Living Legacy

(44) Descendants of Asher by their clans: Of Imnah, the clan of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the clan of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the clan of the Beriites. (45) Of the descendants of Beriah: Of Heber, the clan of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the clan of the Malchielites.— (46) The name of Asher’s daughter was Serah.— (47) These are the clans of Asher’s descendants; men enrolled: 53,400.

ושם בת אשר שרח AND THE NAME OF THE DAUGHTER OF ASHER WAS SERAH — Because she still remained alive after all these long years (Sotah 13a) it exceptionally mentions her here (Seder Olam 9).

(1) AND THE NAME OF THE DAUGHTER OF ASHER WAS SERACH. “Because she was still alive [at the end of Israel’s period of bondage in Egypt, and after forty years in the desert, and was one of the seventy people mentioned in Genesis 46 who went down to Egypt with Jacob], Scripture mentions her here.” This is Rashi’s language. And Onkelos translated [the verse as follows]: “and the name of the daughter of Asher’s wife, was Serach.” By this he intended to say that she was a daughter that possesseth an inheritance [in the Land in her own right], and therefore Scripture mentions her here just as it mentions the daughters of Zelophehad, for she [Serach] is included amongst [those referred to in the verse], Unto these the Land shall be divided.


[adopted]


Now had she been the daughter of Asher himself, she would not have inherited [a portion in the Land], since he had male children [as stated in Verse 44]. But she [Serach] was the daughter of his [Asher’s] wife from another man [namely Asher’s wife’s first husband], who did not have a son; therefore his inheritance [in the Land] passed to his daughter. In that case, the reason [why Scripture uses the phrase] and Serach their sister is because she was a [half-]sister to Asher’s sons, but was not his daughter. And therefore it says [here], And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serach, and it does not say “and Asher’s daughter [was Serach],” because [the intention of the verse] is to say that her name was [i.e., she was known as] “Asher’s daughter,” and she was [actually] called Serach. Now if she were still alive [at the end of the period of Israel’s sojourn in the desert], as Rashi explained, then she was like the daughters of Zelophehad as regards [receiving] an inheritance [in the Land in her own right], but if she had died [by then, Scripture mentions her here to indicate that] her family received [a portion in the Land] because of her [since she was amongst those who went down to Egypt]...

The Gemara asks: And from where did Moses our teacher know where Joseph was buried? The Sages said: Serah, the daughter of Asher, remained from that generation that initially descended to Egypt with Jacob. Moses went to her and said to her: Do you know anything about where Joseph is buried? She said to him: The Egyptians fashioned a metal casket for him and set it in the Nile [Nilus] River as an augury so that its water would be blessed.

Serah bat Asher was among those who came to Egypt and those who left it. [She was] from those who came to Egypt, as it is written, "And Serah their sister" (Genesis 46:17), and [she was] from those who came to the Land [of Israel], as it says, "And there was the daughter of Asher, Serah" (Numbers 26:46). And Yokheved was among those who came to Egypt and those who left it. [She was] from those who came to Egypt, as it is written, "And the name of the wife of Amram was Yokheved, daughter of Levi etc." (ibid. 26:59). Ya'ir son of Menasheh and Makhir son of Menasheh were born in the lifetime of our ancestor Jacob, and they died after the death of Moses our teacher, and Novach was among those born in Egypt, and he died after the death of Moses our teacher, and he was buried beyond the Jordan, but there was no man among them left etc. (ibid. 26:65).

(64) Among these there was not one [manof those enrolled by Moses and Aaron the priest when they recorded the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai. (65) For יהוה had said of them, “They shall die in the wilderness.” Not one of them survived, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

(1) ובאלה לא היה איש וגו׳ BUT AMONG THESE THERE WAS NO MAN [OF THEM WHOM MOSES AND AARON NUMBERED] — no man; but the decree consequent upon the incident of the spies had not been enacted upon the women, because they held the Promised Land dear. The men had said, (Numbers 14:4) “Let us appoint a chief and return to Egypt”, while the women said, (Numbers 27:4) “Give us a possession in the Land”. On this account, too, the chapter regarding the daughters of Zelophehad follows immediately here (Sifrei Bamidbar 133:1).

(17) Asher’s sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah, and their sister Serah. Beriah’s sons: Heber and Malchiel.

