The drowning of the Egyptians in the sea (after Bnei Yisrael had safely passed through) brought a complete end to the Egyptian exile, whereupon the Jews burst into song to thank G-d for their redemption. The Torah tells us that the women, led by Miriam, surpassed the men in their celebration. The men only sang, but the women also danced and played musical instruments.
The women’s rejoicing was greater than the men’s because their suffering in Egypt had also been greater. Harsher than the backbreaking labor that the Egyptians inflicted upon Bnei Yisrael were Pharaoh’s decrees regarding the Jewish children. Most notoriously, Pharaoh decreed that all Jewish baby boys should be drowned, and later he bathed in the blood of Jewish children, as related in the Midrash. Though these decrees obviously caused all the Jews anguish, such pain is naturally experienced more severely by the child’s mother than by the father. Since the women’s suffering in Egypt had been more painful than the men’s, their joy upon the redemption was commensurately greater, too.
This idea is highlighted by the fact that the women’s rejoicing was led by Miriam, whose very name reflected the bitterness of exile: the root of מרים—Miriam is the Hebrew word מר—mar, which means “bitter.” Our Sages tell us that as a young girl Miriam prophesied about the redemption, a prophecy whose fulfillment she witnessed only more than 80 years later. Having lived her life in painful anticipation of the end of the bitter exile, Miriam’s joy upon the redemption knew no bounds, and she now led the women in their abundantly joyous celebration.
—Likkutei Sichos, vol. 1, pp. 139–140; Sefer Hasichos 5752, vol. 1, pp. 303–304
