אלא חיה. אבל שאר נשים — מניחין.
with regard to a woman who died in childbirth, and therefore continues to bleed. But the biers of other women may be set down in the street.
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אלא חיה. אבל שאר נשים — מניחין.
with regard to a woman who died in childbirth, and therefore continues to bleed. But the biers of other women may be set down in the street.
רבי אלעזר אמר: אפילו שאר הנשים, דכתיב: ״ותמת שם מרים ותקבר שם״ — סמוך למיתה קבורה.
R' Elazar said: Even the biers of other women must not be set down in the street, as it is written: “And Miriam died there and was buried there” (Numbers 20:1), which teaches that the site of her burial was close to the place of her death. Therefore, it is preferable to bury a woman as close as possible to the place where she died.
ואמר רבי אלעזר: אף מרים בנשיקה מתה. אתיא ״שם״ ״שם״ ממשה. ומפני מה לא נאמר בה ״על פי ה׳״ — מפני שגנאי הדבר לאומרו.
With regard to that same verse R' Elazar said further: Miriam also died by the divine kiss, just like her brother Moses. What is the source for this? This is derived through a verbal analogy between the word “there” stated with regard to Miriam and the word “there” mentioned with regard to Moses. With regard to Moses it says: “So Moses the servant of YHWH died there in the land of Moab by the mouth of YHWH” (Deuteronomy 34:5). For what reason was it not explicitly stated with regard to her, as it is stated with regard to Moses, that she died “by the mouth of YHWH”? It is because it would be unseemly to say such a thing, that a woman died by way of a divine kiss, and therefore it is not said explicitly.
אמר רבי אמי: למה נסמכה מיתת מרים לפרשת פרה אדומה? לומר לך: מה פרה אדומה מכפרת — אף מיתתן של צדיקים מכפרת. אמר רבי אלעזר: למה נסמכה מיתת אהרן לבגדי כהונה? מה בגדי כהונה מכפרין — אף מיתתן של צדיקים מכפרת.
R' Ami said: Why was the Torah portion that describes the death of Miriam juxtaposed to the portion dealing with the red heifer? To tell you: Just as the red heifer atones for sin, so too, the death of the righteous atones for sin. R' Elazar said: Why was the Torah portion that describes the death of Aaron juxtaposed to the portion discussing the priestly garments? This teaches that just as the priestly garments atone for sin, so too, the death of the righteous atones for sin.
Text data via Sefaria: William Davidson Edition - English and William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic, CC-BY-NC; edition provenance: Koren. Display terminology has been modernized for readability.