In Parashat Pinchas, God commands Moses and Eleazar to conduct a census of all men, by tribe, 20 years old and older who can go to war. He then tells Moses how to apportion the land they will take. One of the men, Zelophehad, had five daughters, but no sons to inherit from him. Zelophehad was the man God ordered stoned to death for the sin of gathering wood on the Sabbath.

The following verses are Numbers 27:2-7.

2 The five daughters of Zelophehad stood before Moses and before Eleazar the kohen and before the chieftains and the entire congregation at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, saying,

3 "Our father died in the desert, but he was not in the assembly that banded together against the Lord in Korah's assembly, but he died for his own sin, and he had no sons.

4 Why should our father's name be eliminated from his family because he had no son? Give us a portion along with our father's brothers.

5 So Moses brought their case before the Lord.

6 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

7 Zelophehad's daughters speak justly. You shall certainly give them a portion of inheritance along with their father's brothers, and you shall transfer their father's inheritance to them.

Now, imagine the scene: the Israelite camp is formed of tribes, each of which has a determined place, with the Tabernacle in the middle. In the center stand the main authority figures, all of them men: Moses, Eleazar, the chieftains. Yet, the five sisters decide to claim what they see as their birthright.

Together, they leave their tents, without being called or summoned. They go to the place where only high-ranking men congregate; the place where the Tablets from Sinai rest in the Ark; the place of holiness and authority; the place where women have no clout.

Those five must have been the most courageous women ever.

They know law and history. They use the fact that their father was not involved in Korah‘s rebellion to support his claim to the land. They know that the continuity of his family name depends on inheriting land. They know that the law is unfair, since it does not take into account a man without sons.

They know that this law is God’s law! But, perhaps they believe God aimed His law to be just.

When God tells Moses to grant their request, it is the first time that unmarried women are recognized as more than chattel… that they have rights, including the right to own land. It establishes the principle that title to land can pass to daughters, as well as to sons.

According to Parashat Pinchas, God decreed that land apportionment is to be based on a tribe’s population size. That underscores the fundamental equality of people. The clear starting place for every Israelite in this new community was owning land. It was the most important resource and the most valuable gift that one generation could leave to the next.

Under the first inheritance arrangement, innocent women would have been left poor and homeless. When that was brought to the attention of God, He changed the system and rectified it. The story of Zelophehad’s daughters reminds us that, once we recognize the consequences of underlying injustice, we must change our structures and systems so we can provide for those on the periphery of society.

As Jews, we must do our best to support causes in which we believe and to urge governments at every level to behave in ways that express the ethical imperatives of our religion.

Michael Goldstein