Rabbi Jason Miller is an educator, blogger and entrepreneur. He lives in Detroit, Michigan with his family. Follow him on Facebook (http://facebook.com/rabbijasonmiller) and Twitter @RabbiJason.

One of my favorite biblical characters is Miriam. Some may refer to her in a relative way, like “Miriam, the sister of Moses,” but I do not. I consider Miriam to be a strong enough character in the Bible that she doesn’t require that sort of description. Rather, I like to refer to her as Miriam the Prophetess, the chosen way the rabbinic sages call her.

Miriam is first mentioned as a prophetess in Exodus 15:20, and the rabbis teach that the spirit of prophecy came to her when she was still a child. While she’s only mentioned six times in the Torah, she is arguably the most important female personality.

A woman recently asked me if Miriam was married and had children. I quickly thought about the question and responded that the Torah doesn’t mention a husband or children for Miriam, but I was certain to mention an important fact about this strong woman of the Israelite people – she was likely a wonderful aunt to her brothers’ children.

Why would I say such a thing when there’s no record of Miriam’s aunthood in the Bible either? Enter modern midrash. Midrash is the practice of creating stories based on the biblical text to help us better understand the message of the Bible. And a modern midrash would be to look at Miriam not as a sister to Moses, but as a strong, devoted and doting aunt to her brother’s children.

While it is rare that a woman is mentioned in the Bible without being identified as a man’s wife, I think it’s fair to say that Miriam was unique. This prophetess, poetess, leader and singer was there to help her nephews during difficult times. It couldn’t have been easy being the sons of Moses, but I’d like to think that Auntie Miriam was there for those boys. Like the millions of Savvy Aunties after her, she was fun to be with and also showered her nephews with love.

There’s a tragic story about the sudden and bizarre death of two of Aaron’s sons. I’d like to believe that Auntie Miriam was immediately there to bring comfort to her brother Aaron and other members of his family. That’s a common role played by aunts and I think it’s fair to say that Miriam fit that role well.

So if anyone ever asks if there was a Savvy Auntie in the Bible, I won’t hesitate to mention Miriam the Prophetess who could likewise be called Miriam the Aunt. She was a strong, principled and charismatic leader of the Israelite people in the desert. She cared about her family and set a high bar for future generations of aunts.

Photo: www.bildindex.de
Published: May 7, 2013