There’s no image of the Exodus I like better than the circles of Israelite women dancing on the edge of the Red Sea, having crossed it on dry land. The Torah states, “And Miriam the Prophetess, sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed after her, singing.” Miriam was a little girl of 5 last we checked on her, and now she’s grown up to be a leader of women, dancing and singing in gratitude and praise after The Most Epic Night Ever™.

But where did the ladies get these timbrels, tambourines, and drums from, when they were previously in a land hostile to their traditions and celebrations? Well, that’s where our Rabbinic statement comes to show just how powerful the Israelite ladies were in the first place. Nobody spends the hours of drum-crafting — slowly threading sinew across skin and wood frame — without an intention to use the magical instrument. Miriam and her posse had a plan, and that plan involved redemption. When they danced and embodied the joy of liberation, they also celebrated the faith they had, the knowledge that a world of freedom existed just on the other end of the dark, scary sea — and that it was possible if only they created the tools to use on the other side. Miriam is for many the champion of the Exodus story, and for me she’s beyond that: She’s the paradigm shifter, the bringer of hope, the visionary. Because if we can truly visualize and believe the freedom that’s waiting for us on the other end, wouldn’t we do everything we can to make sure we’re properly equipped for the other side?


haggadah Section: Maggid - Beginning