Asher is Zilpah's second son. Leah says: "For my happiness, for the daughters will call me happy" (Genesis 30:13). The name comes from osher, happiness, and from the verb ishruni, "they will call me happy."
Jacob blesses him through food: "From Asher, his bread shall be rich, and he shall provide royal delicacies" (Genesis 49:20).
Moses blesses him through oil and through his brothers: "Blessed above the sons be Asher; may he be favored by his brothers and dip his foot in oil. Iron and copper shall be your bolts, and your strength shall last as long as your days" (Deuteronomy 33:24 and 25). Wealth is spoken twice, and twice turned toward others: the king whom Jacob's Asher feeds, the brothers who favor him in Moses' blessing.
On the breastplate, according to the Targum attributed to Jonathan, his stone is the second of the third row, the shevo (Exodus 28:19), often rendered as agate; the identification remains uncertain. In the desert Asher encamps to the north, next to Dan (Numbers 2:27), with Pagiel son of Ochran as prince. The Midrash cited by Ramban explains this place: Asher is next to Dan "to illuminate the darkness," and it cites the verse of Moses, "may he dip his foot in oil." According to Rashi, his banner had the color of his stone.
According to the order of the banners, Asher receives Shevat, the month of the letter Tzadi (Sefer Yetzirah 5:2); in the Vilna Gaon's version, Tzadi rules over eating. The Bnei Yissaschar links this month to Asher through his two verses, the rich bread and the foot in oil: olive oil abounded in his portion, and "wherever olive oil is found, wisdom is found." One may compare the faculty of eating with Asher's bread; this is a reading, resting on that same commentary. The attribution of months varies with the order followed, as the introductory entry recalls.
Keep this: in Asher, abundance is never kept for oneself. The bread goes to the king, the oil lights the darkness of the neighboring camp, and the blessing asks to be "favored by his brothers."
