“Drink…and I will also draw water for your camels to drink.” (Genesis 24:17-18)

With these words, Rebecca betrothed herself to Isaac and rose to become mother of two nations; Jacob and Esau. It was her act of giving and her eagerness to do good, as she took the opportunity seeking out with joy and delight, with all her soul and being. She implanted this goodness within us as our inheritance. In the Bible the story of the union of Rebecca and Isaac is told and retold three times. In this story lies the birth of the Jewish people and their purpose. In it lies the secret for which all the cosmos was created: the fusion of opposites, the paradox and beauty of life.

It is the servant Abraham, the matchmaker, who speaks to the Master of the universe from the sincerity of his heart, who is obsessed with his mission and delights in its every step. It is each and any one of us. We are here to unite heaven and earth. And in the union of Man and Woman is found all these.

His sister stood from afar, to know what would become of him. (Exodus 2:4)

Miriam is a young girl who stands amidst the reeds that embrace the river’s bank, still and quiet, watching from afar, making sure her brother Moses would survive. She is the guardian of the promise, of all her people have yearned for, and she will not allow that promise to leave her sight.

Miriam means bitter, for it is a bitterness that drives her, all the bitterness born of her people’s harsh lot of slavery under Pharoah. It is her powerful vision, one that will transform the bitter to sweet, the darkness of exile to the great light of freedom. In her merit, we were redeemed from slavery. And in the merit of women of faith today, the entire world will be redeemed of its darkness.

For greater incite into Miriam as a prophetess read Anthology of the Prophets.

“They ceased living in unwalled towns in Israel, they ceased until I, Deborah, arose; I arose as a mother in Israel.” (Judges 5:7)

In the peaceful shade of an ancient date palm in the hills of Ephraim, you would find a wise woman named Deborah, a prophetess to whom all of Israel streamed for counsel, for guidance and for hope.

She summoned Barak, a mighty warrior, and instructed him to wage battle against the oppressors of her people. But Barak insisted he would not go unless Deborah go with him, and for that she scorned him. Deborah did not see greatness in emulating the qualities of manhood; in fighting and winning and conquering, but as a mother in Israel, as a giver of life, nurturing her people with kindness and with faith.