Moses' Black Wife1

In a cryptic episode in the Torah, Miriam talked to Aaron about Moses

"concerning the 'Cushite2 wife' whom he married, for he married a 'Cushite
wife'.3" Many Rabbinic commentaries follow the understanding of the Midrash
that Moses' "Cushite wife" was Zipporah. However, this assumption is not
easily justifiable because Zipporah was the daughter of Jethro, a Midianite 4,
not a Cushite. In addition to understanding whom exactly Moses' "Cushite
wife" was, one must also understand why this passage in the Torah is written
immediately after the telling of the prophecies of Eldad and Meidad.
Furthermore, the exact complaint, which Miriam presented to Moses
concerning this "Cushite wife", also requires explanation. Moreover, the
1 This essay is dedicated to my dear friend Yosef Chester Robinson who
was murdered in Septermeber, 2010. He urged me to write this essay to
explore the Jewish outlook on Black people.
2 "Cush" is commonly translated as Ethiopia, and "Cushites" are commonly
understood to have been Ethiopians. However, most scholars agree that the
Biblical geographic area referred to as Cush/Ethiopia was not only in the
location of present-day Ethiopia, rather it spanned Northwest of present-day
Ethiopia, including parts of the areas of present-day Ethiopia, Egypt, Somalia,
Nubia, Eritrea, and the Sudan. The Midrash says (Exodus Rabbah, 10) that
the plague of the frogs settled a border dispute between Egypt and Cush
because the frogs did not pass the border, which showed where exactly the
boundaries of each country lied. Indeed, it will be evident later that Cush was
near Egypt. Nonetheless, Rashi (to Yoma 81b) translates "Land of Hindu" as
the land of Kush. From here one sees that the terms "Kush" used does not
necessarily always mean Ethiopia. In the beginning of the book of Esther
(1:1), Scripture establishes that Ahasuerus was king from Hodu to Kush. The
Talmud records (Megillah 11a) that Rav and Shmuel disputed whether Hodu
and Kush are close to each other (Shmuel) or far from each other (Rav). The
accepted translation of Hodu is India. If one is to assume that Kush refers to
Ethiopia, how then could Shmuel say that Kush was close in geographical
proximity to India? Rabbi Yaakov Emden (1697-1776) answers (see Hagahos
Ya'avetz to Megillah 11a) that there are two places known as Kush. One
"Kush" is in Africa and was Ethiopia, while the other "Kush" is in Asia was
close to India. The dispute between Rav and Shmuel was which "Kush" the
Torah referring to in describing the boundaries of Ahasuerus' rule. Indeed, an
Asiatic mountain range known as "Hindu Kush" runs along the PakistaniAfghan border.
3 Numbers 12:1
4 See Exodus 2:16

repetition of the phrase "Cushite wife" in Miriam's complaint necessitates

explication, as well.
Rashbam asks5, according to the explanations that hold that the
Cushite was Zipporah, why Zipporah was called a Cushite if she was actually
a Midianite. He explains that Cushites are a Hamatic nation descending from
Ham the son of Noah6, while Midianites are a Semitic nation descending from
Abraham, who was a descendant of Shem, son of Noah 7. Rabbi Dovid Pardo
(1719-1792) adds8 that even if one says that Jethro, Zipporah's father, was
an Egyptian, for the Talmud says he was the Pharaoh's advisor 9, and thus
was a Hamite; he was still not a Cushite. Because of this question, the
Rashbam argues and understands that the Cushite woman referred to in the
verse was not Zipporah; however, according to the explanations that learn
that she was Zipporah, various methodologies of answering the question are
given. Rabbi Elazar ben Yehuda Rokeach of Worms (1176-1238) explains 10
that although Zipporah's father, Jethro, was Midianite, her mother was a
Cushite11. Rabbi Avrohom Ibn Ezra (1092-1167) and Rabbi Don Yitzchok
Abarbanel (1437-1508) both explain12 that even though genealogically
Zipporah might not have been a Cushite, the Torah still considered her as
such because in appearance the Midianites and Ishmaelites (Arabs) resemble
Cushites. They explain that since Cushites, Midianites, and Ishmaelites all
live in sunny areas, the power and heat of the sun cause their skin to
darken13. They cite Habakkuk 3:7 as the source for this similarity between
Cushites and Midianites.
Rashi14, in assuming that the "Cushite wife" was Zipporah, offers three
opposing rationalizations, based on the Midrash 15, to his stance. In his first
rationalization, Rashi explains that Zipporah was called a "Cushite wife"
because just as everyone agrees to the darkness in the skin color of a
Cushite, everyone agreed to the fact that Zipporah was beautiful 16. Thus,
Rashi understands that the comparison between Zipporah and a "Cushite
5 To Numbers 12:1
6 See Genesis 10:6
7 See Genesis 25:1-6
8 Maskil LeDavid to Numbers 12:1
9 See Sotah 11a
10 Pirush Rokeach to Numbers 12:1
11 Indeed we find in Halacha that the nationality of one's mother determines
one's own nationality.
12 In their respective commentaries to Numbers 12:1

