The Talmud records a statement in the name ofRabbi Avira: "By the merit of the righteous women of that generation,the Israelites were redeemed from Egypt" (B. Sota 11b). Thefirst two chapters of Exodus are full of heroic women. From themidwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to the mother of Moses and Pharaoh'sdaughter, there is a cohort of women who rise up in conscientiousobjection against the Egyptian tyranny over the Israelite people.
Because of her longevity, she embodied a living Jewish memory,becoming the sole link to the generation of the patriarchs, lost to theIsraelite slaves in Egypt. According to the Zohar, the beginning of theoppression in Egypt is marked by an "exile of the word." Together,Moses and Serah bat Asher are pivotal in bringing the word back - sheas the source of memory, bearer of the oral (mouth-to-mouth) tradition,and he as the messenger of divine revelation.
The critical meeting between Moses and Serah bat Asher occursin the presence of the elders. Prior to this, at the burning bush,Moses was seized with doubt that the Israelites would not believe hehad been sent by God as their redeemer. God answered the prophet'sanxiety by giving him a set of signs, otot - the staff turnsinto a snake, Moses's hand becomes leprous and water turns to blood.But He also gave him words, embodied in letters - otiot: "Tell them, the Lord, God of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, appeared to you and said, 'I have taken note of you [pakod pakadeti et'chem]and of what is being done to you in Egypt,'" (Exodus 3:16). These wordsecho the promise Joseph had uttered when he made his brothers swear totake his bones out of Egypt: "God will surely take note of you [pakod yifkod et'chem] and bring you up from this land..." (Gen. 50:24-25).
AfterMoses performs the signs and Aaron reiterates all the words God hadsaid: "When they heard that the Lord had taken note of theIsraelites... the elders believed Moses and bowed low in homage" (Ex.4:31). Who makes the connection between God's promise to Moses andJoseph's oath? Serah bat Asher, of course, the sole survivor of thegeneration that left Canaan.
The midrash Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer presents thismeeting in the light of an oral tradition that revolves around the five"letters of redemption," which appear twice in significant expressionsof God's providence: kaf, mem, nun, peh and tzadi. Theseletters differ graphically when they appear at the end of a word,pointing to the telos - the ultimate end - that they signify.
"The letters (peh-peh)were delivered to our father, Abraham. Our father Abraham deliveredthem to Isaac, and Isaac to Jacob, and Jacob delivered the mystery ofthe redemption to Joseph, as it is said, 'But God will surely takenotice of you [pakod yifkod et'chem]' [Gen. 50:24]. Joseph hisson delivered the secret of the redemption to his brothers. Asher, theson of Jacob, delivered the mystery of the redemption to Serah, hisdaughter.
"When Moses and Aaron came to the elders ofIsrael and performed the signs in their sight, the elders of Israelwent to Serah bat Asher and said to her: 'A certain man has come, andhe has performed a set of miraculous signs [otot] before ourvery eyes.' She said to them: 'There is no significance to thesesigns.' They said to her: 'He said "I have taken note of you [pakod pakadeti et'chem]'"[Ex. 3:16]. She said to them: 'He is the man who will redeem Israelfrom Egypt in the future, for so I heard from my father, peh-peh, 'Godwill surely take note of you [pakod yifkod et'chem]...' (Gen.50:24). The people then believed in their God and in Moses, as it issaid, 'And the people believed when they heard that the Lord had takennote of the Israelites'" (Ex. 4:31) (Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 48, my translation).
Serah bat Asher grants Moses authority, endorses his claim to bethe redeemer of Israel, not on the basis of the miraculous signs (otot), but on the basis of the letters (otiot) peh-peh, embedded in the critical words: "God has surely taken note of you [pakod pakadeti et'chem]." She uniquely presents the possibility of continuity with a lost generation as bearer of the oral tradition, mouth-to-mouth (peh-el-peh).
Moses, on the other hand, engages with God face-to-face, as theconduit of direct revelation. Both Serah bat Asher and Moses stir thereturn of the word after a period of exile. Serah, as her namesignifies (cf. Ex. 26:12-13), does so by "overlapping" the generations,carrying over the remnants of a promise. Moses, like the bush itself,burns without being consumed; he becomes the vessel of Torah, carryingthe divine words of black-fire-on-white-fire to the people.
In our generation, we appear to be missing both figures. Yet wecan find models of continuity in the wizened storytellers of a lostgeneration and in the brilliant scholars of the beit midrash. Perhapsthe likes of Serah and Moses continue to stir words, calling for areturn from exile.
The writer lectures in Bible and midrash at Matan, the SadieRennert Institute for Women's Torah Studies in Jerusalem, as well asinternationally.