Shabbos Parashas Chukas - 5778

Shabbos Parashas Chukas - 5778

Rabbi Hal Miller

The children of Israel, the entire assembly, arrived at the wilderness of Zin in the

first month, and the people resided in Kadesh, Miriam died there and she was

buried there. [Bamidbar 20:1]

Later in this chapter, the Torah gives us a number of verses on what happened at

the end of Aharon's life, but our verse has a simple, 3-word annotation that Miriam

died in Kadesh. Further, we see with Moshe that he died by the "kiss" of God. Rashi

tells us that this is also how Miriam died, but we do not see this in the verses. Is the

Torah being unfair to one of Amram and Yocheved's children here?

Ramban dismisses our question. He says that our verse is not a discussion of the

death of Miriam, but a discussion identifying the location of the people as they traveled,

thus we should not be reading anything else into it.

Rashi tells us also that the reason the verses do not mention the death by kiss is that

it would be inappropriate to discuss a kiss for a woman, and that we learn about

modesty from this. Miriam was treated with maximum honor by God, just as was Moshe,

but waving that fact about would not be tzniusdic. The verse equates Miriam and Moshe.

The Gemora in Moed Katan [28a] discusses our verse. It points out that the verse says

"Miriam died there and she was buried there", from which we learn that burial must be

shortly after death, which like Ramban, dismisses our question. But further, the death

of Miriam is told to us immediately after the section on the parah adumah, the red cow,

and that this teaches a connection. Just as the red cow comes to provide atonement, so

too the death of the righteous, the example being Miriam, brings atonement. It continues

in this same character for Aharon, that the verses regarding his death come next to a

discussion of the Kohen's garments, saying that just as the Kohen's garments bring

atonement, so does the death of the righteous, this time the example being Aharon, bring

atonement. Thus the Torah actually equates Miriam and Aharon.

Rav Hirsch agrees with these reasons, but adds a few more. He notes that at this point

in the chronology, all of the generation that was to die out in the desert had in fact died,

evidenced by the repetition in these verses of the phrase "the entire assembly",

meaning that the nation was now complete and ready to move into the land. The only

ones left were Moshe, Aharon, Miriam, Caleiv, and Yehoshua. Thus, he says, "She

had completed her mission on earth." How do we know she completed her task? The

women of the past generation were in fact exempt from the decree to die in the desert,

but needed leadership to keep them at this level. That was Miriam the prophetess's job.

Now that Moshe would turn leadership over to Yehoshua and the people would move into

the land, Yehoshua would become the leader of the entire assembly, not just the men.

The verses about Aharon discuss his being relieved of command in a retirement

ceremony. Moshe has something similar later on. Miriam's role was subdued for modesty

reasons, so also was her retirement. All three were treated effectively the same, as

Yehoshua combined the roles into one for the entrance into the land.