From Miriam’s Drum to Mount Sinai: Preparing for Freedom and Meaning

Rebbetzin Esther Piekarski invited me to a joint conversation at the beautiful new Chabad House in Tel Aviv. Following is one idea I took with me from that evening with her:

Prepared for Redemption: Miriam’s Drum

At the moving moment of the Song at the Sea, after the splitting of the Red Sea, we are told that Miriam immediately took out a drum: “And Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aaron, took the tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourine and with dances.”

From where did she suddenly get a drum?

Miriam didn’t start searching. She didn’t say they needed to go to suitcase number seven on donkey number twelve to retrieve it. The drum was already with her, because she had prepared for and anticipated this moment for years.

We carry with us, in our hands, our pockets, or our bags, the things that are most important and urgent to us — the things we know we will need. Through the hardest periods, Miriam believed with all her heart that goodness was destined to arrive at any moment, and she was ready for it.

Miriam, and the women of the Exodus, reached a higher spiritual level than the men. We can learn so much from them: they truly knew the moment would come, and they actively worked to bring it about. It was clear to them that the transition from slavery to freedom was on its way, and when it began, the drum was already in their hands.

What Can We Learn from Tu B’Shevat?

A teacher once told me that four words characterize our era: “me,” “here,” “now,” and “everything.” Tu B’Shevat is one of the most important days of the year, as it stands in opposition to those four words.

We don’t celebrate the holiday of trees in spring, when everything is already blooming and ripe, but in winter — when the results are not yet visible. We don’t receive everything here and now; instead, we wait. For now, all that’s required is to plant, water, invest, believe, and hope.

This reflection on nature reminds us that life contains slow, hidden processes, and things develop beneath the surface. We don’t see everything immediately, and therefore we must continue nurturing with patience. This is true in raising children, in relationships, in learning, and in every meaningful area of life.

In a generation that impatiently waits for two blue checkmarks, we receive once a year a reminder of the most essential ingredients: patience, sustained effort, investment, and devotion. All of these eventually produce fruit.

Freedom Begins Here

“Freedom is a central value for the modern individual, who wants to be autonomous, choosing, not enslaved,” writes Rabbi Eyal Vered about the Giving of the Torah in this week’s portion.

“Sometimes it seems that religion interferes with freedom — it imposes, commands, coerces, a remnant of an old world disrupting a new and free one. Yet precisely at the heart of coercion, at Mount Sinai in this parsha, we are shown a deeper story of freedom. 

Our sages teach: There is no free person except one who engages in Torah. What is freedom, if not the struggle against the lower impulses within us, and overcoming them? What is freedom, if not engaging in the material world while choosing to live by eternal values?

To give charity, refine desire, avoid harmful speech, eat mindfully, respect others’ property, admit truth and mistakes, and ask forgiveness, these actions all go against the gravitational pull of material reality. There is no greater freedom than that.

It isn’t easy. Even with the right map, one still must climb the mountain. But the Torah gives us a chance by providing us with a complete system, from childhood to old age, from individual to nation. Until the Giving of the Torah, only one voice was heard. From this week onward, the voice of freedom is heard as well.”

The Unique Package You Were Given

This week, an entire nation stands beneath Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. It is a public, national event, but it is intended to be personal as well. Rabbi Baruch Chait, head of Yeshivat Ma’arava, explains:

“There is a great principle taught by Rabbeinu Bachya: the essence of Torah depends on the heart. A person can do and learn many things, but if you ask why they do them, they might say: because everyone does, because it’s nice, because it’s required. If the heart isn’t there, and if there’s no connection to the story, then something is missing.

At the splitting of the Red Sea, the sea didn’t split all at once. Contrary to popular belief, it split gradually, according to each person’s pace. As each individual advanced, the water moved aside.

Why does this matter? It teaches that life presents challenges, and each person progresses at their own pace, on their own path, with faith and trust, step by step. This is the way that Torah is received.

Each person has a unique soul, a unique task in this world and unique strengths, personality, talents, and intellect. Your package is uniquely yours, and that is what you are expected to work with.”