Moses is halfway up the mountain, his feet hurt but he knows that he can’t go back down. He must obey G-D so he can help the Israelites reach the Promised Land. He reaches the summit, sits down. He knows what he must do.
“The 40th day of Moses’s leave is almost over and there is no way he survived without food.” complained Isaya.
“I know. It seems impossible but we must put our trust in my brother and G-D.” said Miriam.
“Lot of good this G-D is doing. How are we supposed to find the Promised Land without a leader?” Isaya mutters to his wife Akiva.
“Husband, be more reasonable. Moses said he would be gone 40 days AND 40 nights, not 40 days and 39 nights. Please wait till tomorrow, he will return I feel it.” Akiva said.
“No, you all saw the storm the day he went up. We all saw the lightning strike the hill before Sinai,” roared Bren. “There is no way he could have survived all these nights.”
The crowd mumbled in dispute. Aaron stepped into the tent they had gathered in and said with his calming voice, “ Thank you everyone for your opinions on my brother. Now please go back to your tents we need to call a meeting of the Elders.”
People grumbled as they pushed their way out of the tent to prepare lunch. The Elders soon came in, dispersing the rest of the crowd.
“I am assuming that you interrupted our lunch so we can vote what to do if your brother does not come back?” Shmool, the eldest, inquired with his warbled voice.
“Well, hurry up then you two! I am 95 years old and I am not waiting around another 40 years for you to get me a seat.” Frankie snapped.
The Elders took their places around the group of tables. “We need to be reasonable about this we can’t rush into a decision because we are scared.” Shmool said wisely.
“Yeah that’s their job.” Frankie said with a smirk.
“Next time can we vote on how much Frankie gets to talk,” Jamila said.
“Calm down everyone! Do we agree that we will wait till tomorrow to see if Moses comes back? All in favor say ‘aye’,” Aaron said calmly.
“Aye,” said the Elders.
“And if he doesn’t return?” said Frankie. “Then I vote Aaron continues in his place.” said Schmool.
“I agree” said Frankie.
Everyone gasped “Those two never agree,” said Miriam.
“Well then it is decided.” said Shmool.
Moses had come to rest on top of the hill before Sinai when he saw the fires. They must have started a feast for my return, he thought. Acenath gasped “Mommy, Mommy, I see Moses on the hill!” She pointed and her mother followed her gaze and then ran to Miriam.
“Miriam, my daughter has spotted your brother!”
“Good, we need him! Send Zathra to the men! She is wise and calming, she can make them see reason to stop their madness.”
“Yes, Miriam!”
“Ahh, Zathra, have you decided to join us. You know how unreliable Moses is,” said Isaya.
“No, I came to tell you to stop this nonsense! Moses is back! You know we did not give you our gold to build your stupid calf, why would we join you now?” said Zathra.
“You must be seeing things we know he is gone he is not -” Isaya stopped mid-sentence.
“Good my brother has returned.” said Aaron appearing out of nowhere. “We must tell him we mean none of this to regain his favor.”
“Th-there is no way! He should have died!” stuttered Isaya.
Zathra pointed “You see there he is. You have all been fools! How could you lose faith so quickly?” She yelled to the crowd of men. All the men muttered to themselves, something about how Egypt was very influential.
Moses spotted the calf and sacrificial fire. His vision tinted red as his heart filled with anger. His hands, before he could think, gripped the two Tablets he had received from G-D and raised them above his head. As the wind picked up all the men were staring open-mouthed at Moses as he beard flew around him and the two Tablets were above his head.
“What is happening!” yelled Isaya.
“You have angered G-D! You must be punished for your faithless ways.” said a voice deep as the ocean rumbling over the tents of Israel. Moses heard G-D’s voice and his anger at the faithless people tripled, the Tablets that were high over his head came crashing down as he threw them at the faithless people. The wind stopped suddenly, as the Tablets hit the ground and the only sound that could be heard were the Tablets shattering into millions of pieces. As the Tablets crashed, a terrible scream sounded from the broken hearts of the women who had been anxious to learn Torah.
The broken-hearted screams of the women woke Moses from his trance and he knew what he had to do. He was still reluctant to do it, but he had duties to the people.
“Aaron, I am scared about Moses. He won’t take any of my food,” said a terrified Miriam.
“He won’t take any of my water either,” said Aaron. His calm demeanor had worn away to concern for his brother.
That night, each woman had the same dream. They were in a beautiful valley. All was peaceful with colorful flowers and fat bumblebees hovering lazily over the field. A river snaked across the valley as the women swayed with the breeze each invisible to the rest. A deep voice rumbled across the valley saying, “You of all My people stayed faithful to Me. For this, I will give you a reward. Every new moon will be a holiday for you to choose how to spend, a holiday celebrating the new moon and that you did not lose faith with your G-D. This holiday will be called Rosh Chodesh.” The women woke to find that it was morning. They each decided to go to Miriam, who met with them individually as she always did.
After every woman in the Israelite camp went to her with the same dream, and Miriam, of course, realized that she had had the same one, she decided that it was true. “My brother, it has been many days since you have taught us the ways of G-D. After your first attempt, we women had a dream that we were given a holiday”, said Miriam.
“Hmmm, every single woman had the same dream?” asked Moses while stroking his beard.
“Yes, do you want me to gather the people?”
“Yes, please do!” said Moses.
Once all the people had gathered and Moses declared Rosh Chodesh a holiday, he did something no one expected. He told Aaron that every Rosh Chodesh the Tabernacle was to be open to every woman who wants entry.
There are so many emotions in this story! What would you have felt if you had witnessed these events? Fear drove some to give up their vision, while holding on to their values, allowed the women to be given their own holiday. I’m going to be the annoying author now and not tell you what the response to the story ought to be. You should pick through the story and think about what you would have done.