Eliyahu Hanavi never died and through the centuries he has appeared to people to deliver wisdom and salvation. That’s a fact known to wide-eyed children absorbed as they struggle to keep awake to stare at the kos shel Eliyahu. Far less known is that a woman too embodies many of these characteristics — and also spans the generations.
We first meet this woman in the count of those who descend to Egypt. Serach the daughter of Asher (according to the Ramban in Bamidbar 26:46 she was actually his stepdaughter) is also listed among those who enter the Land. The Yalkut Shimoni notes that years later she appears to Rabi Yochanan to tell him how the waters looked when the sea split having been an eyewitness to the event. The Gemara in Derech Eretz Zuta counts Serach among the rare few who never die entering Gan Eden alive. How did she merit this? What is her strength?
Whole and Faithful
The key to understanding this extraordinary woman is through her own self-description. In Sefer Shmuel II we read the story of the rebellion of Sheva ben Bichri against Dovid Hamelech immediately following the rebellion of Avshalom. Sheva ben Bichri takes refuge in the city of Aveilah Beis Hamaachah and Yoav and his troops surround the city poised to destroy it completely. The Navi tells us that before Yoav begins his conquest a wise woman speaks to him chastising him for not first asking the city if they would surrender as is explicitly stated in the Torah. She then describes herself as one of the shelumei emunei Yisrael one who is whole and faithful in Israel.
The Navi informs us that this “whole faithful” woman saved the entire city from destruction by using her wisdom to convince the city to kill and hand over the rebellious Sheva.
