When the seventy elders were appointed, and the spirit of the Lord came
upon them, all the women lighted the candles of joy, to celebrate by
this illumination the elevation of these men to the dignity of
prophets. Zipporah, Moses' wife, saw the illumination, and asked Miriam
to explain it. She told her the reason, and added, "Blessed are the
women who behold with their eyes how their husbands are raised to
dignity." Zipporah answered, "It would be more proper to say, 'Woe to
the wives of these men who must now abstain from all conjugal
happiness!'" Miriam: "How does thou know this?" Zipporah: "I judge so
from the conduct of thy brother, for ever since he was chosen to
receive Divine revelations, he no longer knows his wife." [488] Miriam
hereupon went to Aaron, and said to him: "I also received Divine
revelations, but without being obliged to separated myself from my
husband," whereupon Aaron agreed, saying" "I, too, received Divine
revelations, without, however, being obliged to separated myself from
my wife." Then both said: "Our fathers also received revelations, but
without discontinuing their conjugal life. Moses abstains from conjugal
joys only out of pride, to show how holy a man he is." Not only did
they speak evil of Moses to each other, but hastened to him and told
him to his face their opinion of his conduct. [489] But he, who could
be self-assured and stern when it touched a matter concerning God's
glory, was silent to the undeserved reproached they heaped upon him,
knowing that upon God's bidding he had foresworn earthly pleasures. God
therefore said: "Moses is very meek and pays no attention to the
injustice meted out to him, as he did when My glory was detracted from,
and boldly stepped forth and exclaimed, 'Who is on the Lord's side? Let
him come unto me.' I will therefore now stand by him."
It is quite true that this was not the only occasion on which Moses
proved himself humble and gentle, for it was part of his character.
Never among mortals, counting even the three Patriarchs, was there more
meek a man than he. The angels alone excelled him in humility, but no
human being; for the angels are so humble and meek, that when the
assemble to praise God, each angel calls to the other and asks him to
precede him, saying among themselves: "Be thou the first, thou are
worthier than I." [490]
God carried out His intention to uphold Moses' honor, for just as Aaron
was with his wife and Miriam with her husband, a Divine call suddenly
reached Amram's three children, one voice that simultaneously called,
"Aaron!" "Moses!" and "Miriam!" - a miracle that God's voice alone can
perform. The call went to Moses also, that the people might not think
that Aaron and Miriam had been chosen to take Moses' place. He was
ready to hearken to God's words, but not so his brother and his sister,
who had been surprised in the state of uncleanness, and who therefore,
upon hearing God's call, cried, "Water, water," that they might purify
themselves before appearing before God. [491] They then left their
tents and followed the voice until God appeared in a pillar of cloud, a
distinction that was conferred also upon Samuel. The pillar of cloud
did not, however, appear in the Tabernacle, where it always rested
whenever God revealed Himself to Moses, and this was due to the
following reasons. First of all, God did not want to create the
impression of having removed Moses from his dignity, and of giving it
to his brother and sister, hence He did not appear to them in the holy
place. At the same time, moreover, Aaron was spared the disgrace of
being reproached by God in his brother's presence, for Moses did not
follow his brother and sister, but awaited God's word in the sanctuary.
But there was still another reason why God did not want Moses to be
present during His conference with Aaron and Miriam - "Never praise a
man to his face." As God wanted to praise Moses before Aaron and
Miriam, He preferred to do so in his absence. [492]
Hardly had God addressed Aaron and Miriam, when they began to interrupt
Him, whereupon He said to them: "Pray, contain yourselves until I have
spoken." In these words He taught people the rule of politeness, never
to interrupt. He then said: "Since the creation of the world hath the
word of God ever appeared to any prophet otherwise than in a dream? Not
so with Moses, to whom I have shown what is above and what is below;
what it before and what it behind; what was and what will be. To him
have I revealed all that is in the water and all that is upon the dry
land; to him did I confide the sanctuary and set him above the angels.
I Myself ordered him to abstain from conjugal life, and the word he
received was revealed to him clearly and not in dark speeches, he saw
the Divine presence from behind when It passed by him. Wherefore then
were ye not afraid to speak against a man like Moses, who is, moreover,
My servant? Your censure is directed to Me, rather than to him, for
'the receiver is no better than the thief,' and if Moses is not worthy
of his calling, I, his Master, deserve censure." [493]