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Siblings With a Cause
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Miriam, Moses & Aaron Siblings With a Cause

Write your D'var Torah!

Tell people what your parsha is and what happens at first.

Talk about the relationship of Moses, Miriam and Aaron - they all go back a long way! To birth!

Miriam waited for Moses when he was floating down the Nile and cared for him.

Aaron was Moses' spokesperson.

Then share what we learn from the parsha.

Connect it to the other sibling rivalries, if you want to expand on the topic.

Talk about what you/we learn for our lives from the Torah portion.

וכן לענין הטובה מרים המתינה למשה שעה אחת שנאמר (שמות ב, ד) ותתצב אחותו מרחוק לפיכך נתעכבו לה ישראל ז' ימים במדבר שנאמר (במדבר יב, טו) והעם לא נסע עד האסף מרים
The mishna continues: And the same is so with regard to the reward of good deeds; a person is rewarded measure for measure. Miriam waited for the baby Moses for one hour at the shore of the Nile, as it is stated: “And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him” (Exodus 2:4). Therefore the Jewish people delayed their travels in the desert for seven days to wait for her when she was smitten with leprosy, as it is stated: “And Miriam was confined outside of the camp seven days; and the people journeyed not until Miriam was brought in again” (Numbers 12:15).
(א) ותען להם מרים. מֹשֶׁה אָמַר שִׁירָה לָאֲנָשִׁים – הוּא אוֹמֵר וְהֵם עוֹנִין אַחֲרָיו – וּמִרְיָם אָמְרָה שִׁירָה לַנָּשִׁים (סוטה ל'):
(1) ותען להם מרים AND MIRIAM SANG UNTO THEM — Moses sang the Song to the men — he sang it and they repeated it after him; and Miriam sang the Song to the women and they repeated if after her (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 15:20:2).

These two sources show how Moses and Miriam had a special relationship. She waited for him when he was in the basket on the Nile, and they later in life led the music and singing after the Children of Israel crossed the Red Sea.

(א) וַתְּדַבֵּ֨ר מִרְיָ֤ם וְאַהֲרֹן֙ בְּמֹשֶׁ֔ה עַל־אֹד֛וֹת הָאִשָּׁ֥ה הַכֻּשִׁ֖ית אֲשֶׁ֣ר לָקָ֑ח כִּֽי־אִשָּׁ֥ה כֻשִׁ֖ית לָקָֽח׃
(1) Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married: “He married a Cushite woman!”
(ט) וַיִּֽחַר אַ֧ף יְהוָ֛ה בָּ֖ם וַיֵּלַֽךְ׃
(9) Still incensed with them, the LORD departed.

Who is God really mad at? It could be that God is upset with ALL of them - the three siblings! For fighting in the first place. The normal way we read it is that God punishes Miriam with leprosy. But, another way of looking at it is that God makes a "miracle" of sorts and whitens her hand, so that the brothers' compassion and caring is called into action.

(יא) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אַהֲרֹ֖ן אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה בִּ֣י אֲדֹנִ֔י אַל־נָ֨א תָשֵׁ֤ת עָלֵ֙ינוּ֙ חַטָּ֔את אֲשֶׁ֥ר נוֹאַ֖לְנוּ וַאֲשֶׁ֥ר חָטָֽאנוּ׃ (יב) אַל־נָ֥א תְהִ֖י כַּמֵּ֑ת אֲשֶׁ֤ר בְּצֵאתוֹ֙ מֵרֶ֣חֶם אִמּ֔וֹ וַיֵּאָכֵ֖ל חֲצִ֥י בְשָׂרֽוֹ׃ (יג) וַיִּצְעַ֣ק מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֶל־יְהוָ֖ה לֵאמֹ֑ר אֵ֕ל נָ֛א רְפָ֥א נָ֖א לָֽהּ׃ (פ)
(11) And Aaron said to Moses, “O my lord, account not to us the sin which we committed in our folly. (12) Let her not be as one dead, who emerges from his mother’s womb with half his flesh eaten away.” (13) So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “O God, pray heal her!”

Then Aaron and Moses pray for her! Each in their own way takes responsibility. Here Aaron and Moses are seen working together to ask God to heal their sister. Really they are all asked to their parts in getting the siblings back together, so that they can lead and the People can move forward. There needs to be not only healing but a cooling off time. The People are patient, because they know Miriam, Aaron and Moses are "working it out" with God's help.

WHERE ELSE DO WE FIND SIBLING RIVALRY IN THE TORAH?

Isaac / Ishmael

Jacob / Esau

Joseph & The Brothers...his father gave him the cloak with stripes or colors / they threw him into the pit / ...dreams...that he was better than all of them...then all the brothers got jealous and mad...sold him for slavery....went down to Egypt...but he ultimately landed in Pharoah's court!

In the end, after their father's (Jacob's) death, when they all lived in Egypt, in Goshen, the brothers worried that he would exact revenge. Instead, what does Joseph say? He forgave them and said God arranged all this!

So what does that teach us? Could be that God is more in control than we know, and when it comes to siblings - there's going to be rough spots! Hopefully not as bad as Joseph's and his brothers'.

And if we put trust in God - as Moses, Miriam and Aaron did AND as Joseph did they can accept their situations and be happier and work better together.

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