#742: Mourning for Miriam
Kli Yakar on Bamidbar/Numbers 20:2
וְלֹא־הָ֥יָה מַ֖יִם לָעֵדָ֑ה וַיִּקָּ֣הֲל֔וּ עַל־מֹשֶׁ֖ה וְעַֽל־אַהֲרֹֽן׃
The community was without water, and they joined against Moses and Aaron.
Gimme Some Torah #742
Adult human beings need approximately a gallon of water a day to survive. That being the case, how did hordes of Israelites survive their sojourn in the wilderness? The actual answer is that they spent 38 of the 40 years in one place, Kadesh Barnea, where we can presume they found an adequate water source.
But even for the two years of actual travel, how did they get enough water to keep themselves alive? The Talmud’s answer is that Miriam’s moral goodness provided the nation with a miraculous well that accompanied them in the wilderness (B. Taanit 9a).
With that bit of midrash under our belts, we can better understand why the people cried out for water in Num. 20:2, immediately after Miriam’s death in Num. 20:1. The Kli Yakar (bio) explains why these two events are connected:
וְלֹא־הָיָה מַיִם לָעֵדָה—In terms of the punishment, the water was lacking because they did not properly mourn her (Miriam). Regarding Moses and Aaron it is said, “And the children of Israel wept over them," but regarding Miriam it is not said, "And they wept over her.”
Instead, the Torah says, "And she died there and was buried there," because in the place where Miriam died, her burial was immediate and she was forgotten completely; the Israelites did not feel her absence at all. Therefore, they were forced to cry out for water so that they would know in retrospect that the miraculous well was due to Miriam’s moral goodness.
Why did the people mourn Aaron properly and forget Miriam? The charitable answer is that Miriam did things for the nation that were in the background and not easily seen. The less charitable answer is that women (then and now) often do not get the same level of posthumous honor that a man would get. For instance, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the first woman to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol.
The midrash and the Kli Yakar’s explanation suggest that God gives guilt trips like an angry parent. Do you think guilt trips work?
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I am the rabbi of Temple Beth El in Somerset, New Jersey, and the author of The JPS Jewish Heritage Torah Commentary.