This week's parsha begins with the laws of the Parah Adumah, also known as the Red Heifer. Immediately following this section, the Torah records the death of Miriam, shortly before the nation enters the Holy Land. Actually, the laws of the Parah Adumah had been given long before the death of Miriam, during the second year that the nation was in the wilderness, and this prompted the midrash to ask why her death is placed, in the Torah, next to the laws of the Parah Adumah. The juxtaposition, answers the midrash, teaches us that just as the korbanos - the sacrifices in the mishkan - bring atonement, so, too, does the death of the righteous bring atonement. Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Lubavitcher Rebbe, asks, in his Iggeres HaKodesh, chapter 28, why this lesson is taught in regard to the Red Heifer. Granted, he says, that it is called 'chatas' - or a sin ofering - still though, it is brought outside of the mishkan. Why don't we learn this lesson in connection with a more standard chatas, which is brought on the altar in the mishkan? This question is also asked by Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin, in his commentary Oznayim LeTorah. He answers that each time a Parah Adumah was prepared, some of the ashes produced and used in the purification process were preserved, as prescribed by the Torah, and lasted for many years. The Parah Adumah, thus, had a long-term purifying effect on the Jewish people. In the same way, he writes, the death of a tzadik has a long-term purifying effect on the Jewish nation. This answer, however, does not explain the significance of the Parah Adumah for the specific atoning effect of the death of Miriam, which is something that R. Shneur Zalman does address in his answer.  

Although R. Shneur Zalman's answer is suffused with the intricacies of kabbalah, there are some points which can be gleaned from it which can have meaning for us on a more basic level. R. Shneur Zalman refers to the divine effluence, symbolized as water, that comes to the world as a result of the actions of a tzadik - a righteous person, and then refers to a midrash in Yalkut Shimoni in parshas Shemini, which phrases the lesson of the juxtaposition differently from the midrash we quoted previously. The Yalkut there says that just as the waters of the chatas, consisting of a mixture of ashes from the burned Parah Adumah mixed with water drawn specifically for this process, bring atonement, through being sprinkled on the impure person, so too does the death of the righteous bring atonement. Thus, the emphasis in the atonement process of the Parah Adumah that is relevant to the lesson we learn from its juxtaposition to the death of Miriam is focused on the function of water. As we shall, see, this has special meaning in regard to Miriam and her importance for the Jewish nation.


The rabbis tell us that the water supply - a well - of the Israelite nation during its sojourn in the wilderness came through the merit of Miriam. After her death, this source was gone for a short time, and for this reason the people complained to Moshe about their thirst. Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim of Lunshitz, in his commentary Keli Yakar, points out that the reason for the temporary loss of water was due to the fact that the people did not eulogize Miriam properly. Part of the idea behind the atonement effected by the death of the righteous is that through their death, we come to assess their influence on us, and in this way we make their teachings and example more relevant in our lives than they were even during their lifetime. When this assessment is not made, the opposite effect occurs, and we lose whatever residual benefit that remained from them. Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, of blessed memory, has pointed out that water is one of the everyday things in our lives that we take for granted. When one stops to think, however, he realizes that life would not be possible without water, and we need to be cognizant of our debt to God for constantly supplying us with the water we need. It was through Miriam's righteousness that the people merited receiving their water supply from God during their time in the wilderness, and they needed to reflect on this fact upon her death. Their failure to do so led to their loss of that supply. Why, however, was it Miriam who had this merit?

