What does it matter if he died in the wilderness or in a settlement? And why did they say he was not among the assembly that gathered against Hakadosh Baruch Hu? It is because Tzelofchad was among those who spoke against Hakadosh Baruch Hu and Moshe, and about them it was said וַיָּמָת עַם־רָב מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל – and a great multitude of Israel died. “A great multitude" was a mix of Torah scholars and high-ranking officials – with Tzelofchad belonging to the latter. Therefore, they said "Our father died in the wilderness, but he was not among the group that banded together against Hashem." They want to make sure it was known that his death was not the result of speaking against Hakadosh Baruch, as that group lost their inheritance. Rather, he died in his sin – the sin of speech he spoke against Moshe leading to the fiery serpents – and therefore they said אָבִינוּ, with the cantillation of Zarka, which appears like a snake coiled around the vav, because they were buried by the snakes. The daughters’ speech came out with pain and heartache, and since Tzelofchad spoke against Moshe, when his daughters came to ask for the inheritance, they stood before Moshe and Elazar and the entire congregation in public, so that Moshe would be embarrassed to bring up their father's enmity and how he spoke against him. This is why they said, “Since he has no son, why should his name be omitted,” which amounts to, “If you don’t want to hold onto this enmity and hatred for us, give us a possession.”
We will take the approach that Tzelofchad was the mekoshesh eitzim – the wood gatherer. In Parshat Beshalach, the Torah states:
וַיִּצְעַק אֶל ה' וַיּוֹרֵהוּ ה' עֵץ וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ אֶל הַמַּיִם וַיִּמְתְּקוּ הַמַּיִם שָׁם שָׂם לוֹ חֹק וּמִשְׁפָּט וְשָׁם נִסָּהוּ
And he cried out to Hashem, and Hashem showed him a tree, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them.
Rashi says, in Marah, Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave Bnei Yisrael some sections of the Torah to engage in: Shabbat, the Parah Adumah, and civil laws. If Shabbat was given to them in Marah, it means they knew the commandment of Shabbat. But the punishment for its desecration was unknown to them at the time. They did not know that anyone who desecrates Shabbat is liable to death! When Torah says, in Parshat Shelach, that Bnei Yisrael found a man gathering wood on Shabbat, Targum Yonatan ben Uziel explains as follows:
וַהֲווֹ בְּנֵי יִשְרָאֵל שַׁרְיָין בְּמַדְבְּרָא גְזֵירַת שַׁבְּתָא אִשְׁתְּמוֹדַע לְהוֹן בְּרַם קְנָסָא דְשַׁבְּתָא לָא אִשְׁתְּמוֹדַע לְהוֹן קָם גַבְרָא מִדְבֵית יוֹסֵף אָמַר בְּמֵימְרֵיהּ אִיזִיל וְאֶתְּלוֹשׁ קִיסִין בְּיוֹמָא דְשַׁבְּתָא וְיֶחֱמוּן יָתִי סַהֲדַיָא וִיתַנוּן לְמשֶׁה וּמשֶׁה יִתְבַּע אוּלְפַן מִן קֳדָם ה' וְיִדוֹן יָתִי וּבְכֵן אִשְׁתְּמוֹדַע קְנָסָא לְכָל בֵּית יִשְרָאֵל
And while the sons of Israel were dwelling in the wilderness, the decree of the Shabbat was known to them, but the punishment (for the profanation) of Shabbat was not known. And there arose a man of the house of Yosef and who said to himself: "I will go and pull up wood on the Shabbat day”; and witnesses saw it, and told Moshe; and Moshe sought instruction from the presence of the Lord, that he might teach me judgment, and make known the discipline of all the house of Israel.
In Massechet Bava Batra (119b), Tosafot, based on the Midrash, explains that Tzelofchad acted for the sake of Heaven. Bnei Yisrael were claiming that since the decree of Cheit HaMeraglim barred them from entering Eretz Yisrael, they were no longer obligated in the Mitzvot they had just received. So, he stood up and desecrated Shabbat so that he would be executed and others would see.
The question arises – what is implied here? The Gemara (Shabbat 88a) expounds on the Pasuk telling us that at Matan Torah, Bnei Yisrael “stood at the foot of the mountain."
