Rebbetzin Chava Kuperman
She clothes herself in strength and splendor, looks joyfully to the future...
In a more precise translation, the end of the verse reads differently—“‘laughs’ at the last day.”
It refers to Elisheva, daughter of Amminadav, sister of Nahshon and wife of Aaron the Kohen.
On the first day of service in the Mishkan, she experienced four joys at once: her husband was the high priest (Kohen Gadol); her sons, Nadav and Avihu, were his deputies; Moses, her brother-in-law, was the leader of the entire Jewish people; and her brother Nahshon was the leader of the tribe of Judah, the first of the 12 leaders to bring an offering to the Mishkan that day.
But by the end of that very day, Elisheva loses two sons, yet she is not permitted to mourn. The mother’s heart is breaking, but she dares not show it...
That is why it says: “‘laughs’ at the last day.” She needs strength as much as anyone else needs clothing. And the splendor of her clothing symbolizes the fact that all her relatives are nobility.
Words of wisdom are on her lips, and her speech is compassionate…
It refers to Serah, daughter of Asher. The very same Serah who reveals to Jacob that Joseph is alive, for which she receives the patriarch’s blessing of eternal life. The very same Serah who, on the eve of the Exodus, at Moses’ request, points out the place in the Nile where the coffin containing Joseph’s remains rests.
The very same Serah who saved a city from the destruction threatened by Joab, David’s defense minister, because its residents were sheltering a criminal named Sheba ben Bichri. She entered into negotiations with Joab, took on the role of mediator between him and the townspeople, and eventually persuaded her fellow residents to hand over Sheba ben Bichri’s head to Joab, thereby saving the entire city and all its inhabitants from destruction.
According to tradition, Serah “weighed as much as an entire city in Israel.”
This refers to her importance, her political and spiritual weight. (Moses is considered “equal” to the entire Jewish people. Similarly, Serah is “equal” to a city.)
to be continued