wife" is merely to say that just as the blackness of an African is an

established fact17, so was the beauty of Zipporah. In his second
rationalization, Rashi understands that Cushite wife means "beautiful wife"
and proves18 this point by explaining19 that the numerical value of the
Hebrew for Cushite equals the numerical value for the Hebrew phrase
"beautiful in appearance", Yefas Mareh20. According to this explanation, Rashi
understands that the phrase "Cushite wife" refers to the beauty of Zipporah
and that the phrase is repeated doubly to show that not only was Zipporah
beautiful in her appearance, but she was beautiful in her actions as well. In
13 The Midrash says (Genesis Rabbah 36:7) that since Ham castrated his father Noah,
and caused him not to be able to perform actions done in the dark (i.e. marital relations) he
was cursed so that his skin became dark. Rashi explains that the descendants of Ham, such
as Cush and Mitzrayim (the patriarchs of the Cushite and Egyptian peoples, respectively),
were born dark-skinned. However, Rabbi Chanoch Zundel of Bialystock argues (see Anaf
Yosef ad loc.) and says that the skin of Ham himself darkened, but not necessarily did that of
Ham's descendants darken because of this curse. Rabbi Jacob Culi (1685-1732) writes
(Me'Am Loez to Genesis 9:20) that there were five punishments which Ham received for his
actions toward his naked father: First, since he looked at his naked father, "his eyes became
red, always appearing bloodshot". Second, because he verbally told his brothers about their
naked father, "his lips were made thick and gross like that of a Negro." Third, since he turned
his head to see his father, "the hair of his head and beard became kinky." Fourth, because he
did not cover his father, it was decreed that he always go naked. Fifth, his descendants
would become slaves to the descendants of Shem and Ham because he eliminated the
possibility of Noah fathering another child from whom the slaves of the world were destined
to descend. Rabbeinu Bachaya explains (to Genesis 9:24) that although Noah seemingly
pronounced the curse on Canaan, not Ham, the curse applied to all descendants of Ham, not
merely Canaan. Rabbi Zev Wolf Einhorn writes (Maharzu to Genesis Rabbah 60:2) that curse
was applied doubly to Canaan, meaning all descendants of Ham were cursed so that they
should be slaves, but Canaan was cursed that his descendants should be slaves to slaves
(i.e. the other families of Ham). According to all of this, the reasoning for the dark-colored
skinned of blacks is because of the curse applied to Ham and his descendants, not because
they lived in sunny areas. In present-times, we do not see the fulfillment of this curse in its
entirety Africans anymore (although some parts of the curse are still true). Perhaps this is
because the curse only applied to people whom purely descend from Ham, but once the
blood of the other brothers was mixed into the families, the cursed ceased to be effective. If
this is true one is left with only the reasoning of the Abarbanel and Ibn Ezra in explaining
why there are dark skinned people nowadays.It is largely believed that from the three sons
of Noah, descended three types of humanoids, namely Negroids, Caucasoids, and
Mongoloids (from Japheth), or Negroes, Caucasians, and Orientals. The Vilna Gaon, Rabbi
Eliyahu of Vilna (1720-1797) writes (Eliyahu Rabbah to Negaim 2:1) that Shem's family
moved to the east (i.e. Mesopotamia), Ham's family moved to the west (e.g. Egypt, Africa),
and Japheth's family moved to the north (i.e. Greece, Europe). He explains that the
descendants of Ham lived in areas where the sun was very powerful so they had darker skin,
while the descendants of Japheth lived in areas where the sun was less powerful, so they
had much lighter skin pigmentation. With this, the Vilna Gaon explains the meaning of the
term "German" when used in the context of the colors of a spot of tzara'as. He explains that
the Japhetic family that lived the northernmost lived in Germany. (They were the ancestors
of the Germanic tribes there, see Yoma 10a which says that Gomer, the son of Japheth was
the forefather of the Germanic peoples. This is not a contradiction to Megillah 6b, which
refers to the potential destruction that could be caused by an Edomite Germany, which
implies descent from Esau, a Semite, not Japheth, because that passage is referring to a
Romanized Europe afterwhich the Germanic princes were actually descendants of Romans,

