JULY 25 • 2024 | 45
J
N

I

f you ask me what part of 
the Torah I find most inspir-
ing, I would probably not 
say “the begats,
” the long genea-
logical lists such as in this week’s 
portion.
God orders that a national 
census be taken so that the land 
can be parceled out after the 
impending conquest of Canaan. 
This census lists the 12 sons 
of Jacob, their sons and those 
among their male descendants 
who have established their own 
clans.
It is glaringly obvious in this 
list of almost 100 names, only 
six women are mentioned: the 
five daughters of Zelopechad 
and Serach, the daughter of 
Asher (one of the sons of Jacob 

and Zilpah). The small num-
ber of women mentioned is 
distressing. It reveals there is a 
large number of female biblical 
figures about whom we know 
absolutely nothing.
One remedy is the classical 
midrash. Regarding Serach, we 
are only told, “Now the name of 
Asher’s daughter was Serach.
” 
(Deuteronomy 26:46) 
Only by examining the mid-
rash do we receive a much fuller 
account of Serach’s life. She was 
a very talented musician as a 
child. Because of her talents, her 
uncles gave her the responsibil-
ity of telling Jacob that Joseph 
was not really dead. To cushion 
the shock, she played music on 
her lyre to relax Jacob.

Serach miraculously lived for 
more than 400 years and was 
the only person of her genera-
tion still alive at the time of the 
Exodus. When the Children of 
Israel were ready to leave Egypt, 
Pharaoh’s magicians had hid-
den Joseph’s bones in a metal 
coffin in the Nile, knowing full 
well that the Israelites could 
not leave without them. Moses 
asked Serach to lead them to 
the correct location. 
It is only through the lens of 
midrash that we have gained an 
understanding of another pos-
itive female biblical figure. Yet 
it is not enough to rely on the 
classical midrashim.
As a liberal Jew, I feel that 
there is a legitimate claim to 
create midrash in our day that 
restores our mothers’ names 
to their rightful places on 
the genealogical lists. In the 
book Taking the Fruit: Modern 
Women’s Tales of the Bible, edi-
tor Jane Sprague Jones argues 

in favor of writing modern 
midrash.
She writes, “Women’s roles in 
the Torah were circumscribed 
and limited while women’s 
roles in the modern world 
are expanding. Therefore … 
contemporary women (and 
men) [should] study the text 
and write modern stories that 
incorporate their own experi-
ences and consciousness into 
Judaism.
”
According to the mystical 
tradition, the revealed Torah is 
found in the black letters, the 
hidden Torah is found in the 
white spaces between the letters. 
It is my hope that this Torah
— which includes both our 
mothers and fathers — will be 
revealed in our lifetimes. 

Rabbi Debra Cohen was the chaplain 

at JARC and the rabbinic resource 

person at Congregation T’chiyah. This 

article originally appeared in the JN on 

July 2, 1999.

GET IN THE GAMES

Join our team as a host family.

Support the largest Jewish youth 
event in the world.

The JCC Maccabi Games® are almost 
here, and we still need host families to 
ensure the event’s success. If you can 
open your home (and your heart) 
from July 28 through August 2, please 
sign up now. 

MaccabiDetroit.com

SPIRIT
TORAH PORTION
Biblical Females

BY RABBI DEBRA COHEN

Parshat Pinchas: Numbers 25:10-30:1; Jeremiah 1:1-2:3.

