Beha'alotecha: Honoring the Silent Cushite Woman

סידור אשכנז, ימי חול, תפילת שחרית, הכנה לתפילה, ברכות התורה א׳

(א) בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְותָיו וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲסוק בְּדִבְרֵי תורָה:

Siddur Ashkenaz, Weekday, Shacharit, Preparatory Prayers, Torah Blessings 1

(1) Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us to be involved with words of Torah.

במדבר י״ב

(א) וַתְּדַבֵּ֨ר מִרְיָ֤ם וְאַהֲרֹן֙ בְּמֹשֶׁ֔ה עַל־אֹד֛וֹת הָאִשָּׁ֥ה הַכֻּשִׁ֖ית אֲשֶׁ֣ר לָקָ֑ח כִּֽי־אִשָּׁ֥ה כֻשִׁ֖ית לָקָֽח׃ (ב) וַיֹּאמְר֗וּ הֲרַ֤ק אַךְ־בְּמֹשֶׁה֙ דִּבֶּ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה הֲלֹ֖א גַּם־בָּ֣נוּ דִבֵּ֑ר וַיִּשְׁמַ֖ע יְהוָֽה׃ (ג) וְהָאִ֥ישׁ מֹשֶׁ֖ה ענו [עָנָ֣יו] מְאֹ֑ד מִכֹּל֙ הָֽאָדָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הָאֲדָמָֽה׃ (ס) (ד) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה פִּתְאֹ֗ם אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֤ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן֙ וְאֶל־מִרְיָ֔ם צְא֥וּ שְׁלָשְׁתְּכֶ֖ם אֶל־אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד וַיֵּצְא֖וּ שְׁלָשְׁתָּֽם׃ (ה) וַיֵּ֤רֶד יְהוָה֙ בְּעַמּ֣וּד עָנָ֔ן וַֽיַּעֲמֹ֖ד פֶּ֣תַח הָאֹ֑הֶל וַיִּקְרָא֙ אַהֲרֹ֣ן וּמִרְיָ֔ם וַיֵּצְא֖וּ שְׁנֵיהֶֽם׃ (ו) וַיֹּ֖אמֶר שִׁמְעוּ־נָ֣א דְבָרָ֑י אִם־יִֽהְיֶה֙ נְבִ֣יאֲכֶ֔ם יְהוָ֗ה בַּמַּרְאָה֙ אֵלָ֣יו אֶתְוַדָּ֔ע בַּחֲל֖וֹם אֲדַבֶּר־בּֽוֹ׃ (ז) לֹא־כֵ֖ן עַבְדִּ֣י מֹשֶׁ֑ה בְּכָל־בֵּיתִ֖י נֶאֱמָ֥ן הֽוּא׃ (ח) פֶּ֣ה אֶל־פֶּ֞ה אֲדַבֶּר־בּ֗וֹ וּמַרְאֶה֙ וְלֹ֣א בְחִידֹ֔ת וּתְמֻנַ֥ת יְהוָ֖ה יַבִּ֑יט וּמַדּ֙וּעַ֙ לֹ֣א יְרֵאתֶ֔ם לְדַבֵּ֖ר בְּעַבְדִּ֥י בְמֹשֶֽׁה׃ (ט) וַיִּֽחַר אַ֧ף יְהוָ֛ה בָּ֖ם וַיֵּלַֽךְ׃ (י) וְהֶעָנָ֗ן סָ֚ר מֵעַ֣ל הָאֹ֔הֶל וְהִנֵּ֥ה מִרְיָ֖ם מְצֹרַ֣עַת כַּשָּׁ֑לֶג וַיִּ֧פֶן אַהֲרֹ֛ן אֶל־מִרְיָ֖ם וְהִנֵּ֥ה מְצֹרָֽעַת׃

Numbers 12

(1) Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married: “He married a Cushite woman!” (2) They said, “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” The LORD heard it. (3) Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any other man on earth. (4) Suddenly the LORD called to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting.” So the three of them went out. (5) The LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, stopped at the entrance of the Tent, and called out, “Aaron and Miriam!” The two of them came forward; (6) and He said, “Hear these My words: When a prophet of the LORD arises among you, I make Myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream. (7) Not so with My servant Moses; he is trusted throughout My household. (8) With him I speak mouth to mouth, plainly and not in riddles, and he beholds the likeness of the LORD. How then did you not shrink from speaking against My servant Moses!” (9) Still incensed with them, the LORD departed. (10) As the cloud withdrew from the Tent, there was Miriam stricken with snow-white scales! When Aaron turned toward Miriam, he saw that she was stricken with scales.