his third rationalization, Rashi explains that Zipporah was called a "Cushite
wife" because she was beautiful in appearance and just as one sarcastically
calls his beautiful son "ugly" in order to ward off an Evil Eye, so too did Moses
call Zipporah a "Cushite" in order to ward off the Evil Eye 21. Accordingly, in
his second explanation, Rashi assumes that "Cushite" is synonymous with
beauty, while in his third explanation Rashi assumes that a Cushite is the
antithesis to beauty and the phrase "Cushite" is used sarcastically22.

who descended from Esau. See Rashi to Genesis 36:43.) These people were so fair-skinned
that their skin color was regarded by the Mishnah as a shade of white. According to the Vilna
Gaon, skin color was not related to the curse of Noah's son, rather it was relative to one's
geographical location and the power of the sun there.

14 To Numbers 12:1
15 Sifri to Numbers 12:1
16 The Midrash and Talmud (Moed Katan 16b) continue to explain that when
the Psalmist refers to the Kush the Benjaminite (Psalms 7:1), the reference is
to King Saul. The Midrash explains that just as a Cushite is different from all
other creations in terms of their skin color, so too was King Saul different
from all other people in terms of his deeds. See Yoma 22b which says that at
the time of his coronation, King Saul was like a one year old baby in terms of
his lack of sin. The Midrash (Genesis Rabbah 37:4) refers to Esau as a
Cushite, despite the fact he had red skin (see Genesis 25:25), not dark skin.
Rabbi Chanoch Zundel of Bialystock explains that Esau was called a Cushite
because he acted in the way of Nimrod, who was the son of Kush.
17 This is similar to the explanation of the Targum Yerushalmi who explained
that just as Cushites are different from all other peoples in terms of their
pigmentation, so too Zipporah was different from all other women in terms of
her beauty. See HaKoseiv to Ein Yaakov to Moed Katan 16b who writes that
Zipporah was the most beautiful from all women.
18 Although, Rabbi Yehuda Low (1525-1609) in Gur Aryeh to Numbers 12:1
understands that Rashi records the discussion about the numerical value as a proof to his
first explanation. Rabbi Dovid HaLevi Segal (1586-1667) explains (Divrei Dovid to Numbers
12:1) the proof is that one might think to say that just as everyone agrees that a Cushite is
black, so too everyone agrees that Zipporah was black. Therefore, Rashi had to explain that
one cannot say such an analogy because it is a postulate that Zipporah was beautiful and
therefore she could not have been black. [This understanding assumes that being black and
being beautiful is an oxymoron.]However, other commentaries (including Rashi himself at
one point) seem to understand that "Cushite" means beautiful in this context. This is seen in
the simple understanding of the Targum Onkelos (to Numbers 12:1) and Rabbi Saadiah Gaon
(892-942) in his commentary (see Pirush Rasag printed in the Toras Chaim Chumash by
Mossad HaRav Kook, Jerusalem) to Numbers 12:1. However, see below.

