Elijah and Miriam
Elijah the prophet challenged injustice and overthrew the worship of idols. He healed the humble sick and helped the widowed. Elijah declared that he would return once each generation in the guise of someone poor or oppressed, coming to people's doors to see how he would be treated. Thus would he know whether or not humanity had become ready to participate in the dawn of the Messianic age.
Tonight we welcome two prophets: not only Elijah, but also Miriam, sister of Moses. Elijah is a symbol of messianic redemption at the end of time; Miriam, of redemption in our present lives. Miriam’s cup is filled with water, evoking her Well which followed the Israelites in the wilderness.
After the crossing of the Red Sea, Miriam sang to the Israelites a song. The words in the Torah are only the beginning:
Sing to God, for God has triumphed gloriously; Horse and driver, God has hurled into the sea.
So the Rabbis asked: Why is the Song of Miriam only partially stated in the Torah? And in midrash is found the answer: the song is incomplete so that future generations will finish it. That is our task
Open the door for Elijah and Miriam. We raise Elijah and Miriam’s cups and say together:
You abound in blessings,
God, creator of the universe,
Who sustains us with
living water. May we,
like the children of Israel
leaving Egypt, be guarded
and nurtured & kept alive
in the wilderness
and may You
give
us
eyes
to
see
that
the
journey
itself holds
the promise of redemption. Amen.
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