Parashat Pinchas 2020
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Temple Beth El Torah Study Rabbi Asher Knight Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu laasok b’divrei Torah Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, who hallows us with mitzvot, commanding us to engage with words of Torah. Numbers 26:63-65 (64) Among those [who were counted in the census in the desert] there was not a man of them that were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, when they recorded the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai. (65) For the LORD had said of them: ‘They shall surely die in the wilderness.’ Not a man was left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. Numbers 27:1-11 (1) Then the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph came forward. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah. (2) And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the chieftains and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying: (3) "Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the faction that gathered together against the LORD in the company of Korah, but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons. (4) Why should the name of our father be lost from among his family, just because he had no son? Give us a possession amongst our father’s kinsmen!" (5) And Moses brought their case before the LORD. (6) And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: (7) ’The daughters of Zelophehad speak justly: you should surely give them possession of an inheritance among their father’s kinsmen; and you shall transfer the inheritance of their father to them. (8) And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: If a man dies without having son, then you shall assign his inheritance to his daughter. (9) And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance unto his brothers. (10) And if he have no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brothers. (11) And if his father have no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance unto his closest relative and he shall inherit it. This shall be for the children of Israel a law of judgement, as the LORD commanded Moses.’ Numbers 36:1-12 (1) And the family heads in the tribe of the children of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasheh, one of the tribes of Joseph, came forward and spoke before Moses, and before the chieftains, the family heads of the Israelites; (2) and they said: ‘The LORD commanded my lord [Moses] to assign the land for inheritance by lot to the Israelites; and my lord was commanded by the LORD to assign the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. (3) Now, if they marry any of the sons of the other Israelite tribes, their inheritance will be taken away from their ancestral portion, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they shall married; thus our portion of inheritance will be diminished. (4) And even when the Israelites observe the jubilee, their inheritance be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they shall married; thus our portion of inheritance will be diminished. (5) So Moses instructed the Israelites according to LORD's word, saying: ‘The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks justly. (6) This is what the LORD has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: They may marry anyone they wish, provided they marry only into the family of the tribe of their father. (7) No inheritance of the Israelites may pass from tribe to tribe; but the Israelites shall remain bound every one to the ancestral portion of his tribe. (8) Every daughter among the Israelite tribes who inherits a share must marry someone of the tribe of her father, in order that every Israelite be keep his ancestral share. (9) Thus no inheritance will pass from tribe to tribe; for the Israelite tribes of shall each be bound to its own portion.’ (10) Just as the LORD commanded Moses, the daughters of Zelophehad did. (11) For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father’s brothers’ sons. (12) They married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father's clan Rashi, Bemidbar 27 (3) “and he was not, etc.” Since they came to say, “but he died in his own sin”, they had to say that he did not die because of participating in the sin of those who complained (Lev. 27:3), nor because he was amongst the company of Korach who incited the people against the Holy One, but he died in his own sin, and did not cause others to sin with him. Rabbi Akiva said he was the woodcutter on Shabbat, and Rabbi Shimon said he was one of those who tried to invade Eretz Yisrael. Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition) 2:11:1 (1) Our Rabbis taught: "The wood-gatherer was Zelophehad, and so it is said (Num. 15:32) "And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, and they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath," and it is further said (Num. 27:3) "Our father died in the wilderness." We deduce this from the similar word Midbar (wilderness) which is found in both places. Just as the first text refers to Zelophehad, so the wood-gatherer was also Zelophehad." This is the opinion of Rabbi Akiba. Rabbi Judah ben Beteira then said to him: "Akiba! Whether your opinion be true or false, you will have to account for it [at the time of Divine Judgment]; for if your words are true, you disclosed the name of a man whom the Torah shielded; and if your opinion is not correct you have slandered an upright person." Yalkut Shimoni, Bamidbar 27:2 "And they stood before Moses," (Num 27:2) Each of the five daughters presented one of the five pleas. The first said, "Our father dies in the wilderness," The second said, "He was not one of the faction of Korach." The third said, "but he died in his own sin." The fourth: "He had no sons." The fifth: "Why should our father's name be lost to his family?" Sifri on Bemidbar 27 When the daughters of Zelophehad heard that the land of Israel was to be divided according to tribes, according to the males and not the females, they gathered together to make a plan. They said, God’s mercy and compassion is not like the compassion of mankind. Mankind favors men over women. God is not like that. God's compassion extends to men and women alike... Rashi on Numbers 27:5:1 (5) “And Moses brought their case.” This topic should have been written by Moses, but the daughters of Zelophehad merited and it was written by them. Bava Batra 119b:9-12 It was taught: The daughters of Zelophehad were exceedingly wise, knew well how to expound Scripture, and were perfectly virtuous. They were exceedingly wise since they chose to speak at the right time; for just then ... They were also perfectly virtuous, since they married only men who were worthy of them." Yalkut Shim’oni Pinchas “Give us a share in the land,” Rabbi Natan said: the strength of women is better than that of men, the men said, "Let us appoint (nit'nah) a leader and let us return to Egypt" while the women said, "Give to us (t'nah) a share in the land"… At what point did the daughters of Zelophehad stand before Moshe? At the time when the Israelites said, “”Let us appoint a leader, and let us return to Egypt.” Moses said to them, Israel is asking to return to Egypt and you are asking for an inheritance in Israel?! The daughters answered: We know that in the end Israel will take possession of the Holy Land. Midrashim of the Daughter's of Zelophad by Rivka Lovitz "The daughters of Zelophehad, of Manassite family—son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh son of Joseph—came forward. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah." and (צלפחד) Why, in the beginning, are they called the daughters of Zelophad (צל) only later are they each mentioned by name? This is due to the shadow that they had in the beginning. For at the start, they were in (פחד) and the fear the shadow of their father, and they were afraid to go in front of the assembly. As they drew closer together, this one to the other, they became confident and were thus called by their names, as it is written, "The daughters of Zelophad ... and these are the names of his daughters." The cynics in that generation would known to say: The daughters of Zelophad didn't have the hearts and minds in the right place. They said: They did it for power, they did it for wealth, in order to become the equals of men in matters of inheritance, and they did not do it for the sake of heaven. Thus the Torah says: "The plea of Zelophad's daughters is is that of honesty כן Where here the language of "(כן) just (Just" because it was correct what they (the cynics' .(כנות) said: They did it for power, they did it for wealth, in order to become the equals of men in matters of inheritance, for the sake of heaven they did it.