We all know the story: Moses, the parting of the waters, a miraculous escape. But what if there was someone else there, seeing even more than meets the eye?
That someone was Serah bat Asher.
The story goes that when Serah stood with the children of Israel at the edge of the Yam Suf, the Sea of Reeds (what we often call the Red Sea), she experienced a vision unlike any other. While everyone else saw the parted waters, Serah saw… well, everything.
According to tradition, Serah saw the countless angels who had gathered to witness this incredible event. Imagine, a heavenly host cheering on the Israelites! But it didn't stop there. She also saw the Shekhinah, the Divine Presence itself, descending among them as Miriam, Moses' sister, led the women in joyous song and dance, playing her tambourine and singing the "Song of the Sea." Can you picture it? The energy, the relief, the sheer awe of that moment?
But the most extraordinary part of Serah's vision? She saw God. She saw the Holy One, blessed be He, commanding the waters to part. Now, that's a powerful image. The story emphasizes that, besides Moses, Serah was uniquely qualified to witness this. She was the only other person alive at that moment who could gaze upon the face of God and live.
This brings up an interesting point: what did the Israelites see at the Red Sea? There are different perspectives in our tradition. Some say that even a simple maidservant witnessed things at the sea that even the greatest prophets, like Isaiah and Ezekiel, never experienced. As it says in the Book of Ezekiel (1:1), "The heavens were opened and I saw visions of God." The implication is that the collective experience at the Red Sea was so potent, so filled with divine revelation, that it surpassed even the visions granted to the prophets.
However, there's also a tradition that paints a different picture of Serah's status. The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana recounts that when the Israelites first came down into Egypt, Serah was enslaved and forced into hard labor, grinding grain at a mill. This raises a question: How could someone who was enslaved and subjected to such harsh conditions possess such a profound spiritual vision?
Perhaps the answer lies in the idea that divinity can be found in the most unexpected places and in the most unlikely people. Maybe it was Serah's humility, her resilience in the face of adversity, that allowed her to see beyond the physical and into the spiritual realm. Or maybe it was simply her inherent connection to the divine, regardless of her social standing. The Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, often emphasizes that everyone has a spark of the divine within them, waiting to be ignited.
Whatever the reason, Serah bat Asher's vision at the Red Sea serves as a powerful reminder that miracles aren't just about grand, sweeping events. They're also about the individual moments of revelation, the personal connections to the divine that can transform our understanding of the world. And sometimes, the most profound visions are granted to those who are often overlooked.