And when Joseph had finished giving them his orders, he turned: and went back into Egypt, ‎and the sons of Jacob went to the land of Canaan, in joy and happiness to their father. And ‎when they came to the boundaries of the land, they said to one another: What shall we do in ‎bringing this matter before our father? For if we impart it to him suddenly, and tell him all ‎about it, he will be greatly astounded at our words and he will refuse to listen to us. And when ‎they went on until they approached their houses they met Serach coming towards them, and ‎the damsel was exceedingly beautiful and wise, and a skilled player on the harp; and they ‎called her and she came unto them and she kissed them. And they took her and gave her a ‎harp saying unto her: Go, we pray thee, before our father and sit down before him and strike ‎this harp and speak unto him according to these words. And they instructed her concerning ‎what she had to say, and she hastened unto Jacob and she sat down before him. And she sang ‎and she played beautifully upon the harp, and she sang in the sweetness of her voice: Joseph ‎my uncle is alive and he reigneth over all the land of Egypt; he is not dead. And she often ‎repeated these words. And Jacob heard her words and it pleased him greatly, and when he ‎heard her sing it twice and three times, the heart of Jacob was possessed by joy, through the ‎sweetness of her voice, and the spirit of God came over him, and he knew that all her words ‎were true.


And Jacob blessed Serach for singing these words before him, and he said: My ‎daughter, may death never prevail against thee forever, for thou hast revived my spirit, only ‎repeat thou this song once more before me, for thou hast caused me gladness with thy words. ‎And she sang once more the same words and Jacob listened, and he was pleased and he ‎rejoiced, and the spirit of God came over him. And while he was yet speaking with her, his ‎sons came before him with horses and chariots and royal garments and servants running ‎before them.

Blessed is Asher above sons: Therefore Moshe blessed him with
these words. Because when the tribes [brothers) sold Joseph, they
swore each other to secrecy on pain of excommunication. And Serach daughter of Asher knew about the sale through prophecy.
But the brothers said: where did she know if not from her father
Asher? How else can a child know except from her father or
mother? Therefore, they excommunicated him.

Translation from SERACH: FROM PESHAT TO DERASH, Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe | p. 1 | THE MOST UNDERRATED WOMAN IN THE TORAH https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XN2UQqH6jfNoqJpgta6gapy5zcRtCh8q/view?usp=sharing

(Genesis 24:34): It was learned — there were 13 that never tasted the taste of death. These were them: The milcham [phoenix] bird and its [species], Enoch the son of Yered, Serah the daughter of Asher, ...

Serah the daughter of Asher, because she had always been righteous. And when the sons of Jacob went up from Egypt and found Joseph alive, the holy spirit disappeared from Jacob until the day he was told, Joseph is still alive (Genesis 45:26). At that time, he said to her, "You should likewise live forever." And it clung to her since she had always been righteous. So she is still sheltered in the Garden of Eden.

Rabbi Yochanan sat and expounded., "How did the water became for the Jews like a wall [at the splitting of the Sea]?" Rabbi Yochanan expounded, "It was like lattice-work." Serach bat Asher looked out and said, "I was there, and it wasn't like that - it was like a glass window." Rabbi Yochanan sat and expounded, "All the souls coming with Yaakov to Egypt, who came out of his loins, etc." (Genesis 46:26). With Yosef and his two sons, behold they are still lacking one (in order to add up to seventy)! Rabbi Levi in the name of R. Chama bar Chanina: "That is Yocheved, who was born at the gate of Egypt." And some say, "Serach bat Asher completed the number of Israel. 'I am one of those who seek the welfare of the faithful in Israel' (II Samuel 20:19). It is I that has completed the number of Israel. I have completed, being faithful for the faithful."

(27) All the days of Methuselah came to 969 years; then he died.

(12) Many of the priests and Levites and the chiefs of the clans, the old men who had seen the first house, wept loudly at the sight of the founding of this house. Many others shouted joyously at the top of their voices.

(2)this Temple When they would see the building of this Temple, they would weep because they remembered the large building of the First Temple. (3)and many who had not seen the building of the First Temple, were rejoicing and shouting for joy with a loud voice, out of their great joy that they had emerged from their exile.

Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah said, "Behold I am like a man of seventy years and I have not merited [to understand why] the exodus from Egypt should be said at night until Ben Zoma explicated it