“Miriam spoke, and Aaron, against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had taken: ‘Has God spoken only through Moses? Has [God] not spoken through us as well?’ God heard it” Numbers 12:1-2
June 12, 2025 13:24
The writers of midrash (rabbinic fan fiction) love weaving together two ostensibly unconnected stories and an intrigue-filled example is in this week’s sidrah. After Miriam speaks against Moses, with Aharon seemingly joining but not instigating, she is punished with tzaraat, a skin condition which left her skin white and flaky, and expelled from the camp for seven days.
From this story, the rabbis connect tzaraat and lashon hara – bad speech.
It is not easy to work out what Miriam said that deserved such a harsh punishment. The two statements “because of the Cushite woman he had taken” and “has God spoken only through Moses?” seem like non-sequiturs.
A midrash (in Sifre) connects the statements: Miriam had noticed Moses’s wife (let’s assume this was Zipporah, even though she was from Midian, not Cush) was no longer wearing jewellery and inferred that the couple had separated.
The reason for this, for the Midrash, is because of the second statement: “Has [God] not spoken through us as well?” In other words, because Moses was so wrapped up in his connection with God, he, to use the delicate language of the Midrash, “had separated from the commandment to be fruitful and multiply”.
Miriam and Aaron were also prophets but managed to remain married and of the world.
Then another midrash, quoted by Rashi, loops us back to a story a few verses earlier in the sidrah. God’s spirit is to extend from Moses, to 70 elders, to spread the load. Two of these men, Eldad and Medad, receive God’s spirit and begin to have prophecies in public:
“Miriam was beside Zipporah when it was told to Moses, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp’ (Numbers 11:27). When Zipporah heard this, she exclaimed, ‘Woe to the wives of these if they have anything to do with prophecy, for they will separate from their wives just has my husband has separated from me!’”
The Midrash gives us a glimpse into the untold stories of the desperate housewives of our prophets. It also empathises with them, challenging the idea that Miriam’s speech deserved punishment, as it came from a place of concern.
Prophecy (and arguably leadership to this day) is an honour, but one which can be all-consuming, taking the attention away from hearth and home. Let’s hope the leaders of today have a better work-life balance. Or woe to the wives – or husbands – of them.
Rabbi Lorie is rabbinical scholar of Jofa UK
Image: Miriam, cursed with leprosy (from mid-16th century Netherlands, now in Museum Schnütgen, Cologne/Wikimedia Commons)