In explaining what exactly, the complaint that Miriam lodged against

Moses to her brother Aaron was Rashi offers two explanations; Rashi explains
that either Moses separated from marital relations with his wife Zipporah, or
that he divorced her23. The first explanation begs the question as to how
Miriam knew that Moses abstained from relations with his wife, for it is not
the nature of modest women to go about publicize such a matter 24. Rashi
quotes the Midrash that explains25 that when Eldad and Meidad were
prophesying, Zipporah said, "Woe unto their wives, for if they are bound to
the prophecy, they will separate from their wives in the fashion that Moses
19 This gematria is also found in the Midrash Tanchuma, Parshas Tzav 13
(see also Ba'al HaTurim.).
20 Rabbi Chanoch Zundel ben Yosef of Bialystock asks (Eitz Yosef to Midrash
Tanchuma ad loc.) that the word Chushis is spelled without a vav in the
context of Numbers 12:1 and thus its numerical value does not actually
equal Yefas Mareh. Rabbi Yaakov Yisroel Kanievsky (1899-1985) writes
(Birkas Peretz, Gematrias, Parshas Behaaloscha) that "Cushite wife" equals
"This is the daughter of Jethro" in numerical value. According to this, one
need not discuss anything about beauty, rather the phrase "Cushite wife"
itself can directly refer to Zipporah.
21 Targum Onkelos and Rabbi Saadiah Gaon translate "Cushite" as
"beautiful". According to the simple understanding of their explanation, this
means that "Cushite" means "beautiful", as mentioned above. However, Ibn
Ezra (to Numbers 12:1) and Rabbeinu Bachaya (to Numbers 12:1)
understand that Onkelos meant beautiful in a sarcastic way. He explains that
just as Arabs call tar "white" (even though tar is black) and the Talmud
(Pesachim 2a) calls blind people "full of light", so too the Targum translates
Cushi as "beautiful" even though he maintains that a Cushite is the direct
opposite of beauty. Ibn Ezra questions this understanding because he asks
that if it were true that according to Onkelos the Torah was using a
euphemism by calling Zipporah a Cushite even thought she was beautiful,
then the Torah would have been degrading the honor of Zipporah by
referring to her by something of which she is the complete opposite. Rabbi
Yaakov ben Asher (1270-1340) makes the same assumption in the words of
the Targum and asks the same question (see Pirush HaTur HaAruch to
Numbers 12:1). To answer this question, one can say like Rashi that Moses
nicknamed his wife Cushite in an effort to ward off the Evil Eye, even though
she was actually the opposite of a Cushite, for she was beautiful. This
explains why he called her a name that is the opposite from an accurate
description of her. [This too assumes that Cushite and beauty are
contradictory.]
22 Rashi (to Genesis 12:11) quotes a Midrash (Genesis Rabbah 40:4) that explains
that when Abraham traveled to Egypt, he was scared that the Egyptians might abduct his
wife because she was beautiful and the Egyptians, being the brothers of the Cushites, were

has separated from me." Not only does this explain how Miriam knew that
Moses separated from his wife, but it also explains the juxtaposition of the
passages concerning Moses' separation from Zipporah with Miriam's ensuing
objections and the prophecies of Eldad and Meidad. However, this Midrash
begs the same question, because it is still unlikely that Zipporah would
explicitly talk about matters of the bedroom with anyone else, even her own
sister-in-law. A similar Midrash26 tells that Zipporah stopped adorning herself
with cosmetics and when questioned by Miriam about this behavior she
replied that her husband Moses was not longer concerned with such matters
as the physical appearance of his wife. From that reply, Miriam inferred that
swarthy and ugly. In this third explanation of Rashi, Rashi seemingly accepts the view of this
Midrash that the Cushites were dark and considered ugly. (Although, Rashi never equates
the swarthiness and ugliness, he merely said that the Cushites possessed both attributes.)
Ibn Ezra (to Genesis 12:11) writes that Sarah was so overly beautiful that no one in Egypt or
any of the other southern lands (Africa?) matched her beauty because the air in those places
changed the forms of the people to make the lands less conducive to producing beautiful
people. (See Rashi to Numbers 13:18 who says that the type of land can have an effect on
the population of the land.)Nachmanides (Genesis 12:11) asks according to Rashi that
Abraham hid Sarah from the Egyptians because she was beautiful and the Egyptians, being
relatives of the Cushites, were black and ugly why did Abraham do so only on his sojourn to
Egypt, but refrained from doing so (like his son Issac) on his visit to the Phillistinian city of
Grar. In asking such a question, Nachmanides assumes that the Philistines (Plishtim) were
also of a dark complexion just like the Egyptians. This assumption is based on the fact that,
according to the genealogical tables established by the Torah (Genesis 10:13-14), the
Phillistinian Nation descends from the Egyptians, who in turn descended from Ham. Thus,
since the dark-skinned trait is hereditary, the inhabitants of Philistia were dark just as the
Egyptians were. However, one can reason (in order to explain the view of Rashi) that only
the Egyptians were dark-skinned because they were in the geographical area of Africa, but
the Philistines were not in that geographical region, and thus were not dark-skinned. This
explanation assumes that the dark-skinned trait is not hereditary but rather is the product of
ones locale. According to this explanation, when Rashi points out that the Egyptians are
the brothers to the Cushites, his intent is that they are the geographical brothers (i.e.
neighbors) to the Cushites who made up the bulk of human settlement in Africa. Essentially,
one can reduce this dispute between Rashi and Nachmanides to whether being black is
dependent on ones geographical location over the span of several generations or on ones
ancestral lineage (with the family of Ham possessing this characteristic). See also Mabit
(Bais Elohim, Gate of Fundamentals, Ch. 44) who writes that the Egyptians were not
accustomed to coming into contact with beautiful women, while the Phillistines were.
Nachmanides (Deuteronomy 1:18) also writes that when relating the event in which
Moses followed Jethros advice concerning the establishment of judges, Moses does not
mention to the listening nation the name of Jethro. He explains that this is because it was
not honorable for Moses to mention his former father-in-law because such a mention in
public would conjure memories of Moses Cushite wife, which he did not want the generation
entering Israel to know about.

