In Parshat Chukat both Aaron and Miriam breathe their last. In Torah we have seen Miriam as a strong woman, a woman who told truth to power. She was known as the sister of Aaron and Moshe. She led the women in song and dance at the sea. Perhaps I would like to change the words a little bit and say that Aaron and Moshe were brothers to Miriam.
Miriam was no stranger to controversy. She contracted Tza'raat, after speaking about Moshe and his wife. She was punished for this by being removed from the camp, but the Midrash says that the camp would not move until Miriam was brought back in.
As so many women whom read about in torah texts, Miriam was strong and determined. She was one who made the story of the Jewish people move forward, or perhaps I should say that she was one who made our story dance forward. I would like this poem to honor her memory, to give her credit for her bravery and thank her for bringing music and dance to our tradition.
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TO MIRIAM
O Miriam,
as your soul departs this world
with a breath and a kiss,
look back.
See one more time
the world around you.
See yourself,
your eyes that have seen,
your lips that have sung,
your hands that held the timbrel,
your feet that have danced
all
reflected in the waters
You, Miriam,
a doer
a seer
an observer of
not just how things are
but how they can be.
Miriam,
In a world fraught with danger,
others might have run
cowered,
heads in the sand.
You were not afraid
You stood tall
in a world
where the sands of power shifted.
You took that power
into your own strong hands.
You held it and
shaped it.
You shaped others.
You nudged,
You spoke
You encouraged
You demanded
You spoke out
Miriam,
of sister of Moses and Aaron,
you knew the power of words.
You knew that they could build
or destroy.
Your words became poetry
irrepressible,
like birds,
they escaped into music.
Miriam,
oh prophetess of song,
You saw for others
saw into others,
saw above and through others
Words of courage
escaped your lips.
Words that stand up to power
Words to coax and
words to change
You opened the
pathways to hearts.
Oh Miriam,
You,
who heard music when others heard
only the noise of fear,
the cacophony of tumult
You,
who could feel
the music
hovering
in the air,
above the roar of the water,
waiting,
begging to be found.
You,
who could find the poetry
to define the indescribable
Music.......
And that music floated above the sea
I hear it now still.
Miriam,
You, who spoke your mind
You who held the hands of your brothers
Who enabled life
You,
who stood on the shores and sang.
Who captured a beat,
who discovered spirit
and shared it
as the tune carried itself onto the wind.
You clapped and jumped and shimmied
and wove yourself
in and out of people
Miriam, oh keeper of the music
Who saw the power of notes
flying through the air!
Can you remember
The Song at the Sea?
How your feet flew?
Your scarves caught the light,
like the feathers of birds
as you danced. The waves twirled turquoise
The symphony of the voices
a tune
above the waters
in harmony
The warm salt air,
a spray enveloping
outstretched hands.
Sandaled feet elevated,
voices flying along with feet
Linen and wool.
White and blue.
Voices rising.
The sky mirrored in the sea
in a dance that lasts forever
even now,
swirling,
dancing,
pounding.
The power of the timbrels.
One wrist striking the taut skin
The sound of a bell
The sound of a heartbeat
The sound of thousands
of heartbeats
Drums pounding
The joy
The release
Hands outstretched
Miriam, your feet flew
your scarves caught the light
Like the feathers of birds
Miriam,
Some are born at extraordinary times
and are ordinary
Some are born at extraordinary times and
rise above the extraordinary.
Like the song of a bird.
Oh, Miriam, prophetess of song
Sister of Moses and Aaron,
Daughter of Yochebed and Amram
Can you hear the water flow, even now?
Can you hear the music, even now?
They are for you.
We are still here and
we still sing.
We are still dancing.
Exodus 15:20 (From Sefaria)
Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels.
Numbers 20:1 (From Sefaria)
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.
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