Rebbe Nachman of Brezlov wrote these words that I feel are most appropriate to both the song of Miriam and Shabbat Shirah“. A holy melody has the power to bring one to the level of prophecy. Music is the foundation of true attachment to God. Get into the habit of always singing a tune. It will give you new life and send joy to your soul. Then you will be able to bind yourself to God”.
How do we interpret the Exodus from Egypt as described in Torah? Was it a miracle or a natural phenomenon? Whilst there are numerous views of how the Exodus from Egypt took place, a natural phenomenon is difficult to perceive as highlighted by the following tale: A young Jewish boy returning home from Cheder was asked by his father “What were taught in your class today?” The boy responds: “The teacher told us about the Israelites escape from Egypt. When the Israelites found themselves penned between the Egyptian Army and the Sea they constructed floating pontoons that allowed the people to drive over the sea to safety on the other side. As soon as the Egyptian tanks drove onto the floating pontoons the Israelites sent in F35 aircraft and bombed them.”The father seemed very surprised at his son’s response and asked him “Is that really what your teacher told you?” “ Well not really” answered the child, but if I told you what the teacher told us, you would never believe it!”
Torah informs us that the exodus from Egypt was not only a human effort but one that was made possible by God’s miraculous interventions. God guides the Israelites by providing an angel, a pillar of fire by night and a cloud of smoke by day. When the Israelites found themselves penned between the sea and Pharaoh’s army God divides the waters of the sea allowing the Israelites to walk across the sea bed to the safety of dry land on the other side.Then God rolled back the waters onto the pursuing Egyptian army drowning all of them including the horses and chariots. The Israelites were amazed at their good fortune and thanked God by singing the Song of the Sea that ends with Miriam’s song.
The question I shall attempt to answer later in my sermon is: Did Miriam actually sing. First a little background concerning Miriam. Miriam’s forthright courage, her faith and her ability to think and take decisive action, even as a young woman, help us to understand why God chose her, along with her brothers, Moses and Aaron, to lead the Israelites out of Egypt: “I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam” (Micah 6:4). Numbers 12:1-16 here it describes just how revered by the people Miriam was. Miriam and Aaron had slandered against their brother Moses regarding his relationship with his wife Zipporah. As a punishment for instigating the criticism against Moses, Miriam was afflicted with a divinely imposed scaly white skin condition, Moses prayed to God and Miriam was cured of her skin condition yet God decreed that she should be quarantined outside the camp for seven days before the camp could move on. And here the Torah tells us the most amazing thing concerning Miriam “ and the people did not march until Miriam was readmitted (Num 12:15). Thus indicating how much love and devotion the entire Jewish nation had for Miriam in that they decided to wait an entire week in the desert just for Miriam to return to the camp!
Miriam appears again in the narrative when the Israelites have left Egypt, led by Moses, and have just crossed the Sea to safety. Upon their miraculous rescue from the Egyptian army, now drowned, Moses and the Israelites sing a song to God known as the Song of the Sea. The song concludes with Miriam’s song in which she is identified as a prophetess “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”.
Miriam is finally mentioned again in Numbers 20:1 where we are told of her death in Kadesh and that she was buried there. While the Israelites wandered in the desert, the midrashic tradition recounts, they were followed by a miraculous well that provided them with water. Rashi, in his renowned 11th-century commentary on the Torah, associates Miriam with this miracle because after she died, the Israelites no longer had water. Rashi on Numbers 20:2:1
Now back to the question of did Miriam actually sing her song? We know that the Talmud cannot contradict the Bible this therefore casts doubts on whether Miriam actually sang to the men or just to the woman as the traditional Rabbinic law forbids a man to listen to a woman sing. Apparently the singing voice of a woman is considered sensual and possibly stimulating to men! There are exception to this ruling, for instance when a woman is singing in a group (e.g.choir) she is not perceived as drawing attention to herself. A recording of woman singing is also permitted e.g. when listening to a CD. A man may also listen to singing by his wife and daughters. This traditional Rabbinic law know as “Kol isha” (meaning a woman’s voice) is based on a verse from the Song of Songs 2:14.
“O my dove, in the cranny of the rocks,
Hidden by the cliff,
Let me see your face
Let me hear your voice
For your voice is sweet
and your face is comely”.
The Talmud interprets “kol isha” ervah to mean that the voice of a woman is nakedness. So it is unlikely that Miriam would have sung directly to the men but rather only to the woman.Then we encounter additional confusion when we compare Exodus 15:1 where it states יָשִֽׁיר־מֹשֶׁה֩ וּבְנֵ֨י יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל אֶת־הַשִּׁירָ֤ה “Moses and the Israelites sang this song”. t=Then moving forward to verse 21 we read in the JPS edition: וַתַּ֥עַן לָהֶ֖ם מִרְיָ֑ם שִׁ֤ירוּ לַֽיהֹוָה֙ “and Miriam chanted for them sing to the Lord”,whereas in the older edition of the Hertz verse 21 states “And Miriam sang onto them”. Although it remains unclear whether Miriam sang or chanted her song, the preferred image in my mind is one of seeing Miriam singing or chanting her repetitive melody just like a nigun, the women as swirling colours, dancing on the shores of the sea, timbrels in hand, singing to God”. Finally with the words by Rebbe Nachman of Brezlov still fresh in our minds: “Music is the foundation of true attachment to God” the Kol Echad choir are going to sing Debbie Friedman’s version of the song of Miriam.
Song of Miriam
Chorus
And the women dancing with their timbrels
Followed Miriam as she sang her song
Sing a song to the One whom we exalted
Miriam and the women danced and danced the whole night long.
And Miriam was a weaver of unique variety
The tapestry she wove was one which sang our history
With every strand and every thread she crafted her delight
A woman touched with spirit, she dances toward the light
Chorus
When Miriam stood upon the shores and gazed across the sea
The wonder of this miracle she soon came to believe
Whoever thought the sea would part with an outstretched hand
And we would pass to freedom and march to the promised land
Chorus
And Miriam the prophet took her timbrel in her hand
And all the women followed her just as she had planned
And Miriam raised her voice in song, she sang with praise and might
We’ve just lived through a miracle, we’re going to dance tonight.
Chorus
