(א) וַתִּקְרַ֜בְנָה בְּנ֣וֹת צְלָפְחָ֗ד בֶּן־חֵ֤פֶר בֶּן־גִּלְעָד֙ בֶּן־מָכִ֣יר בֶּן־מְנַשֶּׁ֔ה לְמִשְׁפְּחֹ֖ת מְנַשֶּׁ֣ה בֶן־יוֹסֵ֑ף וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ שְׁמ֣וֹת בְּנֹתָ֔יו מַחְלָ֣ה נֹעָ֔ה וְחָגְלָ֥ה וּמִלְכָּ֖ה וְתִרְצָֽה׃ (ב) וַֽתַּעֲמֹ֜דְנָה לִפְנֵ֣י מֹשֶׁ֗ה וְלִפְנֵי֙ אֶלְעָזָ֣ר הַכֹּהֵ֔ן וְלִפְנֵ֥י הַנְּשִׂיאִ֖ם וְכָל־הָעֵדָ֑ה פֶּ֥תַח אֹֽהֶל־מוֹעֵ֖ד לֵאמֹֽר׃ (ג) אָבִינוּ֮ מֵ֣ת בַּמִּדְבָּר֒ וְה֨וּא לֹא־הָיָ֜ה בְּת֣וֹךְ הָעֵדָ֗ה הַנּוֹעָדִ֛ים עַל־ה' בַּעֲדַת־קֹ֑רַח כִּֽי־בְחֶטְא֣וֹ מֵ֔ת וּבָנִ֖ים לֹא־הָ֥יוּ לֽוֹ׃ (ד) לָ֣מָּה יִגָּרַ֤ע שֵׁם־אָבִ֙ינוּ֙ מִתּ֣וֹךְ מִשְׁפַּחְתּ֔וֹ כִּ֛י אֵ֥ין ל֖וֹ בֵּ֑ן תְּנָה־לָּ֣נוּ אֲחֻזָּ֔ה בְּת֖וֹךְ אֲחֵ֥י אָבִֽינוּ׃ (ה) וַיַּקְרֵ֥ב מֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶת־מִשְׁפָּטָ֖ן לִפְנֵ֥י ה'׃
(ו) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (ז) כֵּ֗ן בְּנ֣וֹת צְלָפְחָד֮ דֹּבְרֹת֒ נָתֹ֨ן תִּתֵּ֤ן לָהֶם֙ אֲחֻזַּ֣ת נַחֲלָ֔ה בְּת֖וֹךְ אֲחֵ֣י אֲבִיהֶ֑ם וְהַֽעֲבַרְתָּ֛ אֶת־נַחֲלַ֥ת אֲבִיהֶ֖ן לָהֶֽן׃...
(1) 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. (2) They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the chieftains, and the whole assembly, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and they said, (3) “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not one of the faction, Korah’s faction, which banded together against the Eternal, but died for his own sin; and he has left no sons. (4) Let not our father’s name be lost to his clan just because he had no son! Give us a holding among our father’s kinsmen!” (5) Moses brought their case before the Eternal.
(6) And the Eternal said to Moses, (7) “The plea of Zelophehad’s daughters is just (ken): you should give them a hereditary holding among their father’s kinsmen; transfer their father’s share to them....
from Dirshuni: Contemporary Women's Midrash
Why, in the beginning, are they called the daughters of Zelophad (צלפחד) and only later are they each mentioned by name? This is due to the shadow (tzel / צל) and the fear (pachad / פחד) that they had in the beginning. For at first, they dwelled in the shadow of their father, and they were afraid to raise their heads and go in front of the assembly. Once 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."
- What is Lubitch picking up on in the opening verse of this section of the Torah?
- Given this aspect of the verse, how does Lubitch read the verse as reflecting two stages for these daughters?
- How does Lubitch interpret their family name to further reflect these stages?
- Why do the daughters live in their father's shadow?
- For Lubitch, what enables them to come out from this shadow?
Below are selections from the midrash collection Sifrei. What threads from there does Lubitch picks up on, and which does she counter?
(1) (Bamidbar 27:1) "And there drew near the daughters of Tzelofchad": When the daughters of Tzelofchad heard that the land was to be apportioned to the tribes and not to females, they gathered together to take counsel, saying: "Not as the compassion of flesh and blood are the compassion of HaMakom! The compassion of flesh and blood are greater for males than for females. Not so the compassion of the One who spoke and brought the world into being. God's compassion are for males and females (equally). God's mercies are for all! As it is written: (Psalms 145:9) "The Eternal is good to all, and God's mercies are upon all of God's creations."...