23 See Da'as Zekanim by the Tosafists to Exodus 18:2 who write that even
after Moses sent away Zipporah (whether he divorced her or merely
separated from her), she is still referred to as his wife.
24 Gur Aryeh to Numbers 12:1

Moses had separated from Zipporah. Rabbi Naphtali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin
(1817-1893) writes27 that this occurred specifically after the revealing of the
prophecies of Eldad and Meidad because only then did Miriam and Zipporah
meet each other, for Miriam lived in the encampment of the Tribe of Judah,
while Zipporah lived far away in the encampment of the Tribe of Levi. Rabbi
Aharon Leib Steinmen writes28 that according to these two ways of
understanding how Miriam knew that Moses separated from Zipporah, Moses
must have continued to live in the same tent as his wife, but he merely
refrained from relations with her. This is because if he moved out of their
joint tent, it would have been clearly apparent that they separated and
Miriam did not need to hear so from Zipporah.
According to Rashi's first explanation, the complaint against Moses was
that he separated from his wife, Zipporah. Rashi explains that Miriam was
complaining that Moses separated from his wife because he was a prophet,
but both she and Aaron were prophets and did not have to separate from
their spouses. Why did Miriam specifically decide to complain at this point if
Moses had already separated from his wife from the time of the giving of the
Torah at Mount Sinai29? One can answer that according to the above, Miriam
only knew about Moses' separation from his wife after the prophecies of
Eldad and Meidad, but not before then, so she could not complain before
then. Abarbanel answers30 in the name of the Ran: from the time of the
Sinaitic Revelation, Moses was busy judging and leading the nation, so he
could have easily justified separating from his wife because of his duties as
the sole leader of the Jewish Nation. However, after the prophecies of Eldad
and Meidad, when seventy extra judges were added to the appellate, Moses
was no longer the sole leader of the Jewish Nation, and should have been
able to afford spending time with his wife. From the fact that even after the
seventy judges were appointed Moses still did not live with his wife, Miriam
understood that Moses had separated from her because he was a prophet.
Based on this understanding, Miriam complained to Aaron that both she and
Aaron were prophets and did not have to refrain from relations, so why did
Moses. To this complaint, HaShem answered that Moses' prophecy was on a
higher level than any other prophet's was so he required a higher level of
purity.
25 Tanchuma Parshas Tzav 13
26 Sifri to Numbers 12:1
27 Emek HaNetziv to Sifri to Numbers 12:1
28 Ayeles HaShachar to Numbers 12:1
29 See Yevamos 62a
30 See Abarbanel to Numbers 12:1