רש"י על במדבר י״ב:א׳:ב׳-ג׳

(ב) ותדבר מרים ואהרן. הִיא פָתְחָה בְדִּבּוּר תְּחִלָּה, לְפִיכָךְ הִקְדִּימָהּ הַכָּתוּב, וּמִנַּיִן הָיְתָה יוֹדַעַת מִרְיָם שֶׁפֵּרֵשׁ מֹשֶׁה מִן הָאִשָּׁה? רַבִּי נָתָן אוֹמֵר מִרְיָם הָיְתָה בְצַד צִפּוֹרָה בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר לְמֹשֶׁה אֶלְדָּד וּמֵידָד מִתְנַבְּאִים בַּמַּחֲנֶה, כֵּיוָן שֶׁשָּׁמְעָה צִפּוֹרָה, אָמְרָה אוֹי לְנְשׁוֹתֵיהֶן שֶׁל אֵלּוּ אִם הֵם נִזְקָקִים לִנְבוּאָה, שֶׁיִּהְיוּ פוֹרְשִׁין מִנְּשׁוֹתֵיהֶן כְּדֶרֶךְ שֶׁפֵּרֵשׁ בַּעְלִי מִמֶּנִּי, וּמִשָּׁם יָדְעָה מִרְיָם וְהִגִּידָה לְאַהֲרֹן; וּמַה מִּרְיָם שֶׁלֹּא נִתְכַּוְּנָה לִגְנוּתוֹ כָּךְ נֶעֶנְשָׁה, קַל וָחֹמֶר לִמְסַפֵּר בִּגְנוּתוֹ שֶׁל חֲבֵרוֹ (ספרי): (ג) האשה הכשית. מַגִּיד שֶׁהַכֹּל מוֹדִים בְּיָפְיָהּ כְּשֵׁם שֶׁהַכֹּל מוֹדִים בְּשַׁחֲרוּתוֹ שֶׁל כּוּשִׁי (שם):

Rashi on Numbers 12:1:2-3

(2) ותדבר מרים ואהרן AND MIRIAM AND AARON SPAKE — She opened the conversation, therefore Scripture mentions her first. And whence did Miriam know that Moses had separated himself from his wife (for this was the statement she made; cf. Rashi below)? R. Nathan answered: “Miriam was beside Zipporah When it was told to Moses, ‘Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp’ (Numbers 11:27). When Zipporah heard this, she exclaimed, Woe to the wives of these if they have anything to do with prophecy, for they will separate from their wives just has my husband has separated from me!” It was from this that Miriam knew about it, and she told it to Aaron. Now what was the case with Miriam who had no intention to disparage him? She was punished thus severely! How much the more will this be so in the case of one who intentionally speaks in disparagement of this fellow”! (Sifrei Bamidbar 99). (3) האשה הכשית THE CUSHITE WOMAN — This tells us that all agreed as to her beauty just as all agree as to the blackness of an Aethopian (cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 99).

רבנו בחיי, במדבר י״ב:א׳:ב׳

(ב) על אודות האשה הכושית. היא צפורה שהיא מדינית, ומדינים הם ישמעאלים והם דרים באהלים, כדכתיב (חבקוק ג׳:ז׳-ח׳) ירגזו יריעות ארץ מדין, ואין ביניהם לבן מפני תוקף חמימות השמש. והטעם כי אשה כושית לקח הוא הדבור שדברה מרים, והיו חושבים שלא נמנע משה מהיות עם צפורה אלא בשביל שאינה יפה. ואונקלוס שתרגם אתתא שפירתא, כנוי הוא דרך כבוד, כמו שקורין לעור סגי נהור. ולכך הזכיר והאיש משה ענו מאד כי הכתוב יעיד על ענותנותו שלא ידע בה אם היתה יפה אם לאו כענין הנזכר באברהם אבינו.