A sensitivity to  the importance of everyday things, as we have shown from Rabbi Soloveitchik, reminds us of God's constant providence. Rav Aharon Soloveitchick, of blessed memory, often pointed out that it is a characteristic feminine trait to be able to find a deeper meaning in all that occurs in one's life. The Torah tells us, in parshas Chayei Sarah, that God blessed Avrohom 'bakol' - with everything (Bereishis 20:1). A number of explanations are given by the rabbis for this expression, some of which are cited by the Ramban in his commentary. One of these opinions is that Avrohom had a daughter whose name was 'ba-kol.' The Ramban explains this to mean that the word 'ba-kol' refers to the eighth of God's midos, or traits. Although kabbalistic commentators on the Ramban say that he is referring to one of the sefiros, or divine emanations, Rav Aharon said he was referring to the eighth of God's thirteen attributes of mercy, the attribute of truth. This attribute, the Ramban is saying, is called 'bakol', and it is referred to by the rabbis as Avrohom's daughter because it is a feminine trait. Women, said Rav Aharon, are able to find truth and meaning in everything that happens in life, even in seemingly trivial things. The Torah is telling us that Avrohom was blessed with this trait, as well. We can perhaps speculate that he learned this trait from Sarah.

Miriam, too, had a sense for the importance of everyday things, as we can see from the way in which she cared for her younger brother Moshe in his infancy. Keli Yakar points out that she was constantly doing acts of chesed - kindness - for people, and that is why water - which in kabbalah is referred to as chesed, as elaborated upon by R. Shneur Zalman in his exposition - was given through her merit. Perhaps we can add that her understanding of the importance of small, seemingly insignificant details in life kept her attuned to needs that would otherwise be neglected, and led her to do the acts of chesed she was known for. This constant awareness of the small, everyday things in life should, ultimately, direct our attention to God, Who is the ultimate supplier of our needs. When Miriam died, the people should have eulogized her, and learned from this important trait that she exemplified, and thus drawn closer to God. In this way, her death would have brought atonement. We still need to understand, however, the connection between the Parah Adumah, specifically, and the lesson we learn from Miriam. I believe that we can understand this connection by referring to another teaching of Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik.

The mitzvah of Parah Adumah is classified by the rabbis as the ultimate example of a chok, a law whose reason is not readily understood by the human mind. What is the mystery of the Parah Adumah, that has perplexed even the wisest of people over the generations? Usually, this mystery is explained as coming from the paradoxical law that on the one hand the Red Heifer purifies those people upon whom its watery ashes are sprinkled, while on the other hand it causes those involved in its preparation to become impure. Alternatively, some see the mystery in the fact that this korban is brought outside of the Temple, even though such a practice is forbidden in regard to other korbanos. Rav Soloveichik, however, (see Man of Faith in the Modern World : Reflections of the Rav, Volume Two, pps. 100-116), thought that the mystery lay elsewhere. The Parah Adumah, he explained, purifies people who had become impure through contact with a human corpse. Thus, it was the mystery of death itself, as symbolized by the procedure of the Parah Adumah, that so mystified people over the generations. Man cannot make peace with the fact that he eventually has to die, and he needs divine help in order to function with this awareness. This need for divine assistance is symbolized by the fact that whereas in all other purification processes one need merely enter into a mikvah to become pure, when it comes to the Parah Adumah, there is, in addition, a need for a sprinkling process. The difference here is that while a person is able to enter the mikvah on his own, he needs another entity to sprinkle water upon him.While man must make his own effort to grapple with death, as symbolized by the need to immerse himself in the mikvah, says Rav Soloveitchik, it is God Who sprinkles the purification waters upon him - as the prophet tells us. "And I will sprinkle pure waters upon you" (Yechezkel 36:25) - helping us deal with our own mortality. An awareness of God's presence, which gives us a sense of the immortality of the soul and a meaning to our existence, despite the fact that we all, ultimately, must die, is what helps purify man after contact with a corpse, or, in a wider sense, a sense of his own mortality.

Based on Rav Soloveitchik's analysis, we can now understand the juxtaposition of the death of Miriam to the mitzvah of Parah Adumah. Just as the mitzvah of Parah Adumah directs our attention to God, in our attempt to find meaning in life despite the reality of our mortality, so too, did Miriam, as the one through whom we merited to have water in the wilderness, direct our thoughts to God, Who supplies us with all our everyday needs. An assessment of Miriam's role in teaching us to have a constant awareness of God in our lives, on a more mundane level, then, would have an effect similar to that of the Red Heifer, which forces us to rely upon God on a more spiritual level, assuring us that our lives have ultimate meaning.