Written by Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barash (Pardes Faculty) – It is truly remarkable that two short references in the biblical text could generate such a multifaceted woman in midrashic literature. There is a curious reference toward the end of the Book of Genesis to a woman who appears twice in the Torah for no apparent reason. While no other daughters are mentioned (and Dinah actually disappears), Serah, the daughter of Asher, is referenced both in Vayigash (Genesis 46:17) and more surprisingly, again in the Book of Numbers (26:46) as one of Jacob’s family members who went down to Egypt. Almost no other women are mentioned in this census-taking, and the 600,000 enumerated are only men over the age of 21.
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