Sefer Miriam: Spiritual Chutzpah (I)

(10) Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation in front of the rock; and he said to them, “Listen, you Morim/Miriam people/rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?”

(24) All the virtuous women/people of that generation* come to Miriam--- even now, in these times. Then they all ascend like columns of smoke.** And that day is called a day of celebration/a wedding day. Women, on the nights of Shabbat/rest and the nights of holy days, all of them come to Miriam and they comprehend the work of knowing mastery of the Universe. Happy is this generation from all generations of the world.

*Those who wander in wildernesses**Signals of Divine guidance in the wilderness

...Tenphenomena were createdon the first Shabbat eve during twilight.They were: Miriam’s well, and the manna, and the rainbow, writing [ketav], and the writing instrument [mikhtav], and the tablets of the Ten Commandments, and the grave of Moses, and the cave in which Moses and Elijah stood, the opening of the mouth of Balaam’s donkey, and the opening of the earth’s mouth to swallow the wicked.

A Sage teaches: Amramwas the great man of his generation. Once he saw that the wicked Pharaoh said: “Every son that is born you shall cast into the river (Exodus 1:22), he said: We are laboring for nothing by bringing children into the world to be killed. Therefore, he arose and divorced his wife. All others who saw this followed his example and arose and divorced their wives.His daughter, Miriam, said to him: Father, your decree is more harsh for the Jewish people than that of Pharaoh, as Pharaoh decreed only with regard to the males, but you decreed both on the males and on the females. And now no children will be born. Additionally, Pharaoh decreed to kill them only in this world, but you decreed in this world and in the World-to-Come, as those not born will not enter the World-to-Come. Miriam continued: Additionally, concerning Pharaoh the wicked, it is uncertain whether his decree will be fulfilled, and it is uncertain if his decree will not be fulfilled. You are a righteous person, and as such, your decrees will certainly be fulfilled, as it is stated with regard to the righteous: “You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto you” (Job 22:28). Amram accepted his daughter’s words and arose and brought back, i.e., remarried, his wife, and all others followed his example and arose and brought back their wives.

(15) The king of Egypt spoke to the Ivri midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, (16) saying, “When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the birthstool: if it is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” (17) The midwives, fearing Spirit, did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. (18) So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, letting the boys live?” (19) The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Ivri women are not like the Egyptian women: they are animals. Before the midwife can come to them, they have given birth.” (20) And Spirit dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and increased greatly. (21) And because the midwives had awe of Spirit, lineages/households were made for them.

(3) פועה PUAH — This was Miriam, and she bore this additional name because she used to call aloud and speak and croon to the babe just as women do who soothe a child when it is crying (Sotah 11b). (4) פועה has the meaning of crying aloud, as (Isaiah 42:14) “I will cry (אפעה) like a travailing woman”.

12. I believe with complete faith in the coming of liberation and even though it may tarry, nevertheless, I yearn every day for its coming.

(8)“Moses summoned all Israel, and he said to them: You have seen everything that the Lord performed before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to his entire land” (Deuteronomy 29:1). “Moses summoned all Israel” – halakha: A person of Israel who stood to read the Torah, is it permitted for him to read fewer than three verses? So taught the Sages: One who reads the Torah may not do so with fewer than three verses.21Megilla 23b. Our Rabbis taught us: Why did they institute that he may not do so with fewer than three verses? ... it is corresponding to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, through whom the Torah was given.

(10)Because the midwives feared God (ibid., v. 21).11See Sotah 11b. Tradition tells us that the two mid-wives, Shipra and Puah, were really Miriam and Jochebed. See Exodus Rabbah 1:13. How did the Holy One, blessed be He, reward them? He gave them houses. What houses did he give them? The house of priesthood and the house of kingship. Jochebed received priesthood and kingship, since Aaron became the high priest and Moses became a king: There was a king in Jerusalem (Deut. 33:5). What reward did Miriam receive for herself? Wisdom, as is said: The fear of the Lord is wisdom (Job 28:28), and it is written about Bezalel: And He hath filled him with the spirit of God, for he descended from her.

(17)... Miriam was the awakening of Torah, since from her came King David PBUH, and in her was found the strength of the totality of Torah. And [the idea of] "the end of the act was in the beginning of thought" always applies, and her end was attached to his beginning, and therefore it was in her the stirring of the birth of the beginning of Torah, and she prophesied regarding him...