This week we read about the deaths of Miriam and Aharon (Aaron), the two great leaders of our nation, who assisted Moshe (Moses) in his leadership. Unlike when Aharon dies and all of Am Yisrael (the People of Israel) stop what they're doing and mourn him for 30 days, by Miriam, nothing happens. The Torah just moves on into the next story, just stating that Miriam died and was buried.

What’s going on? Why is that - that one of our greatest leaders doesn’t get the respect she deserved after she died?! And if you think, well, Miriam wasn’t such an important figure to Am Yisrael - that’s not true - because just a few weeks ago we read how all of Am Yisrael waited for her, for seven days, when she got tzara’at (leprosy)…

So how come Miriam wasn't mourned properly?? And why is this key to understanding everything else that happens in our parsha (weekly Torah portion)?