The 10th of Nissan

The Chasam Sofer in this Parshas Chukas reminds us that Miriam was nifteres on the tenth day of Nissan, and calculates that because the be’er (wter-well) in her zechus continued to provide water through the shivah period, the day that Moshe Rabbeinu was supposed to talk to the selah (rock) after Bnei Yisrael thirsted for water was actually the twenty-first day of Nissan. Taking a step back, the twenty-first day of Nissan was also the day of Kriyas Yam Suf (the splitting of the Reed Sea which occurred on the seventh day of Pesach)! Thus, Hashem was going to demonstrate to the people that just as He could take water and turn it into dry land, so too, could He take a rock and turn it into water. The resulting Kiddush Hashem would have wondrously demonstrated to the people Hashem’s utter Omnipotence in the extremes of nature and everything in between.

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