If one opens a traditional Hebrew prayer book, one will find six verses at the end of the morning service that the rabbis want us to meditate on as we begin each day. Each verse hearkens to events in the Hebrew Bible that our scholars of blessed memory want us to contemplate and consider as we start down the path of daily living. Some, like Creation or Exodus story, seem quite obvious. We are to remind ourselves as we begin each day of G-d as Creator and G-d as one involved in our world.

 

      The one that I always found perplexing was this one. The rabbis want us to consider every day the following verse:

 

      "Remember that which the L-rd your G-d did to Miriam on the way." (Deuteronomy 24:9)

 

       This one needs some explaining.

 

       Miriam, the sister of Moses, did something pretty awful to her brother "on the way". She spoke ill of her brother; she slandered him. We are not privy to what she said, but apparently it had something to do with how Moses was ignoring his wife and children for the needs of the community.

 

       It was actually true. Moses' role as leader meant he was not as attentive to his family as he should have been. Miriam complained about this to others and was punished by G-d with "tzaraat", a disease similar to leprosy on the way.

 

       Now you know what we are supposed to remember.

 

       But why? Why is remembering this so important in the eyes of our tradition?

 

       I think we do so to remind us every day that we are all in this world together. Miriam was absolutely right about what Moses was doing but her words were directed in a way that only created more harm and hurt. If she had a concern, the person to talk to was her brother, not to others.

 

       For a society to survive, we must learn not to tear each other apart, nor tear the fragile world of interconnections between us. Miriam did what most of us do from time to time: she spoke ill of another human being and humiliated her brother in front of others. Why? I suspect it is for the same reason we all do it. It starts with good intentions but then it grows to become a way to feel good about ourselves at the expense of others. It becomes so easy to judge, to speak ill of our neighbor, to fault and criticize others.

 

       I think as we begin we day, we should pause and remind ourselves that if we yearn for a more meaningful life, a life of purpose, we should start by learning to guard our tongue. We should strive to never build ourselves up at the expense of others. And never hurt a fellow human being by demeaning him or ruining his or her reputation.

 

      Easier said than done but such awareness can give life meaning each day.

 

      Let us learn that by holding the most powerful weapon we have, our tongues, we can all become instruments of peace.

 

      Shabbat shalom to all my friends and to all who are not yet my friends!