At the end of the Song at the Sea, we encounter Moses’ sister’s name for the first time in the Torah: Miriam. The Torah writes, “Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, picked up a timbrel and all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels. Miriam chanted for them, ‘Sing to Havayah for He has risen triumphantly; Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.’” Though this is the first time the Torah mentions Miriam’s name explicitly, although the sages identify her with one of the two midwives appearing in the first chapter of Exodus, specifically with Pu’ah. In addition, Miriam was mentioned anonymously in the episode of Moses’ preservation by being placed in a basket on the Nile.
Miriam also plays a central role at the end of parashat BeHa’alotcha in the incident surrounding her leprosy and once again in parashat Chukat at her passing. We are going to organize a number of partzufim about Miriam. First, we will look at the major episodes in her life recounted by the Torah and correspond them to the seven lower sefirot. Next, we will look at her many names, as identified by the sages and correspond them to the full model of the Ten Sefirot as well.
The Life of Miriam
Let us focus on the major episodes in Miriam’s life in their order of appearance in the Torah. Though we always prefer when possible to use an established order of the elements in our partzuf when corresponding them to a Kabbalistic model, this is not always possible. Sometimes, as in this case, it is clear, that the elements in the partzuf—in this case, the episodes of Miriam’s life—do not follow the same order as the Kabbalistic model. Thus, after each episode, we will identify the sefirah it corresponds to.
Our first encounter with Miriam is as one of the Jewish midwives in Egypt. There, her name is Pu’ah. The Torah tells us that because the midwives feared God and saved the children from Pharaoh’s decree, “He established households for them.” Thus, the foundation of Miriam’s life and conduct is her fear of God. As King Solomon says, “A woman who fears God, she should be praised.” Fear of God is not just about one’s feelings, it guides one’s conduct. When someone fears God, they can be trusted to do the right thing, even when, like Miriam and her mother, they find themselves pushed to disobey Pharaoh and risk their own lives. Obviously, this episode and Miriam’s character revealed through it correspond to the sefirah of might (gevurah) whose inner experience is one of fear or awe.
Advice and Prophecy
The next time we meet Miriam, she is apparently older. This episode is only hinted to in the Torah with the words, “A man from the house of Levi married a daughter of Levi.”
