By: Chaya Sora Jungreis-Gertzulin

Every now and then, I read an article that touches my neshama, that speaks to my heart. An article that is worthy of clipping and saving. I’ve been cutting articles for years, and by now have accumulated quite a stash.

One such article was penned by Miriam Peretz. Miriam is originally from Casablanca. Her family made aliya in 1964, when she was ten years old. Today, she is an educator and inspirational speaker.

It was written in 2019, but It could have been written today. Miriam’s son, Eliraz, fell in Gaza. He spotted some Palestinians planting bombs on the Israeli side of the border. As he approached them, he was hit with a spray of bullets. One set off the grenade on his belt.

Miriam writes:

“When every family is sitting around the seder table, telling the history of our people, I will be sitting with Eliraz’s four children. He fell in battle in Gaza three days before seder night…

It won’t be their father telling the story to his children, but their grandmother, telling her grandchildren about our family Haggadah. I’ll tell them about the father they barely knew (the eldest was 6 when he died), I’ll tell them the stories I told to Eliraz, about the yearning for Eretz Yisroel in Morocco, from where the family made aliya, about the excitement when we said L’shana Ha’ba’ah B’Yerushalayim, Next Year in Jerusalem, about the desire to be a free people in our land, and about the heavy price our family paid to realize this dream…

I will tell them that their uncle, Uriel, Eliraz’s brother, fell in Lebanon 12 years before their father fell in Gaza, and that they and all the other soldiers are a continuation of the generation who left Egypt…

And so, we entwine my family’s story with the story of our people.

And we embrace life.”

And we embrace life. From where does Miriam derive her strength? How does a mother, a grandmother, still mourning her beloved son, sit down to a seder with her little grandchildren, and speak of her son, their father, keeping his memory alive, while at the same time, giving the children the inspiration and strength to carry on?

To understand her strength, we don’t have to look far. Her name itself tells the story. Miriam Peretz is the daughter of a Miriam from a time long ago. She carries the spiritual DNA of her ancestor – our ancestor – Miriam HaNeviah, Miriam the Prophetess. Miriam, sister to Moshe and Aaron. Miriam, mentor, teacher, leader and source of inspiration to the women of Israel. She was able to infuse the generation living in Egypt with emuna and bitachon, faith and trust in HaShem. She gave them life. The spirit to go on, and to believe in a better tomorrow, no matter how bleak their days were.

Life in Egypt was laden with pain. Pharaoh made a cruel decree of infanticide, of ending the life of every Jewish baby boy by having them thrown into the river.

Amram and Yocheved, parents of Miriam, and leaders of the generation, decided to separate. How could they bring a child into such a brutal world? A world of back-breaking slavery, a world of death to a newborn.

It was their daughter, Miriam, who gave them hope. Miriam, who gave them life-altering advice. Miriam turned to her father and said “Pharaoh made a decree against baby boys, but you are not even giving life a chance, not giving hope that either girls or boys will survive”.

A young girl, whose unwavering belief in HaShem, and sagacious wisdom was way beyond her years. Amram and Yocheved became a couple once again, and were blessed with Moshe.

Miriam’s words impacted an entire generation. When Amram and Yocheved separated, so did countless other couples. After all, it made sense. What future could there be for a Jewish child born in Egypt. And when they joined together once again, so did the others follow.

A little girl’s words, giving hope and strength not only to her parents, but to a nation.

This year, Shvii shel Pesach, the Seventh day of Pesach falls on Wednesday, April 8/21 Nisan. It is a day that commemorates the miraculous splitting of the sea, enabling our nation’s crossing it. Miriam, who never lost hope throughout all the long years of slavery in Egypt, led the women in songs of gratitude. “Miriam the prophetess… took the tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dances.” (Shemos/Exodus 15:20)

Tambourines? They didn’t even have time to let the dough rise. They had to pack in a hurry. From where did they get tambourines?

Miriam believed that the day will come when HaShem will free the nation from the shackles of slavery. That it will be a day of joy and celebration. A day to sing and dance. A day to hold on to the tambourines and thank HaShem. Despite enduring unimaginable suffering and hardship, Miriam and the women made tambourines. They never gave up. They wanted to be ready.

The women of our people are strong. Women who are the backbones of our families, our communities, our nation. At the seder, we spoke of the Four Sons, each different, each of whom can be reached in his or her own way. For the son who is a sheh’ei’noh yode’ah lish’ol, who doesn’t even know how to ask a question, the Haggadah tells us “at p’sach lo, you shall open him up”. At, meaning you, is written in the feminine form. It is up to the Jewish women to reach out to the children. To be modern day Miriams. To inspire and instill in them a love of Torah, mitzvos, and the hope for a better tomorrow.

From Miriam to Miriam, from to generation to generation, Jewish women are the carriers of hope..

Wishing all my readers a Chag Kosher V’Sameach!

A Happy, Kosher and Sweet Pesach!

Chaya Sora

Chaya Sora can be reached at [email protected]

This article was written L’zecher Nishmas / In Memory Of HaRav Meshulem ben HaRav Osher Anshil HaLevi, zt”l and Rebbetzin Esther bas HaRav Avraham HaLevi, zt’l