Remember 613 Torah Avenue? Of course you do.
Released in the 1970’s and through the early 1980’s, the 613 Torah Avenue Tapes on the weekly parsha were part and parcel of most frum children’s Torah education during those years, and continue to be used by many teachers and rebbeim.
One of those songs made a certain Tanach personality a household name – specifically this line set to the tune of “O Susanna”:
“Serach played on her kinor Yosef is alive; Yaakov was so happy when the wagons did arrive.” [I have yet to find the midrashic source for this information. If you know of one, please e-mail me.]
Indeed, Serach is mentioned in our parsha – as a daughter of Asher: “And the sons of Asher, Yimnah, Yishvah, Yishvi, Briyah – and Serach, their sister” (Bereishis 46:17).
It is from Chazal that we learn more about her.
Serach was one of nine people to have entered Gan Eden alive (Derech Eretz Zuta 1). Targum Yonason explains that this was in the merit of being the one who gave Yaakov the news that Yosef was alive. At first, Yaakov did not accept what the brothers were telling him, but when Serach told him that it was true, he was able to accept it. Tzror Hamor writes that in this merit she lived a very long life, being the only person from the original seventy members of Yaakov’s family to enter Eretz Yisrael.
Shemos Rabbah states that Yaakov transmitted the “secret of the redemption” – that the Redeemer would say, “pakod pakadati – I [Hashem] have indeed remembered” to Yosef who transmitted it to Asher, who transmitted it to Serach, since he knew that she would be alive for the redemption. The Mechilta states that Serach was actually the one who informed Moshe where Yosef was buried (submerged in the Nile River) so that he could fulfill the promise made to Yosef that his bones would be taken out of Egypt.
The Midrash Seichel Tov explains the meaning of Serach’s name based upon what we have now learned. The word serach is used in connection to material for the curtain in the Mishkan (Shemos 26:12) which descended from the roof and was “additional,” in the sense that it wasn’t needed for the actual covering of the beams. Serach lived a long life with many additional years – as a matter of fact the Midrash writes that she was the “wise woman” who called out to Dovid’s general, Yoav, when he was pursuing Sheva ben Bichri (Shmuel II, 20:16). This is based on Bereishis Rabbah (94:9) where Serach rebukes Yoav for threatening to kill and destroy the whole city, including her.
So, Serach is one those mysterious personalities and she lived a very long life. Why? Yes, it was an extremely momentous time for Yaakov, but what exactly did Serach do that was so amazing?
That’s where this week’s haftarah comes in. You were wondering whether you had the right column, weren’t you? This is supposed to be a haftarah column, you were thinking, correct? Well, wonder no more.
The haftarah records one of the most important prophecies of Yechezkel HaNavi (37:15-28). He sees a vision of Messianic times, when the kingdoms of Yehudah and Yosef will be unified once again. This is represented by two wooden sticks, one for Yosef and one for Yehudah, becoming one – no divisions within Klal Yisrael. Just as in our parsha Yosef is finally reunited with his brothers and his father, so too Yechezkel describes a time of reunification when the long exile of hatred and disunity will have passed.
The concept of achdus, ultimate unity, is the eventual goal of all of Hashem’s creation. Before Creation, Hashem’s Oneness existed alone, with nothing to create any doubt. Then, Hashem made a world with many diverse parts, and His Oneness hidden throughout. At the end of time, all the disparate elements that Hashem created will join together to show a true oneness, a Oneness of Hashem which existed all along but was not clearly seen. It will be then that Ein Od Milvado, the concept that nothing truly exists outside of Hashem, will be seen, and all of the puzzle pieces of existence will have come together as one. We will then encounter the truth of Hashem’s Oneness and the finality of the Complete Redemption, the Geulah Shelaimah.