Tanot asked God: If the daughters of Zelophad spoke truth, why do You not write thus in Your Torah, for are You not truth and Your Torah true and Your words eternal?
God answered her: "Truth will sprout from the earth." (Psalms 85:12)
Tanot asked: Does it not say, "God's Torah is complete"? (Psalms 19:8)
God answered her: I have already written in my Torah, "Complete you will be with the Eternal, your God" (Deut. 18:13) and I have also said: "Wander before me and be whole." (Genesis 17:1)
There is truth that comes down from the heavens, and there is a truth that sprouts up from below. Happy is the generation wherein they meet, the truth from above and the truth from below. As it says, "Truth from the earth will sprout and justice from the heavens will observe." (Psalms 85:12)
Tanot is a literary figure created by Lovitch to personify the soul of Jephthah’s daughter.
- What is the issue Tanot raises before God about the case of the daughters of Tzelophchad?
- How does God initially respond to Tanot?
- What is Tanot's response? And how does God respond this time?
- According to this midrash, what is the nature of the biblical text and our relationship to it?
(17) You shall not be partial in judgment: hear out low and high alike. Fear neither party, for judgment is God’s. And any matter that is too difficult for you, you shall bring to me and I will hear it.”
The rabbis explain that the incident with the daughters of Tzelophchad serves to punish Moses for his pride. When Moses set up the judicial system, he said that the elders should bring difficult matters before him and he would adjudicate. Instead, he should have said that God would adjudicate in such cases. The midrash explains that God sought to rebuke Moses for this error. Moses’s punishment involved the simple case posed by the daughters of Tzelophchad, in which the ruling was so obvious that even a child would know the answer. Moses was shamed for not knowing how to respond to a group of women; instead, he had to consult with God.
- What are some issues that come from reading this case as a punishment?
- What does framing their case as a method of punishment overlook from the perspective of the daughters?
Abba Channan says in the name of R. Eliezer: [The daughters] were (all) in the house of study and they came and stood before (all of) them. R. Akiva says: It is written here (27:3) "wilderness," and elsewhere (Ibid. 15:32) (in respect to a man gathering wood on the Sabbath) "wilderness." Just as the man here is Tzelofchad, so, the man there. "And he was not in the midst of the congregation": the cavilers (viz. Shemot 16:2). "who gathered against the Eternal": the congregation of the spies. "(nor in) the congregation of Korach." "but he died in his own sin": without inciting others (to sin) with him. "and he left no sons": for if he had a son, we would make no claim.
(4) (Bamidbar 27:4) "Why should the name of our father be withheld from his family because he has no son?" R. Yehudah says: It is written here "name," and elsewhere (Devarim 25:6 about the name of a deceased man with no sons). "Just as "name" here connotes inheritance, so, "name" there. And just as "name" here connotes seed, so, "name" there, "because he has no son": Why is this written? Is it not already written (3) "and he left no sons"? They were sage women and were expounding: But if there were a daughter of a son, we would make no claim.
Thus the Torah says: "The plea of Zelophad's daughters is just (ken / כן)" Where here the language of ken/כן is that of honesty (kenut / כנות). 'Just" because it was correct what they (the cynics) 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.
- What is the communal response that Lovtiz imagines to this case?
- What is the purpose of such as response?
- How role does the word "ken" play in addressing this claim against the daughters?
- What is the conclusion of the midrash?
† II. כֵּן adj. right, veritable, honest (proposes firm, upright)
1. right, usually, a right thing, Nu כֵּן דֹּבְרֹת, 36:5 (both P); (the) right (i.e. order and justice) shall last long; aright; right well
2. veritable, true, the veritable of righteousness = true righteousness; in assent to something already said, Right! Correct! True!
R. Nathan says: It is written above (26:65) "For the Eternal had said of them: They will surely die in the desert. And there was left not a man of them, etc.," followed by "And there drew near the daughters of Tzelofchad, etc." What is the connection? Scripture comes to teach us that the strength of the women in that generation was greater than that of the men, the men saying (Bamidbar 14:4) "Let us make a leader and return to Egypt, and the women saying (Ibid. 27:4) "Give us a holding, etc."...
"And these are the names of his daughters: Machlah, Noah, Choglah, Milkah, and Tirtzah." — But perhaps all who are first in Scripture are first in worth? It is, therefore, written (Bamidbar 36:11) "And Machlah, Tirtzah, Choglah, Milkah, and Noah, the daughters of Tzelofchad, etc." (the order being changed to teach us that they were all of equal worth.)