Why did miriam die

This was the rock that Moses struck, because he did not want to draw forth any water for Israel, because Miriam had died Taanit 9a. What impact did the death of Miriam have on Moses? Rashi suggests a great deal. The well had not run dry; rather Moses, overwrought by the loss of his sister, could no longer bear the murmurings of his people.

Miriam must have meant a great deal to Moses. He owed his very life to her. When Pharaoh had given the order to kill every newborn male Israelite, her father Amram, the national leader, divorced her mother Yoheved.

Moses had not yet been conceived. Finally, since Pharaoh is a wicked man, Miriam suggested, there is no guarantee that God will permit his decree to stand. She guarded him at birth and exulted with him at the Sea of Reeds and when she died, he lost his poise and capacity to govern. And what was the key to that capacity? The ability to love his people unconditionally. In other words, the midrash claims that the essence of prophecy is the courage to intercede with God in behalf of Israel, a courage sprung of love and primarily identified with women.

That was the sacrilege of which God spoke Numbers and the evidence that Moses had grown weary and callous. Her departure had stripped him of the emotional state necessary to mediate between God and Israel.

Covid Read the latest updates Here. The Death of Miriam. No mourning. No muss or fuss. Later, at the end of Deuteronomy, Moses gets similar treatment. The Talmud, in tractate Bava Batra 17a, claims that God kissed life from Miriam as well, but the Torah could not state it plainly because she was a woman and it was not fit to do so. A weak explanation at best, in my view. Of course she did. Throughout much of human history, deaths of great men have been marked with public honors.

It is simply wrong that, even today, the lives of remarkable women are not recognized with the same level of acclaim. Show 8 more comments. Active Oldest Votes. Chumash Torah Sheleima Bamidbar brings the Midrash Esfah that says as follows Free translation : And Miriam Died There: She alone died from all the women that left Egypt, since the women did not die in the desert.

Improve this answer. Community Bot 1. Then why did Miriam die first? In respect to the sources in the block quote, those reasons would have been valid even if she died last. DonielF: Earlier on the page the Torah Sheleima brings another midrash esfah quote, which slightly contradicts this one. It points out that at the time she passed away, both Moshe and Aharon were supposed to enter the land. It was only after she died and the well stopped that Moshe hit the rock instead of talking to it — Menachem.

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