A Psalm of Serach
The following story comes from But God Remembered: Stories of Women from Creation to the Promised Land by Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso.
“These are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his descendants who came to Egypt….Asher’s sons… and their sister Serach.” (Genesis 46:8-17)
In the time of the famine in Canaan, there was a woman named Serach who lived for over four hundred years. She always carried her harp and often played as she walked. Throughout her long life, she grew in wisdom, but her voice remained young.
When Jacob’s sons went down to Egypt to find food for their family, they returned with wagons overflowing with grain, and they carried surprising news. Their brother Joseph was Prime Minister of Egypt! Joseph had been Jacob’s favorite son, and his brothers had been jealous of him. They had sold him into slavery, and then told Jacob that Joseph had been torn apart by an animal. But Joseph was neither dead nor a slave.
Not one of the eleven brothers would tell Jacob that Joseph was alive. Not one would admit to his act of jealousy and say he had lied. But if they did not tell Jacob about Joseph, they could never convince him to go with them to Egypt where food was plentiful and the land was good. They only brought back enough grain to last a few weeks. Jacob would have to be told.
As the brothers unloaded their wagons and argued over who would tell Jacob, they heard singing and the sounds of a harp coming from a nearby tent. For a moment, they relaxed in the cradle of the song.
Asher, one of the brothers, said, “The music comes from my daughter Serach. God has blessed her with grace and wisdom and has given her the gifts of song and story.”
And it was so. The voice of Serach softened the harshness of the famine. Children often followed her on her walks and listened to her sing of their ancestors. She sang of Abraham and Isaac, Sarah and Rebekkah. She spoke of Hagar, Ishmael and Esau. She sang of Jacob and his sons and Dinah, his daughter. All the people of Israel listened to the songs of Serach. When Serach finished her song and her playing upon the harp, Asher thought of a plan. “Serach is the one to tell Jacob that his son Joseph still lives. Her song brings understanding, and her music quiets the troubled heart.”
All the brothers agreed. Ashwer went to Serach’s tent and pleaded with her to tell their story. “My daughter, My beloved Serach, we need your help. We have just returned from Egypt where there is food in abundance. The man who sits by Pharaoh’s side, his Prime Minister, is our brother Joseph! Jacob must know his son lives. Then he will lead us all to Egypt, to sweet water and grain, fresh fish and melons. Jacob is old and his heart is broken. We tricked our father once, and we cannot speak to him about Joseph again. Our words are clumsy, old lies tie our tongues. But your voice, Serach, is not like ours. Be our voice before Jacob.”
Serach was silent for a long time. She loved her father who had honored her by teaching her the wisdom of the ancestors. Other daughters were given no such knowledge. She knew the ancient stories by heart and wrote words to sing and music to play upon the strings of her harp. Could she find the words to tell her grandfather Jacob about Joseph’s new life? Could she calm his soul in the rhythms of her song? What if she failed? The children of Israel were often hungry. Without Jacob, they would not go down to Egypt.
Serach decided to write a song for her grandfather. The next morning, she took her harp and went to his tent. Serach sat down before her grandfather and began to play a sweet melody. She called it A Psalm of Serach, for Jacob. On the harp.
Once your sons handed you Joseph’s bloody coat.
You wept and mourned; you no longer had hope.
But a miracle has happened. It’s almost a dream.
Come closer, grandfather, hear the words that I sing.
When your sons went to visit Egypt land,
They bowed and kissed a ruler’s fair hand.
They did not know his face, nor recognize his voice.
But the words he spoke gave them reason to rejoice.
“From Egypt’s storehouse I have grain I can give.
I am Joseph, your brother. Does our father still live?
Your sons were afraid, sorry and ashamed.
For what happened to Joseph, they accepted the blame.
Joseph said, “It was God who brought me to this place.
Now all that I wish is to see my father’s face.”
What your son’s once said of Joseph’s end was not true.
Joseph’s forgiven them. They pray you’ll forgive them too.
Go down to Egypt. Don’t wait too long.
Unite our family. Fulfill the promise of this song.
Serach sang the melody over and over again. The song gave Jacob much joy and delight. All the years he was separated from Joseph, Jacob grieved, but Serach’s song lifted his spirits and he felt happiness once again. He knew Serach spoke the truth. Her song gave him new strength, and her words gave his heart the ability to forgive.
When she finished her song, Jacob embraced Serach and blessed her. “May your songs and stories live forever among our people.”
Serach went down to Egypt with Jacob and his sons and daughter, and she became the head of a large family. No one really knows what happened to her, but four hundred years later it was said that she was still playing her harp and singing. By that time a new Pharaoh ruled in Egypt who did not know Joseph, and he enslaved the people of Israel.
After long and bitter years, Moses arose as a leader of his people. When he was preparing to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he remembered the promise made to Joseph to have his bones buried in the land of Canaan. Moses searched for Joseph’s coffin. He looked everywhere, in every tomb and pyramid. He was weary and about to give up when he heard Serach’s singing in the distance.
Wet is the grave where Joseph’s bones are laid
Heavy is the coffin; Egypt sealed it with lead.
Follow my words to the Nile River bank
In those dark waters is where Joseph’s coffin sank.
Moses followed Serach’s voice to the Nile and called out, “Joseph, Joseph, the time for leaving Egypt has come.” Immediately Joseph’s coffin bubbled to the surface as light as a reed. The people lifted it and carried it on their shoulders as Moses led the way out of Egypt.
Once the people settled in the Land of Israel, they no longer heard Serach’s singing. They forgot how she saved the children of Israel with her songs.
But God remembered Serach and rewarded her. Her gift of song went up to heaven and remained there. She sits as a queen on a throne in Paradise, and the heavenly chambers are filled with her voice. It is said that Serach opens the windows of heaven to receive our prayers. She sets them to music on her harp and carries them up to God.
Prayer: God of our ancestors, when we do not know the words to say to make things right, give us a psalmist to sing them and the ears to hear her song. Amen.
