PASSOVER PREPARATIONS
As we begin preparing for Passover, consider adding something
new to your Seder. We are pleased to share with you some thoughts
from Nita Polay Levin, Education Field Worker for the New Jersey
Region, USCJ:
Miriam’s Cup—or Bowl?
A new custom for Passover has emerged in the last 10 – 15
years in which we honor Miriam as a mover in the Passover
story. We assign a cup or bowl of water to represent the legendary
well
of Miriam.
Midrash
tells us that when the Israelites made their way through the
desert, Miriam had a well that acted as a way-station for
them. Our people stopped and were refreshed by clear, cold
water. Then they resumed their journey with resumed dedication
and energy.
Midrash goes on to tell us that the water came from a miraculous
well and was given to Miriam by God. Not only did “Miriam’s
Well” quench thirst, it also cured body and soul. People
came to the well for healing. Then, with Miriam’s death,
the well disappeared.
The custom is so new that it is still evolving. Mini-rituals
are being devised and tried out at Seders across the country.
Many include passing around the vessel, with Seder participants
dipping in their fingertips and asking for healing, whether
for body or soul, whether for themselves or for someone else.
My
own family has been incorporating this custom into our own
Seders for years. It is a way to recognize not only Miriam
and her prominent
role in the Passover story, but female personalities of the
Passover story in general. It enables us to raise the status
and importance
that women have played in all of Jewish history.
In the last 5 – 8 years, the custom has become so widespread
that artists have indeed been prolific in their creation of vessels
to honor the custom. Many artists are even making matching cups
for both Miriam and Elijah. While this might enhance the appearance
of the set table, matching Miriam’s cup to Elijah’s
also provides some problems.
By placing matching cups on the Seder table, the message is
that Miriam and Elijah are mirror images of each other, the
male and
the female. They lose their individuality and place in the
Passover story. Their place on the table and in the Seder are
very different.
Elijah represents our yearning for the Messiah’s arrival,
a hope against slavery and other miseries of our history.
Miriam
had a more direct place in the Passover story and the exodus
from Egypt. She placed herself as guardian over her baby
brother and made sure he was saved and placed in good hands.
Later, she
leads the women to dance at the Sea and carries the well
of healing as we wandered in the desert.
With
this in mind, the more I think
about it, the more I become convinced that a CUP—let alone
one matching Elijah’s—is not the direction we should
go in to fulfill this new ritual. A more likely choice would
be a bowl.
A cup does not suggest dipping fingertips. However, by using
a bowl and calling it K’arat Miriam (Miriam’s Bowl),
or Ma’ayan Miriam (Miriam’s well), we are being more
authentic to its purpose. By keeping it as visibly distinct as
we can from the Kos Eliyahu, we are allowing both the Elijah
ritual and the Miriam ritual to have independent places in the
Seder.
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