The Women's Haggadah: The Lament of the Prophet Miriam

"Once she danced at the banks of the sea.
Once the women leapt after her.
Then she praised the One on High
and her tambourine rose in the air.

And the rain in the wilderness
tasted like coriander,
like almond and honey,
but the taste in her mouth was maror,
bitter as her name.

`You shall be a Kingdom of Priests.'
She was not appointed.
`And a land of prophets.'
She was not heeded.
`Come up unto the Lord,'
Moses, Aaron, and Seventy Elders.
`Come up unto the Lord,'
Joshua.
`Come up to me into the Mount,
and the Lord spoke unto Moses'
`and the Lord spoke unto Moses'
`and the Lord said unto Moses...'
`Moreover the Lord spoke unto Moses.'
`And He gave unto Moses...'
`Moreover the Lord spoke with Moses
and He gave unto Moses
Two tables of stone.'
`Come up unto the Lord'
`Come up to me unto the Mount
And take Aaron and his sons.'

`And the Lord spoke
and Moses...the skin of his face
shone.'
`And the Lord spoke with Moses and
Aaron
and the Lord spoke with Moses
in Mount Sinai.'
`And the Lord spoke with Moses
in the wilderness of the Sinai.'

`And Miriam and Aaron spoke against
Moses.'
Miriam's face did not shine.
`Behold: Miriam became leprous,
white as snow.'

Pale in the wilderness
for the counting of seven days,
shut out from the camp,
tented in dishonor.

Soon, she lay herself down,
the sister of Moses,
the prophet of her people,
she lay down
in a place of no seed, no fig,
no wine, no pomegranate,
no water,
and, parched, Miriam died."

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