J-Women

MIRIAM’S WELL
MIRIAM'S TORAH
THE DEPTHS OF WOMEN

“And Miriam died ...(subsequently) there was no water” Numbers Ch.20

The Torah of Moses was received on Mt. Sinai. The mountain was on fire as Moses brought down the
Torah of black fire on white fire. Fire is holy. It gives light and warmth. It has the ability to give over of
itself completely in order to create another fire. When one candle lights another, it utilizes all its’
faculties to bring out the potential within the next candle, without losing itself at all. The first flame
retains all of its’ existence even after giving over all of itself. The limitations of fire are that one must
keep a respectful distance or suffer harm. Fire can be neither internalized nor touched.
The Torah view of women can be compared to water, well water to be more precise. Well water is
pure and life giving but hidden beneath the surface. In order to acquire water from a well, one must
first find a suitable location, then dig deeply and finally reach down and draw up the water.

Just as well water, women in many societies are judged by men primarily for their surface qualities.
Women, because of the curse placed upon them after the eating of the fruit of the
Tree of Knowledge, have an innate desire to assess their value based upon men’s judgement of their
surface qualities. (This curse is not to be construed as punishment, but rather as the inevitable
consequence of a mindset that began with Chava accepting Adam’s blame, “The woman you gave to
be with me, she gave me of the tree to eat”).
This is tragic because the world is predicated upon successful relationships,
which are devoid of blame and guilt.
When a man devalues a woman and she in turn devalues herself,
they, their relationship and their offspring are all cheated of their potential for paradise.
A woman’s real beauty lies beneath the surface.
It must be identified and carefully drawn out in order to thrive.

Women’s Torah, because of our inability to allow women to flourish beyond surface abilities
(daughter, wife, mother, housekeeper, plaything), continues to remain hidden beneath the surface.
Miriam, however, like the matriarchs before her,
was esteemed for those qualities that lay beyond their surface beauty.
Miriam was instrumental in bringing Moses into the world. She encouraged her parents
to resume normal family life in spite of Pharaoh’s decree of death upon all male babies.
She placed baby Moses in a tevah-(ark) on the Nile and subsequently arranged
for his mother, Yocheved, to nurse him for Batya, his adoptive mother.
In Miriam’s merit, a water well traveled in the desert giving life to three million people for forty years.
The attributes of water are that it warms, cools and quenches thirst.
Unlike fire, water can be touched, it can be internalized and one can immerse completely within it.

I heard Shlomo Carlebach say on several occasions that Mashiach (Messianic life as depicted by the
ancient prophets) will not happen until women correct Chava’s error of and cease bearing the blame.
This will not happen until women empower themselves via learning Torah
and bringing out the untapped feminine aspects of Torah.

Torahs from the Heart is sponsored by
NISHMAT KOL CHAI --“innovative jewish solutions”
Rabbi Yisroel Finman—Founder and Director