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"Serach's" Homecoming
By Rabbi Pesach Wolicki

In the census in this week's parsha, the naming of the families of the tribe of Asher contains an unusual detail. "The descendants of Asher by their families are: The Yimnite family from Yimnah, the Yishvite family from Yishvi, [and] the Bri'ite family from Bri'ah. The descendants of Bri'ah are: The Chevronite family from Chever, the Malkielite family from Malkiel. The name of Asher's daughter was Serach. These are the families of Asher and they numbered fifty-three thousand and four hundred." (26:44-47)

The names of the families and the final tally are common to all of the tribes that are counted. What is peculiar here is the mention of Asher's daughter Serach. The names of the families are all taken from the names of the male sons and grandsons of the twelve sons of Yaacov. Serach is not named here as the matriarch of a family. In other words, there is no Serachite family for Serach. At the same time, this census is naming the families that will inherit the land of Israel. If there is no Serachite family, - and there isn't - what is the meaning of this mention of Asher's daughter?

Serach, daughter of Asher is mentioned one other time in the Torah. After Yaacov found out that his son Yosef was alive, he and his entire family traveled to Egypt. At that point, the Torah names all of those who descended to Egypt with Yaacov. Yaacov's sons, his daughter Dinah, many of his grandsons and great-grandsons are all listed. "These are the names of the Children of Israel who were coming to Egypt, Yaacov and his sons... And the sons of Asher [were] Yimnah, Yishvah, Yishvi, and Bri'ah, and Serach their sister" (Gen. 46:8,17)

Was Serach the only female of that entire generation? Not likely. More likely is that there is something significant about Serach that warrants her mention among those who went down to Egypt as well as among the names of the families that would inherit the land. Targum Yonatan ben Uziel translates and embellishes the verse mentioning Serach in this week's Torah portion as follows. "And the name of Asher's daughter [is] Serach who was taken by six hundred thousand angels and was brought up to the Garden of Eden [heaven] alive because she told Yaacov that Yosef was still alive." Serach was given the unique blessing of eternal life as a reward for being the one to give Yaacov the good news that his son Yosef was still alive.

Later in life, Serach played another significant role in Jewish history. When Moshe and Aharon first came to the Children of Israel to present themselves as the ones who would take them out of Egypt, it was Serach's approbation that would ultimately give Moshe and Aharon legitimacy in the eyes of Israel. "Moshe and Aharon came to the elders of Israel and they performed the signs for them. They [the elders] went to their elder, Serach the daughter of Asher, and said to her: 'A man has come and performed such and such signs before our eyes.' She said to them: 'These signs don't mean a thing.' They said to her: 'Behold, he said "I have surely remembered you [pakod pakadeti etchem]"'. She said to them: 'He is the man who is destined to redeem Israel from Egypt." (Pirkei deRabi Eliezer ch.48)

The words "I have surely remembered you [pakod pakadeti etchem]" were the code words that proved that Moshe and Aharon were the authentic saviors of Israel. Serach knew this because she was the last living person who was alive when these words were said by Yosef shortly before his death. "Yosef said to his brothers, 'I will die, and G-d will surely remember you [pakod yifkod etchem] and bring you up out of this land to the land which he promised to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaacov.'" (Gen 50:24) Thus when Moshe and Aharon came to the people and said that G-d had sent them, it was Serach - the last link to Yosef and his brothers - who declared them authentic.

Serach's link to Yosef and the Exodus does not stop here. On the night that Israel finally left Egypt, Moshe went looking for Yosef's remains. "When Moshe went down to Egypt and the redemption of Israel had come,... Moses was searching and toiling all through the city for three days and three nights to find Yosef's coffin for they could not leave Egypt without [lit. if not for] Yosef.... After Moshe was tired out Serach met him and saw that he was exhausted from the search. She said to him: 'My master, Moshe, why are you exhausted?' He said to her: 'For three days and three nights I have been running around this city in search of Yosef's coffin and I can not find it.' She said to him: 'Come with me and I will show you where it is.' She brought him to the river and said to him: 'In this place the sorcerers made a coffin of five hundred bricks and threw it into the river. They thus told Pharaoh: "Is it your will that this nation shall never leave here? If they don't find Yosef's bones, they can't ever leave.'"(Devarim Rabbah, 11:7)

Serach - at this point well over two hundred years old - is the facilitator of the redemption. She plays this role by virtue of the fact that she remembers. She is the only person who was born in the land of Israel, goes into exile in Egypt, and is there for the Exodus. The Exodus from Egypt was not the end of the redemption. The complete redemption would only come when God would - as Yosef said on his deathbed - "bring you up out of this land to the land which he promised to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaacov." The Exodus from Egypt is complete only when the People of Israel enters the Land of Israel.

In this context, Rashi's comment on the Serach mention in the census in this week's parsha is especially meaningful. "The name of Asher's daughter was Serach: Since she was still alive she was counted here." Serach, who, as a young girl, heralded the reunification of the family of Israel when she declared "Yosef is still alive!", is still alive at the end of the 40 year sojourn in the desert! Serach is preparing to enter the land that she left to descend into exile in Egypt 250 years earlier. Serach represents the importance of memory. Memory recalls something that happened to the person who is remembering. History happened to someone else. In Hebrew there is no word for history. The modern Hebrew word is "historia" - obviously not an authentic Hebrew word.

The idea of Serach teaches that it is essential to the redemption that there is a sense of memory of something prior to the exile. Without this, the exile appears to be normal and natural. What's more, the redemption seems a thing of fantasy. Memory of a pre-exile state reminds us that redemption is not fantasy. How inspirational it must have been to every member of Israel who would be introduced to this two and a half century old woman who was born in the Promised Land, remembered Yaacov, Yosef, and a time before slavery. The mention of Serach in this census - the preparation for entry into the Promised Land - reminds us that the story which began in Canaan with the selling of Yosef and the subsequent descent into Egypt has come full circle. Serach, daughter of Asher is going home.