The Song of the Women
This week’s portion of the Torah we study “Beshelach”, the story of the splitting of the Sea and how the children of G-d are miraculously rescued, redeemed, and enter into freedom. We also read about Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, who led the women out of Egypt with song and dance.
“Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aaron, took the drum in her hand and all the women went forth after her with drums and with dances.” -Exodus 15:20
Miriam was a force to be reckoned with way before she merited this honor. Miriam stood up and fought against the government’s (Egyptian rule) decree that the newborn infants were to be murdered (1). According to Rashi (2), when this law was made, couples would go as far as to separate or divorce so as to not risk bringing a baby boy into the world. This is exactly what Miriam’s parents had done.
At the age of five, Miriam confronted her parents (Amram and Yocheved) and begged them to remarry and continue to have children. Deep within Miriam’s heart ♥️ she spoke to the heart’s of her parents, they married again and Moses, the servant of G-d (3) was born. Perhaps Miriam’s heart knew her brothers’ birth was of Divine ordinance. Ssshhh....Quiet though, ItS a BoY... Miriam’s mother had no choice but to place her son in a tevah (תבה), basket, and float him down the Nile. The courageous young Miriam, now about 6 years of age, shows her devotion to her parents and her brother as she accompanies Moses down the shore. Once Moses is rescued by the Egyptian Princess, brave little Miriam not only approached Pharaoh’s daughter but convinced her the need for a wet nurse. The princess did the only practical thing she could have done, she accepted.
(Now, in another irony that only the Holy One could have worked out, the infant Moses is RETURNED to his own mother, carried in the arms of his own sister……and now Mom is PAID by the princess to do nothing more than suckle and raise this child who was her own, in the first place. And, the money to pay this Hebrew mother is coming from the treasury of the Pharaoh who has ordered the death of this same infant……and thousands more like him. Oh how I love the way HaShem works!)
This week’s portion we see Miriam “all grown up”. “Adulting” as only a Hebrew woman living in the bondage of Egypt could. The Pharaoh has ordered the Children of Israel to leave! According to the Midrash (4), as the People of G-d scrambled to get out of Egypt, Miriam had the “foresight” to take their drums (tambourines). —Seriously, you are escaping slavery and you take drums? —but Miriam knew in her heart they would be redeemed and be free! Cause for celebration! Following the song of Moses, the women took their drums and danced, Miriam spoke up to them, “Sing to HaShem for He is exalted above the arrogant, having hurled horse and rider into the sea.” (Exodus 15:21). This line has been deemed by some as, “the Song of the Women”.
The ultimate purpose of the Exodus from Egypt was to receive the Torah(5), which all men are obligated to study. According to the Gemara (6) (Sotah 21a), “although women are not obligated to fulfill the mitzvah (commandment) of Torah study, they share in the reward for the Torah study of their husbands and children, which is generated thanks to their assistance.” The women are the ones who send the children off to school and make the personal sacrifice of granting their husband permission to pursue Torah study.
As a woman in today’s world of “equal rights”, I do believe we are fighting for the wrong issues. We can learn so much from Miriam. Rabbi Isaac Luria writes, “the last generation before the coming of the Messiah is the reincarnation of the generation of the Exodus.” I have salon clients who have sat in my chair over the last few months that truly believe that we are living in the “end times”. If we are standing at the brink of the Ultimate Redemption and we are looking at stories like this one to guide us through, do we look anything like Miriam?
To rise above hardship and pain, we must join together in the only cause that really matters, Our Father’s! Sing the Song of Redemption, pray with enthusiasm, strive for the things of G-d, be courageous in standing for His Ways, fill our homes with the light of hope, and encourage our fellow “sisters” to do the same. And let’s not forget our tambourines!
Shalom,
Hallelujah Girl
Torah Portion Beshelach, “When he Sent”, Exodus 13:17-17:16, Judges 4:4-5:31, Matthew 14:22-33
(1) “Moreover the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah (said to be Miriam..yes, at age 5) and said, “When you help the Hebrew women during childbirth, look at the sex. If it’s a son, then kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.” Yet the midwives feared God, so they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this—let the boys live?” The midwives told Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women. They are like animals, and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, growing very numerous. Because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own. But Pharaoh charged all his people saying, “You are to cast every son that is born into the river, but let every daughter live.””
Exodus 1:15-22 TLV
(2) Rashi: Shlomo ben Yitzhak, best known by the acronym "Rashi", was an early and influential Torah and Talmud commentator. He was born in Troyes, France, and as a young man he studied in the schools of Worms and Mainz. At the age of twenty-five he returned to Troyes and opened his own yeshiva (school). He supported his family and his yeshiva by growing grapes and producing and selling wine. Widely known as the father of all commentators, his commentary on the Bible and Talmud is considered an indispensable tool for Torah study. He described his aim as clarifying the "peshat" or "plain-sense" meaning of each verse.
(3) Exodus 14:31, “Israel saw the great hand that HaShem inflicted upon Egypt; and the people revered HaShem , and they had faith in HaShem and Moses, His Servant.
(4) Midrash is an interpretive act, seeking the answers to religious questions (both practical and theological) by delving into the meaning of the words of the torah. (In the Bible, the root d-r-sh [דרשׁ] is used to mean inquiring into any matter, including occasionally to seek out God’s word.) Midrash responds to contemporary problems and crafts new stories, making connections between new Jewish realities and the unchanging biblical text.
(5) Torah: literally means “instruction”—meaning some sort of guidance in life.
The five Books of Moses are known as the Torah—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These are the foundation of all instruction and guidance in any believers life.
(6) Gemara: Rabbinic teachings from the Talmud that encompass several subject matters from the sacred to the profane. These teachings contain legal (halakhah) material and narrative (aggadah) material to explain the unclear, provide examples, to extend or restrict the applications of various laws, or to even add laws on issues when needed.