Now we skip from the first Rashi in the Parsha to the last Rashi. The end of the parsha contains another famous incident. The Torah says that Miriam had complaints about her brother Moshe, and she talked about these complaints. Hashem Himself comes down and says, do not speak about Moshe; do not judge him by the standards of a regular human being—“Not so is My Servant Moshe, in My entire house he is the trusted one...” [Bamidbar 12:7].
Moshe was in a league by himself. Miriam was stricken with tzora’as [a skin disease caused at a spiritual level by improper speech] for talking about Moshe. The law concerning such a person who is stricken with tzora’as is that they need to be sent outside the camp. Miriam was in fact sent outside the camp of Israel for seven days. The pasuk says that “...The nation did not travel until Miriam was brought back in.” [12:15].
Rashi, quoting the Talmud [Sotah 9b] says that this honor (that the entire Jewish people waited for her) was accorded to Miriam as reward for waiting by the Nile for her infant brother Moshe (to see who would pick up the basket in which he was floating).
The question can be asked—why now? It is 80 years since Miriam waited for Moshe. Why is suddenly now the time for her to receive a reward?
At a simple level, we could answer—now is when she needed it. She is down and out, so to speak, so now is a good time to give her honor.
The Shemen HaTov by Rabbi Dov Weinberger gives a better answer. He says that the reason why now was the appropriate time to reward Miriam is because now we—as a people—recognized what she did for us.
Sometimes a person does an act, and even though we appreciate the act, we cannot yet appreciate it fully. However, at this point, we retroactively realized what Miriam did—once we realize who Moshe Rabbeinu really is. Now is when Hashem gives personal testimony and says something about Moshe Rabbeinu that He never said about any other human being: “You do not realize who Moshe is. I speak to him mouth to mouth. He is in a league by himself!”
They had been living with Moshe Rabbeinu. They became accustomed to Moshe Rabbeinu. They forgot who Moshe Rabbeinu was. Therefore, Hashem tells the people, “There is no one who was ever like him; there never will be any one like him.”
Now, eighty years later, they can realize what Miriam did. That act—standing and waiting, making sure that all would be all right with her brother, eighty years earlier—saved a Moshe Rabbeinu! Now they are finally able to appreciate this fully.
Sometimes we do a chessed [kindness] and we do not realize the implications. Sometimes it takes time, perhaps a week, a month, or a year. Sometimes it takes 80 years or longer to realize “Wow! What a remarkable act!” That is what they finally realize here. Now, eighty years later, they needed to show their appreciation.
