By Nissan Mindel: As you can well imagine, she loved her grandfather dearly, and when her beloved uncle Joseph disappeared, and Jacob thought him dead and mourned for him for twenty-two years, Serach was a real consolation to her grandfather.
By Nissan Mindel: Serach took her harp, which she had not played in her grandfather’s presence during all those years, and she began to play and sing. The strains of her harp reached old Jacob, in the midst of his mourning. For years no sound of joy had been heard in his house. What was the meaning of this? he wondered. He began to listen to her words, and his heart began to leap for joy, for he clearly heard the words, Joseph is alive; he rules over all Egypt.
Only then could his sons approach him and tell him the full story, how that "harsh’"ruler in Egypt had only been pretending when he first met them on their arrival in Egypt to buy food; he had wanted to test their love for each other, and for their father, and to find out whether they were really sorry that they had sold him. Then he revealed himself, and behold! Joseph had not changed, except that he had grown older and was the father of two wonderful boys.
Joseph had never allowed himself to be influenced by the Egyptian way of life, nor by his power and riches. On the contrary, Joseph was the true ruler and master of Egypt, and his good influence was everywhere, from the royal house of Egypt to the farthest corners of the land. This was even better news, and Jacob was happy again, and he felt the power of prophecy return to him.
In gratitude to his granddaughter for bringing the glad tidings to him, he blessed her with the gifts of long life and prophecy.
