The American Spectator

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Another Perspective

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There is a Jewish tradition I suspect is unknown to those who encounter the Bible only in translation, although the clues are there. Jacob had a son named Asher, of whom the verse (Genesis 46:17) says: "The children of Asher were Yemina and Yishva and Yishvi and Briah, and their sister Serah…" By calling Serah "their sister", it hints she was adopted. Later, in Numbers (46:26), it says: "The name of Asher's daughter was Serah." The Aramaic translation (Targum) reads: "And the name of Asher's wife's daughter was Serah." This is used as a legal source for the concept of paternal adoption.

What I have never seen any commentator do is connect this to two other well-founded traditions. One is in the Midrash, the second is in the Talmud, and both are taught to all Jewish schoolchildren. The first is that Serah was Jacob's favorite granddaughter. When it came time to tell him that Joseph was alive after all, his children were afraid to approach him, so Serah was left with the task. She composed a song with the news and sang it to Jacob, while sitting on his knee and playing with his beard.

The second story is that there was a code word handed down by Jacob when he died. If someone came and claimed to be the redeemer from Egypt, he had to know the code word to be accepted. Obviously, only one person could be trusted with the secret or it could be abused. Jacob chose to pass it to Serah; when Moses came, he had to first pass muster with her offspring. Put all this together and what do you get? That the adopted daughter was loved and trusted with the fate of the entire family.

This moving image speaks urgently to our time. The issue of adoption becomes ever more vital as the family structure learns to contend with modern urbanized society. Often the upheavals of the fast-paced life fracture the fragile domestic bond in its formative phase. Children are hostages to the learning experiences of young parents. There is great comfort in knowing this is the oldest story of all; it happened to Asher's wife 3500 years ago and to Gerald Ford's mother ninety years back. A loving father can redeem that child, an act not dissimilar to the act of redeeming the nation itself.

Picture that tableau. Moses, an adopted child without either parent, comes to redeem the nation. First he must check in with the descendant of the adopted child, Serah, to be certified. Now the nation can be saved. Now there is enough selflessness, enough choosing to give, enough unconditional love, for a new nation to survive. After years of suffering, it may be possible to believe again that someone cares. We adopted Gerald Ford as our President, and he adopted us when we had been abandoned. There were better Presidents in our time, but not many finer people. May Heaven adopt him for their own.