National Memory

Rabbi Maury Grebenau

Miriam was one of our greatest prophetesses and a courageous leader of the Jewish
people. This week she makes disparaging comments about her brother, Moshe. The Ramban
(Devarim 24:8) and Rambam (Tumaas Tzaraas 16:10) are both quick to minimize the infraction.
Nonetheless, it is not Miriam’s proudest moment. What is most amazing is not that even one of
our greatest leaders slipped up but that time and time again the Torah records these events for
posterity. Reuven, Moshe, Aharon, Miriam, Dovid, the list goes on and on. The errors of our
greatest figures are immortalized in the Torah for all to see.

With Miriam, the Torah goes even farther, in Devarim (24:8) we are told to remember
what occurred to Miriam. Not only is does the Torah refrain from sweeping this event under the
carpet but it is one of the few things which we are told we must become part of our national
memory (zachor). The Ramban (Devarim 24:8, Shichechas Asein #7) feels that this should be
counted as one of the 613 Mitzvos. He goes as far as to say that the Mitzva requires us to make a
verbal declaration showing our recall of the event. Based on this, some have the custom to
mention the six instances where the Torah commands us to recall an event, each and every day.
How are we to understand the fact that we are commanded to speak about Miriam’s slip up each
day? Are we not supposed to honor such a great person? Why aren’t we commanded to mention
her positive qualities and accomplishments each day?

The lesson here is a fantastically important one. What makes our figures so great is not
their perfection. It is the very fact that they are imperfectly human, just like the rest of us, and yet
they were able to reach such dizzying heights of spirituality. We learn not only from their
triumphs but also from their mistakes and how they dealt with them. Perhaps we learn even more
from their errors. When we recount the leadership of Miriam at the splitting of the sea and her
courageousness in the face of Paroah’s daughter, we may feel deflated, instead of inspired. We
may look to Miriam and feel wholly inadequate. It isn’t a simple task to make Miriam’s selfless
actions relevant to our own lives.

However, a comment about a loved one which wasn’t fully thought out is much easier to
map to our lives. Unfortunately, it is far too easy for us to find instances of Lashon Horah in our
own lives. Here the Torah asks us to use Miriam as a role model as well. Miriam and Aharon
understood their error. Aharon apologized and Miriam received her punishment with equanimity.
No doubt, she spent her time outside of the camp meditating on her error and preparing herself to
be even greater when she returned. Their infraction may have been minor but for them it was an
area which needed work. They rose to the challenge and took it as an opportunity for
introspection and self-development.
 The Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah 16:6) tells us that the proximity of this event to that of
the spies shows us that the spies did not learn from Miriam. They were not able to take the
lessons of this occurrence to heart and they made an all too similar mistake. We are commanded
to take a different path. Mistakes are inevitable, for to err is human. The point of our focus must
be the aftermath of our slipups. Miriam is a shining example of learning from her mistakes. She
is among the women who do not listen to the words of the spies in their report about the land
(Yalkut Shimoni Pinchas, Bamidbar Rabbah 21). Miriam and the women of the generation, in
the footsteps of the daughters of Tzlafchad, were the ones who were able to see clearly through
the mistake of the spies. It is this quality of Miriam that we are commanded to take to heart each
day and to make part of our national memory.