When we know our internal worth, we can see the true source
The Midrash tell us this describes Miriam Haneviah. As a young girl, Miriam had a prophecy that her mother would bear the redeemer of Am Yisrael. After Moshe Rabbeinu was born and the situation in Egypt became worse, her father, Amram, scolded her, asking, “Where is the realization of your prophecy? The people are still suffering so terribly!” Miriam was “misametzes,” she stood firm in her belief in redemption.
The Kli Yakar sees this quality expressed throughout the Torah’s portrayal of Miriam. Working with her mother as a midwife, Miriam was commanded to kill all the newborn Jewish boys. Not only did Miriam keep the babies alive, she cooed at and coddled the babies, encouraging them to thrive, fully believing they would grow up in a better future. She remained unwavering in her confidence that Hashem had not forgotten His people.
Once Moshe was born, Miriam continued to believe in her nevuah, even as she stood at the riverbank watching to see what would happen to her baby brother. Rav Elya Meir Bloch ztz”l in Peninei Da’as explains that Miriam was absolutely sure that a miracle would happen. This was the quality that inspired Miriam to call the women to join her with musical instruments and celebrate the miracle of Kri’as Yam Suf. Notes Rav Bloch, Miriam instilled this middah — to never despair of salvation even in the most precarious of situations — in Jewish women for all time.
Rav Zalman Sorotzkin, in Oznayim L’Torah, adds that we can look at the verb used to describe Miriam at the bank of the Nile to further understand her greatness. “Vateisatzav achoso meirachok l’deiah mah yei’aseh lo — his sister stood from afar, to know what would be done to him.” (Shemos 2:4) “Yetzivus” connotes steadfastness.
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