B"H
Thursday Tammuz 8, 5782 / July 7, 2022
From last week’s Parsha, Korach, to this week’s Parsha Chukat, is a void of 38 years. The revolt of Korach in last week’s Parsha took place about a year and a half after the Exodus. This week’s Parsha, Chukat, which tells about Miriam and Aaron’s passing took place 38 years later.
Miriamwas 125 at the time of her passing and Aaron was 123. They were buried in the desert.
Miriam passed away first, on the 10th day of Nissan. Aaron passed away about four months later on Rosh Chodesh Av. Moshe passed away close to a year after Miriam.
Although the Jewish people spent 40 years in the desert, the Torah records only what happened during the first year and a half and then skips 38 years and records what took place during the last year in the desert. Of the 38 years in the desert in between, there is no record of what took place.
Miriam played a major role in Moshe’s life. When Pharaoh decreed that every male born should be thrown into the river, her father, Amram, divorced his wife, Yocheved. He claimed that there was no point to bring children into the world if they will be drowned. Many Jews did the same and divorced their wives.
Miriam, who was less than five at that time said to her father, “Your decree is worse than Pharaohs. His decree is only on the boys, but yours is also on the girls. No Jewish girls will be brought into the world, as a result of everyone divorcing their wives.” Amram listened to her and remarried Yocheved and as a result Moshe was born. The rest is history.
Later, when Moshe was placed by the river, it was his sister Miriam who stood there to watch him. When she saw Pharaoh’s daughter, Batya, take him out of the water, she suggested to bring him to her mother to be fed. As a result, Moshe stayed with his parents for a few years, until he was brought back to Batya.
At the time of the Exodus, after The Splitting of the Sea, we find Miriam playing her tambourine and singing with the women, praising G-d for this great miracle.
Miriam’s husband, Kalev ben Yefune, was one of the 12 spies sent to scout the land of Canaan before entering it. While ten of them brought back a negative report, Kalev and Joshua brought a positive report. While the other ten spies died in a plague in the desert, Kalev and Yehoshua merited to enter into the Promised Land.
Miriam’s son, Chur, was murdered at the time of the sin of the Golden Calf, when he reproached the people about it. Chur’s grandson (Miriam’s great grandson) was the main architect who built the Mishkan (Tabernacle) in the desert.
The name Miriam is derived from two words, “Mar-Yam” which means “bitter” and “sea”. It refers to the bitterness and harshness of the decree that the Jewish newborn males were to be drowned in the sea.
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY & SUCCESSFUL DAY