Rabbi Chizkiyah ben Manoach explains 31 that Miriam assumed that

Moses separated from Zipporah because she was a Cushite 32; accordingly,
Miriam complained why Moses decided to separate from her at that time, he
should have not married her in the first place. Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher (12701340) understands33 that Miriam complained that Moses separated from his
wife because as a Cushite she was not beautiful. He further explains, that in
reality, Moses was so humble and unassuming that a physical blemish such
as a lack of beauty would not matter to him. Abarbanel writes 34 that one
cannot say that Moses separated from Zipporah because he was, by
character, a shy and unassuming person, so engaging in marital relations
was something that he was embarrassed to do, because the nature of the
world is for people to procreate. In fact, the prophet Isaiah said that the
world was created for the purpose of population 35. Instead, Abarbanel
explains that Moses separated from marital relations because when he
ascended Mount Sinai, his spiritual intellect separated from his physical
body, and when he returned, he no longer desired the physical gratification
which men desire.
Rabbi Yehuda HaChassid (1150-1217) explains36 that Miriam
complained about Moses that he should not have merely separated from
Zipporah, rather he should have divorced her because she was a Cushite and
was thus from tainted lineage. Similarly, Rabbi Elazar Rokeach also explains 37
that Miriam was complaining about the fact that Moses merely separated
from his wife, but he did not divorce her. He explains that since Moses was
the King of the Jewish Nation38, he should have taken a wife from within the
Jewish people, not from a foreign nation. Furthermore, in addition to the fact
that Moses married Zipporah before the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai,
he remarried her after the Sinaitic Revelation, while instead he should have
31 Chizkuni to Numbers 12:1
32 [It is unclear whether he learned that being a Cushite was a flaw in the
beauty of Zipporah or it was a flaw in her lineage.]
33 Pirush HaTur HaAruch to Numbers 12:1
34 To Numbers 12:1
35 See Isaiah 45:18
36 Pirush Rabbi Yehuda HaChassid to Numbers 12:1
37 Pirush Rokeach to Numbers 12:1 (This explanation is also found in Pirush
Rabbeinu Yosef Bechor Shor.)
38 See Zevachim 102a

not remarried her39; this accounts for the double usage of the expression "the
Cushite wife whom he married" and "for he married a Cushite wife". The
Rokeach explains that Moses was justified in not divorcing Zipporah and
merely separating from her because Moses owed a debt of gratitude to
Jethro, who took Moses into his family and sustained him while Moses was
poor after he fled Egypt. Because of this debt of gratitude to Jethro, Moses
chose to remain married to his daughter, Zipporah. Rabbi Yitzchok
Zilberstein proves40 from these words of the Rokeach that showing
appreciation is even more important that maintaining a pure lineage.
Rabbeinu Efraim explains41 that Moses was justified in not divorcing Zipporah
because since Moses had the status of a king, his divorcee would have been
prohibited from marrying anyone else anyways 42, so divorcing Zipporah
would not have accomplished anything43.
39 See Introduction to Shuv Shmaytsa that says that all Jews became
converts at Mount Sinai, but even though usually a newly converted convert
is like a newly born baby (Yevamos 22a) and loses all halachik familial
relationships including marriage, since the Jews at Mount Sinai were forced to
accept the Torah, they retained their familial relationships. According to this,
Moses did not have to remarry his wife, for he remained married to her from
before. However, see Pardes Yosef HaChadash to Numbers 12:1 who writes
that Moses was not amongst the rest of the nation in being coerced to accept
the Torah, see he actually lost his familial relationships, so he had to marry
his wife again after the Sinaitic Revelation.
40 Aleinu L'Shabaech to Numbers 12:1
41 Pirush Rabbeinu Efrayim (based on the Cambridge manuscript) to
Numbers 12:1
42 See Maimonides, Laws of Kings
43 In explaining the complaint that Miriam had against Moses, the Netziv
(Emek HaNetziv to Sifri to Numbers 12:1) explains that she said that Moses
should not have just separated from relations with Zipporah, he should have
divorced her so that she could marry someone else. The Netziv then says
that one cannot say that Moses had the status of a king and thus his
divorcee could never remarry because Moses only had the title of King, but
did not necessarily have the halachik rules, which apply to a king. However,
Rabbeinu Efraim seems to say the exact opposite. Due to the controversy
over whether Moses had the halachik rules of a King, the Chasam Sofer (as
quoted in Pardes Yosef HaChadash) proposes that Miriam's protest was
double-edged. If Moses had the status of a king, then he should have
divorced Zipporah and married a Jewish woman of pure lineage, and if Moses
did not have the status of a king, then there is no justification in Moses
having separated from his wife, so he should have continued to live with her.

