By Rabbi Alexandra Wright

We are not quite at the end of the Book of Numbers, but we return – as at the beginning – to an extensive census of the Israelites in chapter 26. One must look very carefully for the mention of any women in this census, for it is the names of Jacob’s twelve sons and their descendants who are listed, many of them unknown to us.

Special attention is paid in the census to the family of Moses, mentioning his mother Yocheved and his sister Miriam.  And there is one other woman whose name is highlighted in this parashah. She is Serach, the daughter of Asher, one of Jacob’s sons.

The fact that her name is mentioned here is a mystery. It implies, says one contemporary commentator, that she played an important role in Israel’s memory. But the Torah doesn’t preserve her story.

It is left to rabbinic tradition to transform Serach from a name to a fully-rounded character among the women in the Hebrew Bible, whose story is bound up with the narrative of her uncle, Joseph.

In the Torah (Genesis 45:25), there is no discussion among the brothers about how they should tell their father that Joseph is alive.  They return to Canaan having bought grain in Egypt, they come to Jacob and tell him: ‘Joseph is still alive; yes, he is ruler over the whole land of Egypt.’  His response is one of shock – vayafog libbo – literally, ‘and his heart froze,’ for he did not believe them.

But in the midrash, Joseph warns his brothers not to alarm their ancient father, and the brothers summon twelve-year-old Serach to sit before her grandfather, Jacob, and to play and sing for him.  She sings gently these words: ‘Joseph my uncle did not die, he lives and rules all the land of Egypt.’

According to the mediaeval midrash, known as Sefer Ha-Yashar, after Serach had played for Jacob two and three times, joy began to fill his heart and the spirit of God rested on him. He sensed the truth of her words, and when the brothers returned with the news that Joseph was still alive, he knew that it was the truth and got up to prepare for his visit to Egypt and his son, Joseph.

Serach is known for her longevity, her life spanning the generations from Jacob even until Moses and was initiated into the secret of the Israelites’ redemption from Egypt. This had been disclosed to Abraham, who had passed it on to Isaac, and then to Jacob and Joseph who revealed it to his brothers. Serach’s father, Asher, had passed it on to his daughter.

Not only does Serach identify Moses as the liberator of Egypt, but she also carries the memory of where her uncle Joseph is buried and reveals it to Moses, so that his bones can be carried up to the land of Canaan, in accordance with his wishes. The description of Moses, standing on the banks of the River Nile, summoning Joseph’s metal coffin from the depths of the waters where the Egyptians had buried it, reminds one of King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, rising from the waters – where there is also a woman, a magical water-spirit who hands it to him.

But Serach is certainly not a water-sprite in these midrashim.  She is blessed with wisdom and knowledge; she is compassionate and faithful. And in one earlier midrash, she resolves rabbinic disputes about events she witnessed in biblical times. In mystical literature (Zohar 3:167b), she is among the nine human beings who are said to have entered heaven alive, where she lives in a heavenly palace and teaches Torah.

In another story, she is still alive in the time of King David and is identified with a wise woman in the Book of Samuel.

It is in this striking story that we are brought back to the biblical text and a rebellion against King David.  Joab, David’s military commander, pursues the rebel leader, Sheba, son of Bichri and besieges the town of Abel of Beth-maacah.  A nameless woman shouts out from the city, ‘Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come over here so I can talk to him. The Rabbis identify this woman as Serach bat Asher.

When Joab asks her, ‘Who are you?’ she replies (2 Samuel 20:19), ‘I am one of those who seek the welfare of the faithful, but you seek to bring death upon a mother city in Israel!  Why should you destroy God’s possession?’ The inhabitants of the town are saved, and the rebel’s head is thrown over the wall to Joab.

These midrashic stories about Serach bat Asher reflect a wealth of different themes, as relevant to us today as they have always been – loss and suffering, freedom and redemption, dignity and the saving of human life, wisdom, loyalty, courage, compassion and love.

We badly need a wise woman, a Serach bat Asher to shout out against the cruelty and injustice of our world and to promote those values of justice, faithfulness and love – the foundations of Jewish teaching and universal goodness.

Where can we find wisdom, courage and compassion?  Where can we find hope and faith that all individuals, wherever they live, can find the security of a home and a job, freedom from war, and freedom of expression and thought, an education for their children. Where can we find dignity for all humanity?  If it is not in the world around us, we must search deeply in the music of our heart, just as Serach found a song of hope and life in her heart as she sang to her grandfather, ‘Joseph, my uncle, did not die, he lives….’

May we all find that strength, resilience and faith to sing a song of freedom to those in chains, and to those in despair a song of hope. Amen.

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