מרים הנביאה

The great redemption of the Exodus in fact began with the quiet courage of a girl. When the baby Moshe was placed in a basket on the Nile, his sister Miriam stood at a distance to see what would become of him, and in her wisdom arranged for his own mother to nurse him in Pharaoh's house (Exodus 2). Without that stand at the river's edge, there is no Moshe.

The Sages relate that already as a young girl Miriam prophesied that her mother would bear the redeemer of Israel. Her father Amram, who had separated from his wife out of despair at the decree, returned to her on Miriam's word, and so Moshe was born. She was a prophetess even before the giving of the Torah.

At the peak moment, after the splitting of the sea, Miriam took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with drums and dances: 'sing to the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously' (Exodus 15). The faith and joy of the women were a pillar of the redemption, not an appendage to it.

In the merit of Miriam's righteousness, 'Miriam's well' accompanied Israel, a moving spring of water that traveled with them forty years in the desert, and when she died the water stopped (Taanit 9a). The whole journey of the generation rested on her merit.

Once Miriam spoke about her brother Moshe, out of love and concern, and was punished with tzaraat (Numbers 12). Yet the entire camp, in its multitudes, did not travel until she was healed and returned, seven days, for they would not move without her. A great lesson on the power of a word, even one spoken from love.

Three siblings led the generation of the wilderness together, and so the prophet counts them: 'I sent before you Moshe, Aharon and Miriam' (Micah 6:4). Miriam is not in her brothers' shadow but a full partner in the mission.

Miriam is the archetype of the woman in Israel: a quiet heroism, a faith that does not merely lean on miracles but builds them, and a song that bursts forth at the right moment. The daughters of Israel named Miriam carry her courage and her song.