After Moshe completes his rendition of the great poem that describes the salvation of the people at the Red Sea, the Torah teaches that it was Miriam's turn to express herself.
"Miriam the prophetess, Aharon's sister, took the tambourine in her hand and all the women went forth with her taking tambourines and doing various dances…" (15: 20).
"Miriam called to them: "Sing to Hashem…" (15: 21). She repeats the refrain that Moshe has said along with the people. Moshe was the dominant brother, and he was the one who lead the prayers which Miriam imitates and it is reasonable that she should be called "Moshe's sister" in this context.
It is important to note that Rashbam (who followed Rashi's interpretive system) states that this is not really a problem. Miriam is called the sister of Aharon because Aharon was the oldest. Siblings are referred to while mentioning the oldest child.
Rashi is interested in something more-- the meaning of the words is not enough. Though Rashi could have interpreted as the Rashbam, he prefers to show that the sequence of words in the verse has a special meaning.
According to Rashi, we are taught the answer to the question: "where did she prophesize?" The answer to the question is that she prophesied while she was only Aharon's sister, before Moshe was born. She said then: "my mother is to give birth to a son who will save the people of Yisrael…" [Sotah 12b].
This has to be understood as follows. Miriam was not a prophetess because she engaged in prophecy at the time of the splitting of the sea and sang a song that Moshe had originated. She was a prophetess previously. As a result, she was now able to engage in the prophetic act of leading the women in singing the great poem.
Ramban points out at the end of Parashat Bo that one of the reasons that the plagues were announced by Moshe and discussed again and again by Moshe with Pharaoh, was in order to prove again and again that the event called yeziat mizraim, the exodus from Egypt, was determined through prophecy. This prophecy in turn makes it reasonable for the world to understand that the Torah is a possible reality.
Torah was given through prophecy, and the exodus from Egypt is a proof that such prophecy (torah) is possible.
Rashi points out that the song that Moshe sang was prophecy and had specific prophetic content. In his comment to another verse: "Then Moshe…will sing", Rashi explains the apparent future tense of the verb as follows: "this word yashir (he will sing) contains an allusion to the resurrection of the dead…" (15:1). This is clearly a statement that the content of the "song" was prophetic. Moshe was composing a "song" worthy of the Torah. (Rashi himself is not perfectly clear about this commentary. See his issue there.) The fact that the resurrection of the dead is only mentioned as a remez is very much the way of the Torah. Moshe's version of the song of the sea was a prophecy and contained specific information necessary for the forging of the Jewish people.
For Miriam the presentation in the Torah is different. "Miriam called out to them, "sing to Hashem for he is exalted…" (15: 21). Rashi explains that "Moshe led the men in song… and Miriam did the same for the women".
There is no obvious indication that Miriam led the women as a prophetess or that her "song" contained special prophetic information. If Rashbam is right then the song that Miriam sang was on a lower prophetic level than the song of Moshe. If that's true, perhaps the words "sister of Aharon" are meant to remind us of her familial connections. However, according to Rashi we are reminded that she was also a prophetess, and that her song is being sung within that context.
Though the event of the splitting of the sea enabled everyone to achieve a significant level of awareness of G-d, only Moshe and according to Rashi, Miriam, who had prophesized previously, were entitled to lead the people in song.
Gut Shabbos, Chaim Brovender
Missed a parasha? Visit the parasha archives...
Return to Yeshivat Hamivtar - Orot Lev
