replaced by the Temple) and the home…. Moses, we might say, had focused on institutional religion. But in our midrashic rendering of the story, Miriam’s gift was to raise up the personal practices of the Israelites and to help the women of Israel recognize and claim their homes as a sacred place. Each woman’s own Sabbath table became like an altar.

Carol Ochs, “Contemporary Reflection,” in The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, ed. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Andrea L. Weiss (New York: Women of Reform Judaism, 2008), 933-4

People often ask me at this age who I am passing the torch to. First of all, I'm not giving up my torch, thank you! I'm using my torch to light other people's torches ... If we each have a torch, there's a lot more light.

-- Gloria Steinem, National Press Club 11/18/13