Healing Well of Miriam

21 Tammuz 5779 / July 24, 2019  ~~ Parshat Pinchas

The story of the five daughters of Zelophehad is briefly told in Parshat Pinchas.  At a time, and in a culture, in which sons were of primary importance to a family, a man who had none was derogatorily referred to as: a “father of daughters.”  Yet, it is highly significant for a person’s name to be included in the Torah, and these women are individually listed, not just once, but twice in the Torah: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 

At that time in history women did not inherit family land.  So Zelophehad’s daughters went to plead their case before Moshe.  Their father had died in the wilderness and had no sons.  Should his name disappear from Israel?  According to the Midrash, when Moshe and the leaders insisted that only men inherit, they answered that according to the laws on Levirate marriage, their mother should then be allowed to marry their father’s brother to give birth to a son who could inherit in their father’s name. 

“NO!” the leaders agreed, “She has already had children.” 

“But Moshe Rabbenu,” they continued, “if girls cannot be considered worthy of inheriting, our father’s name cannot be preserved.  So, your logical says a girl child is the same as no child.” 

Moshe was so stumped by their argument that he had to go to Hashem with the question.  Hashem told him that they were correct.  So, provision was made for girls of families without sons to inherit among the Tribes of Israel.  This was a great historic occasion, challenging the status quo, for in the cultures of the time, such rights for women were virtually non-existent.   

Zelophehad belonged to the Tribe of Manasseh.  Part of that tribe had asked for land on the east side of the Jordan, alongside Reuven and Gad.  His daughters, however, wanted to wait until after the crossing.  With this decision they showed a love of the Land of Israel and patience to wait for the best, and with this, they honored their father’s memory even more so.   

This story makes it abundantly clear that women, as well as men, learned Torah well enough that they could discuss the points of laws with the elders.  It was not considered unusual or out of line; it was what was normal and expected.  Today when we think of women rabbis we think of only the more liberal streams of Judaism.  However, there are quite brilliant women teaching in Orthodox communities—and not always to an audience comprised only of women.  There are also women who have become advocates to the Rabbinate in Israel—pleading the cases of women who might otherwise be stuck as “agunot”—women separated from husbands who defy Torah law by refusing to grant a “get” (divorce decree).  These modern women walk in the footsteps of the daughters of Zelophehad, who had the intelligence and courage to challenge the system.  For these women, like the daughters who came before, it is very clear that true understanding of the Torah is true liberation.