[Avodah] "Sometimes Chutzpah is Praiseworthy"

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Dec 31, 2007 at 06:21:20AM -0500, Moshe Y. Gluck wrote:
: Brazenness, to a large extant, is determined by social mores, context, tone
: and expression. I don't see how we can reach back some three millennia to
: try to determine if Miriam was brazen, even should we wish to do so. This is
: even harder for those who would suggest that the dialogue recorded in
: Midrash and Gemara is not necessarily an exact set of quotations.

Given the latter point, that we aren't dealing with exact quotes, I
would think you would only have to reach back 2 millenia. Chazal tell a
story (historical or not, to nod to that conversation) and hold it up
as complimentary behavior on Miriam's part. The question would be
understanding Chazal, not Miriam.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha