Recalling Miriam
After repeating the danger of leprosy on the eve of the Israelites crossing of the Jordan, Moses says, “Remember what Havayah your God did to Miriam on the journey after you left Egypt.” This is one of the traditional six remembrances that we are called upon to recall every day. The others are recalling the Exodus from Egypt, the Giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai, the obligation to annihilate Amalek, the sin of the Golden Calf, and the Shabbat. Clearly, Miriam is in a special category, as she is the only individual person we are required to remember every day. The story we are meant to recall with reference to Miriam is the account of her leprosy, the episode that came as a result of what she said about Moses, which we corresponded with foundation.
The six remembrances clearly correspond to the sefirot from loving-kindness to foundation and will be treated separately at another time. The point of remembering these events is to keep them in our consciousness and thus, the origin of the act of remembering them is linked with the sefirah of knowledge, which is described as the soul (the living force behind) the sefirah of beauty. And thus, we correspond Miriam’s daily remembrance with the sefirah of beauty.