Rabbeinu Bahya, Bamidbar 12:1:2

(2) על אודות האשה הכושית, “on account of the woman of Cushite origin.” The woman in question was Tzipporah who was a Midianite. Midianites were descendants of the Ishmaelites, nomads, dwelling in tents. We base this on Chabakuk 3,7: “the tents of Cushan, shaken at the pavilions of the land of Midian.” There were no white-skinned people among the Midianites due to the sun being very hot in that country. The reason Miriam spoke out was because Moses had married a “black-skinned woman.” Miriam thought that the reason Moses had separated from Tzipporah was because he did not consider her attractive looking on account of the colour of her skin. If Onkelos translates the word כושית as שפירתא, “beautiful,” this is not to be taken at face value but is meant to save her embarrassment much as we call a blind person “as possessed of a good eyesight,” in order to save that person embarrassment. When the Torah writes immediately that Moses was very humble, this is the answer to Miriam’s suspicion, i.e. that Moses did not even know whether Tzipporah was beautiful or not. It is similar to Avraham who did not become aware of Sarah’s being physically attractive until they were at the boundary of Egypt (Genesis 12,11) [when he had been married to her for decades already. Ed.]

רשב"ם על במדבר י״ב:א׳

(א) הכשית - שהיא ממשפחת חם. (ב) כי אשה כשית לקח - כדכתיב בדברי הימים, דמשה רבינו מלך היה בארץ כוש ארבעים שנה ולקח מלכה אחת ולא שכב עמה כמ"ש שם. והם לא ידעו כשדברו בו שלא נזקק לה, זה עיקר פשוטו. שאם בשביל צפורה דברו, מה צורך לפרש כי אשה כושית לקח וכי עד עתה לא ידענו כי צפורה מדינית היא?! ועוד תשובה, כי לא היתה כושית, כי כוש מבני חם הוא ומדין מבני קטורה אשר ילדה לאברהם.

Rashbam on Numbers 12:1

(1) הכושית, from one of the tribes going back to Cham. (2) כי אשה כושית לקח, as reported in the biography of Moses (compare Yalkut Shimoni, edition by Heiman-Shiloni on Exodus page 34, glossary 18) According to that version, Moses ruled for 40 years as king over the land of Cush, took himself a woman as his queen but never slept with her, as reported there. Miriam and Aaron were never aware of the fact that Moses had not consummated that union. This is the plain meaning of our verse.
If, as some believe, Miriam and Aaron spoke about Moses and Tzipporah, what need was there for the Torah to describe Moses’ wife as אשה כושית when everyone is well aware that Moses married Tzipporah the daughter of Yitro who was a Midianite, not a Cushite. Tzipporah could not have been described as Cushite seeing that the Cushites are descended from Cham, and the Midianites are descendents of the sons of Keturah, Avraham’s concubine, who bore 6 sons for him one of them being Midian.

הטור הארוך, במדבר י״ב:א׳

(א) ותדבר מרים ואהרן וגו' האשה הכושית. כתב ר' אברהם יש אומרים כי משה מלך על כוש ולקח כושית. והמתרגם אומר שפירתא כמו שקורין לעור סגיא נהור ולא יתכן שנקרא שם שהוא לשבח להפכו לגנאי והישר בעיני שזאת הכושית היא צפורה כי היא מדיינית והמדיינים הם הישמעאלים והם דרים באהלים בעבור חום השמש ואין בהם לבן וצפורה היתה שחורה דומה לכושית. והנה חשדו למשה שפירש מצפורה בעבור שאינה יפה ולכך אמר הרק אך במשה ודאי לא פירש ממנה בשביל הנבואה הרק אך במשה דבר ה' והלא גם הם נביאים ואין המשכב אסור להם. ויש מפרשים שהוכיחו אותו על שלא היתה מיוחסת ואמרו מעלה יש לנו על משה מצד אשתו שאינה מיוחסת והיא מדיינית ולגנותה אמרו כושית ואנחנו בעלי יחס מגדולי הדור ואשתך כמו כן מיוחסת אחות נחשון שאין בישראל כמוהו והוא נשא כושית ואם תאמר מדריגה יש לו עלינו הרק אך במשה דבר ה' הלא גם בנו דבר אין לו מעלה עלינו בזה:

