There is often great paradox in the Bible: the same story which contains one of the most heartfelt pleas for God’s help, El nah refah na lah (“God please heal her”) — words which we invoke to this very day to express our compassion for those who are suffering from illness — that same story also gives one of the most vivid biblical examples of how one can lose faith in the face of tragedy.

In this week’s sidrah Miriam is stricken with tzara’at, a skin disease described in detail in Leviticus 13 causing snow-white scales. Moses calls out to God to heal his sister, who is banished into the wilderness. 

But the Bible scholar Phyllis Trible suggests that while the period of time in the wilderness confirms Miriam’s cleanliness, it does not restore her to wholeness. After her punishment, she never speaks, nor is she spoken to. Indeed, she disappears altogether from the narrative until the announcement of her death. 

So the challenge that Miriam’s story presents us is finding that balance between faith and loss of faith, between finding strength and hope in God at times of tragedy, as Moses did, and giving up on faith altogether, as Miriam might have done. 

The American Reform Rabbi Lawrence Kushner quotes the late Dr Samuel Sandmel addressing a class of rabbinical students: “Gentlemen, if you don’t seriously doubt the existence of God every few weeks, you are theologically comatose.” 

The Bible’s account of Miriam’s story validates our own human experience while at the same time calling on us to find a way to retain our faith even at times that challenge it.