Rashi writes on the words "about the Cushite wife whom he married"
that Miriam spoke "about her divorce". Later, Rashi writes on the words "for
he married a Cushite wife" that Moses divorced her. The first passage in
Rashi refers to the fact that Moses merely separated from Zipporah 44 but did
not divorce her (like the Rokeach), while the second passage in Rashi is
another explanation. In that second explanation, Rashi is saying that Moses
did divorce Zipporah and that was precisely about what Miriam was
complaining. Tosafos45 write three explanations in explaining the Talmudic
episode in which Moses decided to separate from his wife Zipporah. In the
first explanation, Tosafos say that Moses pitched a tent for himself, which
was separate from his wife's tent. This is consistent with the first explanation
of Rashi that Moses separated from marital relations with his wife, but did
not divorce her. In the second explanation, Tosafos say that Moses actually
served Zipporah a get, a halachik divorce document. This explanation is
consistent with the second understanding of Rashi that Moses actually
divorced his wife. In the third explanation, Tosafos say that Zipporah realized
on her own that she should refrain from marital relations with Moses, so she
exiled herself from her own house. According to this explanation, Miriam
must have not been complaining about Moses' estranged relationship with
his wife Zipporah, but rather must have been referring to an entirely different
episode.
As mentioned above, the Rashbam rejected the notion that the
"Cushite wife" refers to Zipporah because Zipporah was actually a Midianite,
not a Cushite. Additionally, Rabbi Chizkiyah ben Manoach points out 46 that if
the Cushite wife refers to Zipporah, then the Torah need not have stated that
Moses married Zipporah because that was a fact already established in the
Book of Exodus which did not need to be repeated in this episode in the Book
of Numbers. Furthermore, Rabbi Yosef Ibn Kaspi (1279-1340) rejects 47 Rashi's
proofs that "Cushite" refers to the beauty of Zipporah because he explains
that Cushite and beauty are as different as black and white 48. Rather, Rabbi
Yosef Kaspi explains that Moses married a Cushite wife in addition to his preexisting wife, Zipporah. Miriam complained about this because she felt that it
was natural for a man to have only one wife, not two and thus she felt that
Moses was wrong in marrying a second wife. He explains that in reality,
44 Rabbi Yaakov Yisroel Kanievsky (Birkas Peretz to Numbers 12:1) points out
that the numerical value of "Cushite whom he married" equals the numerical
value of "married and [later] abstained from her".
45 Yevamos 62a
46 Chizkuni to Numbers 12:1
47 See Pirush Rabbi Yosef Ibn Kaspi to Numbers 12:1
48 [Presumably, he intended to make a pun.]

Moses had some reason, unbeknownst to us, for why he took a second wife 49.
The Tosafists, Rabbeinu Yitzchok ben Yehuda HaLevi 50 and Rabbeinu Yaakov
of Vienna51, explain differently that after the death of Zipporah (who is not
mentioned in the Torah after Exodus 18:2), the widowered Moses married a
Cushite wife. Immediately upon this marriage, Miriam began complaining
that Moses should not have married her because, as a Cushite, she was
subject to the Hamite curse52 and should have been a slave 53, not the wife of
the monarch of the Israelite Nation.
Rashbam54, Targum Yonason ben Uziel 55, Rabbi Moshe Alshich (15081593)56, understand that Miriam's complaint was about an entirely different
issue. They both quote a Midrash 57 from the Chronicles of Moses that Moses
was king in Cush for forty years. According to this legend, after Balaam and
his two sons fled Egypt, they tricked the Cushite king 58 into allowing them to
take over his capital city while the king was away on a military campaign
against the Kedemites (Easterners). When the Cushite king returned
victorious to his city, he found himself and his army were not welcomed back
home, as Balaam had instructed the inhabitants to betray their former ruler.
49 Rabbi Yosef Kaspi himself offers three possible reasons: First, he says that
perhaps Zipporah contracted some disease which caused Moses to have
marry someone else. Second, he says that perhaps Zipporah "rebelled"
against Moses' ruling authority. Third, he says that perhaps since Moses was
so great, his Yetzer harah was more powerful than that of the average man
(see Sukkah 22a) which necessitated him be wedding a second wife.
50 Paneach Raza to Numbers 12:1
51 R' Yaakov MiVayna to Numbers 12:1
52 See Genesis 9:25-27
53 Ibn Ezra (to Genesis 9:25) writes that some people use the curse on
Canaan to justify using blacks as slaves, however, these people do not
realize that the first king in the post-deluge world was Nimrod, the son of
Cush. Indeed, we find the contrary, that not only were Cushites not slaves,
but they themselves owned slaves, for the Midrash relates (Genesis Rabbah
60:2) that Eliezer specifically wanted to be a slave to Abraham, because he
did not want to be a slave to the Cushites or Barbarians (whom the Maharzu
explains were also Hamitic peoples).
54 To Numbers 12:1
55 To Numbers 12:1
56 Toras Moshe to Numbers 12:1
57 Yalkut Shimoni, Torah, 168

