The Transformational Leadership of Miriam

This past Saturday night I had the privilege of learning about the Torah portion with the children of Kesher Israel at our monthly Parent-Child learning program.   We looked at leadership in this week’s parsha.  Moshe is one kind of leader -0his character of leadership seems to be concern for individuals and sticking up for the underdog- for instance when he defends the Jewish slave from the Egyptian taskmaster.  Miriam’s is another kind of leader and her characteristic seems to be bravery and taking charge.  Though she is a slave woman she talks to and offers guidance to the princess of Egypt. And ensures her brother will be nurtured by his Jewish birth-mother. She is also reputed to be one of the midwives who heroically defied Pharaoh’s decree to kill the male Jewish babies.

But the name Miriam is a curious one.  It contains the word mayim, water, and also the word mar, bitter.  Her name seems to mean “bitter sea”.   In fact the midrash states: “Why is her name called “Miriam”? Because in her lifetime, the Egyptians “embittered” the lives of our ancestors in Egypt.”  Yet she is credited by the Midrash with brining the Jewish people a well of drinking water in the desert.

How do we reconcile these two associations with Miriam, a brave leader who brings water when there is none, and yet the bearer of a name that evokes bitterness?

Professor Wendy Zierler points out that the word “mar” has more than one meaning.  It not only means “bitter” but “changing,” as in the word “temurah” which is a sacrifice that is exchanged for another animal.   This translation renders her name not “watters of bitterness” but “waters of change.”  One Hebrew dictionary suggests that the word mar connotes a bitterness resulting from change, something that began as sweet and became bitter rather than something which from its inception was bitter.  In this way the meaning of the word mar as “bitter” and mar as “changing” are related.

I would suggest that this meaning of Miriam’s name appropriately relates also to her unique leadership characteristic, bravery.   Bravery springs from hope, from the trust that things can be different.   Though Moshe as a male Jewish child has been condemned to death by Pharaoh, it does not have to be so.   Miriam believed that even in the face of seeming hopelessness we can find a way to change the situation.

At the sea Moshe sings in praise to God for splitting it, but Miriam does more, she sings and also dances.   To dance is not just to be thankful but jubilant, transformational, constantly moving and changing places.  The Midrash says that Miriam was the first to recognize God at the splitting sea.  Perhaps this is who she was, a woman who sees the potential for positive change, and this is where her bravery comes from and her ability to sweeten the bitter watters.  If the sweet can become bitter, then the bitter can become transformed into sweet.   This is Miriam’s unique transformational leadership reflected by the true meaning of her name.