38 | JULY 1 • 2021

SPIRIT
TORAH PORTION

I

n this week’s Torah portion,
we learn of the daugh-
ters of Zelophehad:
Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah,
Milcah and Tirzah. The
first thing which makes
this story unique is that
we know the women’s
names. So often in the
Torah we don’t know the
female characters’ names,
let alone what they
thought, felt or said.
The women approach
Moses with a request.
Since the Israelite laws of
inheritance at that time
provided that only a man’s sons
inherit from him, and their
father Zelophehad died without
leaving a male heir, the women
request that they inherit his
portion of the land to perpetu-

ate their father’s name.
This was a unique
situation. Moses did not
know how to answer
their request, so he went
directly to God to find
the answer. God agreed
with the women: They
are entitled to receive the
land.
However, in parshat
Massei, which we read
next week in combina-
tion with parshat Matot,
we learn that this new
law about women’s inher-
itance is amended. In
cases where there is no male
heir, the daughters may, indeed,
inherit. However, they are then
limited to marrying men within
their own tribe to keep the land
within the tribe.

Some would debate whether
this was a true, full victory for
the women. They were given
inheritance rights and then
these rights were compromised
by limiting the pool from which
the women could choose poten-
tial husbands.
Yet the outcome of the wom-
en’s request is not the point
upon which most Biblical
commentators focus; they note,
instead, the way the women
pursued their inheritance.
The daughters of Zelophehad
quietly and carefully prepared
their case. Respecting the tradi-
tion from which and the people
from whom they came, it is
said that the women discussed
the issue with people in various
positions of authority before
taking their case to Moses.
Zelophehad’s daughters always
accorded the tradition respect,
never once demanding change

merely for change’s sake.
Zelophehad’s daughters teach
us that religious norms can be
adapted. There is not always
one correct understanding or
one right way of doing some-
thing.
Moses was open to consid-
ering the women’s request; and
although it was something out
of the norm, he took it to the
highest authority — God — and
God accepted the change in law.
We must respect the tra-
ditions and the people from
whom we have come while at
the same time being open to
new ideas, understandings and
possibilities. This is how the
Jewish community continues to
flourish generation after gener-
ation.

Rabbi Amy B. Bigman is rabbi at

Congregation Shaarey Zedek in East

Lansing.

Rabbi Amy
Bigman

Parshat

Pinchas:

Numbers

25:10-30:1;

Jeremiah 1:1-

2:3.

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