Reader: Legend tells of Miriam's well of living waters that followed the Israelites through the desert and kept them alive.

(The leader pours water into the cup)

Reader: The well healed and sustained the Israelites throughout their forty-year journey through the desert. We hope that all will be sustained and rejuvenated on their journeys.

Reader: We must not forget the often overlooked women in the story of exodus, from Puah and Shiphrah, two Egyptian midwives who refused to drown Israelite baby boys, to the women who went through the Exodus, to Miriam the prophetess herself.

Reader: Zot Kos Miryam, kos mayim hayim. Zeikher l’yitziat Mitztrayim.

Reader: This is the Cup of Miriam, the cup of living waters. Let us remember the Exodus from Egypt. These are the living waters, God’s gift to Miriam, which gave new life to Israel as we struggled with ourselves in the wilderness. Blessed are You God, Who brings us from the narrows into the wilderness, sustains us with endless possibilities, and enables us to reach a new place.


haggadah Section: Introduction
Source: me, ("Miriam’s Cup blessing" 1996 Kol Ishah, PO Box 132, Wayland, Mass. 01778)