White as snow – B’ha’alot’cha
Miriam and Aaron criticised their brother Moses so God had to punish them. Miriam was as white as snow (Num. 8:10).
The Torah says she had become leprous. The Targum Onkelos tries to protect Miriam’s honour by leaving out the word leprous.
The midrashic literature takes the word white in an ethical sense, suggesting that Miriam caused people to be white with shame.
Disloyalty to Moses’ accredited leadership is not only an offence against community solidarity: it is also an insult to God, who was the one who chose and appointed him.
