Sotah 016

2:
Miriam waited on her baby brother therefore, years later, all Israel waited for Miriam. The Torah [Exodus 2:4] relates how Miriam stood watch over her baby brother as he lay in his ark in the bulrushes at the edge of the Nile (and promptly intervened when Pharaoh's daughter found the wailing infant). Years later, during the wandering in the desert, Miriam and Aaron maligned their brother Moses, thus earning divine wrath. The Torah [Numbers 12:1-16] tells the story. Miriam's punishment is that she is temporarily stricken with 'leprosy' (an affliction of some kind that whitened her skin). As a leper Miriam must be quarantined outside the camp for seven days and the Torah [Numbers 12:15] relates how the whole people waited until miriam could be received back inside the camp, and only then did they continue their journeying. Our mishnah sees this as 'measure for measure' with value added: Miriam waited for Moses, so all Israel waited for Miriam in reward.

3:
Joseph, the second youngest of all his brothers, gets the privilege of burying his father. (Making arrangements for the burial of one's kin is considered a great mitzvah in Jewish tradition, and in the case of a parent was usually reserved for the eldest son.) The Torah [Genesis 50:7-9] relates how Joseph the viceroy is permitted to leave Egypt in order to attend to the burial of his father in the Cave of Makhpelah in Hebron, the family burial plot. That he is the greatest of Jacob's sons is attested by the fact that he is accompanied by a royal guard of honour. Joseph's dying wish is that when the Israelites are finally permitted to leave Egypt they should not leave his remains behind. Centuries later it is none other than Moses who performs this mitzvah for Joseph and the Torah [Exodus 13:19] is careful to note that 'Moses took with him the bones of Joseph'. (Joseph's remains were finally buried in Eretz-Israel [Joshua 24:32].

4:
And this kindness of Moses itself is not unrewarded. Moses, the greatest of all the people of Israel, died alone on Mount Nebo in Transjordan. The Torah [Deuteronomy 34:6] is interpreted by the sages as indicating that it was none other than God himself who concerned himself with Moses' burial – a posthumous reward for having concerned himself with the preparations for Joseph's eventual burial.

5:
Finally, a verse in the prophets [Isaiah 58:8] is interpreted as indicating that the righteous are received by God himself into life everlasting.

This short excursus into aspects of divine retribution brings to an end the first chapter of our tractate. We shall continue with chapter 2 after Yom Kippur.

Lee Irwin writes:

I too believe that the main thrust of the legislation is psychological. However, to my sensibility, the objective is to provide a ritual that allows the husband to accept his wife back after a suspected adulterous relationship.

I respond:

I believe that we subsequently established this insight.

I wish all participants well over the fast and Gemar Ĥatimah Tovah.