Then the Cushite king besieged his capital city to recapture it from Balaam,
but due to Balaam sly tactics, the king could not succeed. The besiegement
lasted seven years until the Cushite king died, during this time, Moses, a
refugee from Egypt, found his way to the military camp of the Cushite king.
Moses joined the Cushite king in his struggle and soon rose amongst the
ranks to become the Cushite king's second-in-command. Upon the death of
the king, Moses was chosen to lead the army in their struggle to retake their
old capital. Moses led the Cushite army to victory and after they chased
away Balaam, they appointed him as the king of Cush, giving him the wife of
the former king as his queen59. Moses reigned over the Cushite kingdom for
forty years until his queen complained to the kingship's elders that
throughout their forty-year marriage Moses did not even touch her. In
deference to the honor of both their old king and their new king, the elders
decided to force Moses to abdicate the throne and they banned him from
their kingdom, while showering him with gifts. The Midrash explains that
Moses did not treat the Cushite queen as his wife because he remembered
the oaths which Abraham60 and Issac61 made their children swear not to
marry any women from the family of Canaan who was cursed 62. According to
the Rashbam, Miriam had complained that Moses married the queen of Cush
while he served as their king; for she did not know that Moses did not really
live with her.
Rabbi Aharon Leib Steinmen asks63 according to the explanation of the
Rashbam why Miriam decided to lodge her complaint specifically then after
the incident with Eldad and Meidad, if Moses had married the Cushite queen
58 According to the varying sources for this tale, the name of the Cushite
king was Kikianus, Kikanos, or Nikanos. See the translation of Me'Am Loez (to
Exodus 2:15) by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan (1934-1983), printed by Moznaim
Publishing Company.
59 According to Sefer HaYashar, her name was Adoniah. (Josephus records a
corrupted version of this story (Antiquities of the Jews, Book II, Chapter 10) in
which Moses, serving as an Egyptian general, leads the Egyptian army to
victory against the invading Cushites. After the battle, the daughter of the
Cushite king, Tharbis, was so enamored over Moses' strength and abilities
that she offered herself to Moses as a wife, whereupon Moses accepted the
offer and consummated his marriage to the Cushite princess.)
60 Genesis 24:3
61 Genesis 28:1
62 The Midrash assumes that the term "Canaan" used included all
descendants of Ham.
63 Ayeles HaShachar to Numbers 12:1

long before the exodus. Rabbi Pinchos Horowitz (1730-1805) explains 64 that
when Moses divorced Zipporah, Miriam immediately knew that Zipporah
must have been Moses' second wife, not his first. This is because the Talmud
says65 that tears fall from the altar when one divorces his first wife, so Miriam
reasoned that Moses would not commit an act which cause tears to flow from
the altar, rather in divorcing Zipporah, he must have been divorcing his
second wife, not his first. Then Miriam reasoned that if Zipporah was his
second wife, then his first wife must have been the queen of Cush whom he
married while he was the king of Cush. Thus, Miriam's complaint against
Moses was that he married the Cushite queen and she knew this from the
fact that Moses divorced Zipporah. The reason why Miriam specifically
lodged this complaint against Moses after the prophecy of Eldad and Meidad
was that their prophecy foretold that Joshua would lead the Jewish people
into the land of Israel, despite the fact that Moses' sons were capable of the
job because those sons were not attributed to Moses because he had
divorced his wife. This explains why the Torah refers to Gershom and Eliezer
as "her [Zipporah's] sons"66, not Moses' sons.
Rabbi Yaakov Reischer (1670-1733) offers a similar explanation67. He
explains that Miriam reasoned that HaShem told Moses to separate from
Zipporah as a punishment. This is because the Talmud says 68 that one who
sets his eye on that which is not his even that which is rightfully his shall be
taken away from him. Therefore, Miriam assumed that the reason why Moses
was commanded to separate from Zipporah was that he committed adultery
with the wife of the Cushitic king. However, in reality, Moses was not divinely
commanded to separate from his wife, he did so of his own accord, and
Moses did not even touch the queen of Cush during his forty-year reign.

64 Panim Yafos to Numbers 12:1

65 Gittin 90b
66 Exodus 18:3
67 Iyun Yaakov to Ein Yaakov to Moed Katan 16b
68 Sotah 9a