Setting: Can be very simple with two chairs on the left and no scenery on the right. For something more elaborate, use an Old Testament style Jewish interior on the left and suggest an outdoor scene on the right.
Characters:
Props: A scroll
| Scene I: | Lights up on left stage. Grandmother Miriam is seated. Little Mo runs in with a scroll under his arm. |
| Mo | Grandma! Look who's come to visit you! It's me! Little Mo. |
| Miriam | Wonderful! Come here Little Mo and give Grandma Miriam a b-i-g hug. (Hugs Mo and then notices scroll) What did you bring? |
| Mo | (frowns) I have homework. |
| Miriam | We'll get to that soon. First tell me, how was school today? |
| Mo | (sadly) Not so good. I shouldn't bring the Rabbi any more of my pet snakes. |
| Miriam | (laughs) You didn't! Well, I'm sure you did. (hugs Mo) It's a good thing God has a sense of humor. |
| Mo | Does He really? |
| Miriam | Yes, I'm very sure He does. That's one thing I'll never forget! |
| Mo | What do you mean? |
| Miriam | Do you remember when you asked me why cousin Michael's skin was so dark? |
| Mo | Yes. You told me that God made people in many colors and that He loves every color He made. |
| Miriam | That's exactly right. And now I'll tell you how Grandma Miriam learned that lesson the hard way! This is also how I learned that God has a sense of humor. |
| Action | Mo takes the chair next to Grandma Miriam. Both watch the right side of the stage. Lights down on left stage. |
| Scene 2 | Lights up on right stage where Aaron and young Miriam stand. |
| Miriam | (angry) Aaaron, I have just about had it with Moses and that Cushite woman he married. |
| Aaron | Been at it with our dear sister-in-law again, Miriam? |
| Miriam | I can't believe Moses married her! He's a prophet! He should be married to one of our own kind - not some dark skinned foreigner. It was Moses who told us that God didn't want us marrying outside our race. |
| Aaron | Technically, you can't get her on that one Miriam. The rule is against marrying someone who worships idols or other so-called gods. You know as well as I do that she worships the Lord, our God. |
| Miriam | Yea, well maybe but I still can't stand her acting so uppity like she's just as good as anyone else. Her accent is so thick I can't half way make out what she's saying... not that she ever says anything worth listening to. Someone like her should learn to be humble. |
| Aaron | Well, she won't learn humility from YOUR brother, Moses. |
| Miriam | He's YOUR brother too. But I know what you mean. I'm so tired of hearing 'God said this' and 'God said that'. Like he thinks God only speaks through him. |
| Aaron | God has spoken through us too. |
| Miriam | That's right. And I, for one, am tired of watching Moses and his little brown wife acting like they know everything. |
| Aaron | Like I said, has the Lord spoken only through Moses? No! He has spoken through us too. |
| Narrator | Then something very surprising happened! The Lord God called Miriam, Aaron and Moses together. Like a displeased parent, God said, 'Go out to the Tabernacle, all three of you!' And so they did. |
| Action | (Moses joins Aaron and Miriam. They move a few steps to signify going to the tabernacle. They stand looking up as if expecting to hear from God. While the narrator reads, the actors silently move through the motions the narrator describes.) |
| Narrator: | Then the Lord came down in the pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle. "Aaron and Miriam!" he called, and they stepped forward. And the Lord said to them, "Now listen to me! Even when I speak to the prophets, I speak to them in dreams and visions. But that is not how I communicate with my servant Moses. I trust him with my entire house. I speak to him face to face, directly and not in riddles! Moses sees Me as I Am. Shouldn't you be afraid to criticize him?" The Lord was furious with them, and he went away. As the cloud moved from above the Tabernacle, Miriam suddenly became white as snow with leprosy. |
| Action | Aaron grabs Miriam's arm and shows it to Miriam and Moses. They all appear to be very upset and afraid. |
| Aaron | Moses, we're sorry for the sin that we have so foolishly committed! Please don't punish us like this! |
| Moses | (looks up prayerfully toward heaven) Heal her, O God, I beg you! |
| Action | Lights down on right stage. Characters 'freeze' in position. |
| Narrator | And the Lord said to Moses, 'If she had been disobedient to her earthly father, she would have been sent outside the camp for 7 days. Banish her from the camp for 7 days and after that she may return.' So Miriam was sent outside the camp for 7 days to think about what she had done. After 7 days, the Lord healed her. |
| Scene 3 | Lights up on the left side of the stage. |
| Mo | Oh, Grandma Miriam, you must have been very afraid! |
| Miriam | Yes, I was afraid and ashamed. I had been so mean to her just because she did not look and talk like me. |
| Mo | There's one thing I don't understand. Why did you say God had a sense of humor? |
| Miriam | Remember how he turned me snow white with the awful disease of leprosy? |
| Mo | Yes, I remember. |
| Miriam | I guess He just showed me that if I liked light skin so much that I would hurt others over it, I could just have a giant dose of what I'd chosen! |
| Mo | Did God stay mad at you? |
| Miriam | No, He forgave me because He loves me. (Gently tickles Mo) Just like He loves you. |
| Mo | And cousin Michael, too! |
| Miriam | Yes! Cousin Michael and everyone in the world, no matter what color skin He gave them. Now, let's go see about that homework. |
| Action | Grandma Miriam and Mo walk off to the left. Others 'unfreeze' and walk off to the right. |