Rabbi Jennifer Weiner
This week’s Torah portion is Chukat: Numbers 19:1 – 22:1
As I sit down to write this D’var Torah, it is Erev Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, the eve of the new Hebrew month of Tammuz. In our Torah portion, it is also a new moon. From Numbers 20:1, “The Israelites arrived in a body at the wilderness of Zin on the first new moon, and the people stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there.” Just imagine that you are in the desert where it is even hotter than what we have been experiencing in the DMV area. You have recently discovered that you will be wandering for more time than you thought, and you have little to no water around you. That is the setting for Chukat.
In this week’s Torah portion, Chukat, four major experiences occur. First, we are taught that the only way to be purified after touching a corpse is to be cleansed with the ashes of the parah adumah, a red heifer. Second, Miriam dies, and the water of the community dries up. Third, Moses and Aaron are instructed to speak to a rock to access water but instead strike it. Fourth, Aaron dies, and Eliazer succeeds him as high priest.
What is interesting in this week’s Torah portion is the role that water plays. Water in the Torah can be cleansing. It can also be fraught with death. This juxtaposition of healing and harming from elements in our world are seen throughout the Torah. For example, Noah and the Ark. Those in the Ark were saved while the waters that came upon the Earth killed the other humans. Also, the Children of Israel are able to walk through the Sea of Reeds on dry land when the water retreats while the Egyptians are drowned when the water returns.
Miriam’s life, unlike that of the Israelite community, seems to be surrounded by water. Miriam enters the Torah by accompanying her brother, Moses, down the Nile until he is saved by Pharaoh’s daughter. Legend also holds that wherever Miriam went in the desert, there was a well of water. In Midrash, it is referred to as “Miriam’s Well.” This Midrash (Avot 5:6; Taʼanit 9a) teaches that God gave Miriam a well as a result of her devotion to the Israelite people and her words of comfort in their times of distress. Created on the first Sabbath eve on which the Israelites were in the desert, the well accompanied them during their wanderings. Just as Miriam’s words of comfort nourished the souls of the Israelite people, the water from her well sustained their bodies. This nourishment of both body and soul ensured their survival. When Miriam died, the well disappeared. The next verse of the Torah then relates that there was a drought in the land. It is why the people were disgruntled once again and cried out to Moses in their misery.
In today’s world, Miriam’s Well is often represented at Passover Seder by having an extra cup on the table designated as “Miriam’s Cup.” This goblet is either filled with water at the beginning of the Seder or is filled by the participants during the Seder. It is a symbol of Miriam’s leadership throughout her story in the Torah. Although Miriam is only mentioned seven times in the entire Torah, her impact is much greater than her representation. In the Torah, Miriam is seen as joyful as she leads the Israelites in song and dance after they cross through the Sea of Reeds from slavery to redemption and as punished as she speaks against Moses to their brother, Aaron.
Thus, imagine yourself during Miriam’s time. It is hot. It is dry. Oh, to have those rejuvenating waters from Miriam’s Well.
Rabbi Jennifer Weiner is the spiritual leader of Congregation Kol Ami in Frederick, Maryland.
