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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