Tur HaArokh, Numbers 12:1

(1) ותדבר מרים ואהרן....האשה הכושית, “Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses….on account of the Cushite woman (whom he had married).” Ibn Ezra writes that some people claim that Moses had been king in the land of Cush for many years and had married a Cushite woman in that country. Onkelos, on the other hand, translates the word כושית as describing Tzipporah’s physical beauty. Although generally speaking, the term is derogatory, Miriam is described as referring to Tzipporah as we refer to a blind man by calling him סגי נהור, “endowed with exceptionally good eyesight.” [This makes Miriam’s comment a sarcastic one. Ed.] I consider it most unlikely that Miriam used a term that is used as a complimentary one and turned it into an insulting one. Tzipporah, apparently was dark-skinned, similarly to the Negroes of the land of Cush. Tzipporah’s being a Midianite, people who live like Bedouins in a hot climate, with constant exposure to the sun, was therefore not unlike the Negroes in her skin colour. Miriam and Aaron suspected that Moses had separated from Tzipporah due to the colour of her skin. They could not imagine that Moses’ separation from Tzipporah was connected to his status as a prophet, and that is why they asked the rhetorical question: “does G’d only speak to him, did He not also speak to us?” They implied that the status of being a prophet does not require for the prophet to abandon normal family life, as they had not abandoned it either. Other commentators believe that Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses for not having married a woman of better lineage, of more aristocratic background. They considered themselves as superior to Moses because of their wives or husbands being of superior background. In other words, they used the word Cushite as a derogatory term. Miriam contrasted Aaron’s wife the sister of Nachshon, who was of impeccable heritage with that of Moses, who in her opinion, had married “beneath” him, socially and culturally. She added, if one were to say that nonetheless Moses himself remained of superior statute on account of his prophetic abilities, they themselves had also been found worthy of having communications from Hashem.

Jacob Milgrom, The JPS Torah Commentary: Numbers
"Because of the Cushite woman" Regardless of whether Moses' wife was Ethiopian or Midianite, the objection to her, it is implied was ethnic. Strikingly, the rabbis raise no objection to her Cushite origin but, to the contrary, defend her, claiming that Moses refused to have sexual intercourse after his descent from Sinai....
"Snow White Scales" Rather, scaly as snow. According to the rabbis, the chief cause of leprosy is defamation or slander. If Cushite means Ethiopian then the whiteness of Miriam would be a fit punishment for objecting to Moses' dark-skinned wife. However, the simile of snow indicates the flakiness associated with the disease, not whiteness.

From "'Moses Married a Cushite Woman!' Recognizing the Many Colors of the Jewish Community"
Rabbi Angela W. Buchdahl | June 21, 2019,
https://www.centralsynagogue.org/worship/sermons/detail/moses-married-a-cushite-woman-recognizing-the-many-colors-of-the-jewish-com
. . .I thought back to our Torah portion and the fact that Aaron and Miriam are speaking out against this Cushite woman.
Without explanation.
Why?
Perhaps they were just upset that Moses didn’t marry an Israelite? You say.
But they did not speak out against his marriage to Zipporah, the Midianite.
The Torah doesn’t tell us the words that Miriam and Aaron said
against this woman of color in their midst,
but I can tell you some of the words that I myself, and other Jews of Color
have heard spoken of us in the Jewish community:
“She’s nice, but she’s not really one of us.”
“Funny, you don’t look Jewish.”
And at pickup for Hebrew school in our lobby: “Excuse me, are you the nanny?”
Sometimes the words are not that explicitly offensive.
They are the seemingly innocuous questions we’re asked in synagogue like:
So, what brings you here?
Now where are you from?
Where did you learn all that Hebrew?
Questions like these remind us we’re seen as outsiders.
It is exhausting to always have to explain ourselves.
These are questions that most white Jews are never asked if you walk into shul.
Because the assumption is that you are Jewish.
Now that you know that 1 in 7 in our community are Jews of Color,
when you walk into any minyan, or 10 Jews,
you should be making the assumption
that there is at least one Jew of color in that group.
And if you don’t see any,
You should be asking yourself the question—
why are they not here?