מְלַמֵּד שֶׁכָּפָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עֲלֵיהֶם אֶת הָהָר כְּגִיגִית, וְאָמַר לָהֶם: אִם אַתֶּם מְקַבְּלִים הַתּוֹרָה מוּטָב, וְאִם לָאו — שָׁם תְּהֵא קְבוּרַתְכֶם. אָמַר רַב אַחָא בַּר יַעֲקֹב: מִכָּאן מוֹדָעָא רַבָּה לְאוֹרָיְיתָא
This teaches that Hakadosh Baruch Hu overturned the mountain above the Jews like a tub, and said to them: If you accept the Torah, excellent, and if not, there will be your burial. Rav Acḥa bar Yaakov said: From here there is a substantial caveat to the obligation to fulfill the Torah.
Regarding the final line, of their being a caveat to the obligation, Rashi adds: If Hakadosh Baruch Hu calls you to judgment and asks why you did not fulfill what you accepted upon yourselves – you have an answer that it was accepted under duress. The Jewish people can claim that they were coerced into accepting the Torah, and it is therefore not binding.
The sefer Shirat David writes, based on the commentary of the Ritva, it is certain Bnei Yisrael accepted the Torah willingly and joyfully many times, but they only accepted it on the condition that they would enter into and inherit Eretz Yisrael:
וַיִּתֵּן לָהֶם אַרְצוֹת גּוֹיִם... בַּעֲבוּר יִשְׁמְרוּ חֻקָּיו וְתוֹרוֹתָיו – He gave them the lands of nations... that they might keep His laws and observe His teachings (Tehillim 105). This is the meaning of “if you accept the Torah, excellent, and if not, there will be your burial.” Meaning, they would die and not be brought into the Land. Therefore, when Bnei Yisrael later transgressed the Torah, Hakadosh Baruch Hu exiled them. And even when they were exiled, they delivered a claim saying, from now on they are not obligated to keep the Torah.
According to this, it can be said that even members of Bnei Yisrael in the wilderness thought that since it was decreed upon them not to enter the land, their acceptance no longer obligated them in the Mitzvot. And accordingly, the wood gatherer gave himself for the sake of Heaven to show that this is not so, and the nation is still obligated in the Mitzvot even if they will not merit the Land.
Before we reach our main points, I want to ask a question: There were 600,000 men in the desert, from ages twenty to sixty – all married, Baruch Hashem, with at least with one wife. Did no one else in the desert have a situation like Tzelofchad, where they had no sons? Was it only Tzelofchad that had no sons? The Ramban writes, it is possible that in that entire generation entering Eretz Yisrael, there were no daughters inheriting a portion except for the B’not Tzelafchad, which is why they spoke. On this suggestion, the sefer Megadim Chadashim brings an astonishing idea. The Gemara says (Shabbat 89a):
מַאי ״הַר סִינַי״? הַר שֶׁיָּרְדָה שִׂנְאָה לְאֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם עָלָיו. וְהַיְינוּ דְאָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בְּרַבִּי חֲנִינָא: חֲמִשָּׁה שֵׁמוֹת יֵשׁ לוֹ: מִדְבַּר צִין — שֶׁנִּצְטַוּוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל עָלָיו; מִדְבַּר קָדֵשׁ — שֶׁנִּתְקַדְּשׁוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל עָלָיו; מִדְבַּר קְדֵמוֹת — שֶׁנִּתְּנָה קְדוּמָה עָלָיו; מִדְבַּר פָּארָן — שֶׁפָּרוּ וְרָבוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל עָלָיו; מִדְבַּר סִינַי — שֶׁיָּרְדָה שִׂנְאָה לְאוּמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם עָלָיו
Why was it called Har Sinai? Because hatred descended upon the nations there. And this is what Rabbi Yossi bar Chanina said: It has five names: Desert of Tzin, because Israel was commanded there; Desert of Kadesh, because Israel was sanctified there; Desert of Kedemot, because the ancient one was given there; Desert of Paran, because Israel multiplied there; Desert of Sinai, because hatred descended upon the nations of the world on it.
Regarding the name מִדְבַּר פָּארָן, Rashi says each one's wife conceived a male when commanded: שׁוּבוּ לָכֶם לְאׇהֳלֵיכֶם. Megadim Chadashim then presents: if this command to return to their tents was to permit them to engage in relations, it should have explained so. Rather, it came to inform them to return to their tents for their enjoyment, which is the news that they would each bear male children. The Ben Yehoyada thus questioned how Tzelofchad had no sons but only daughters. Why did his wife not conceive a male child after Matan Torah? He answers, their conception of males was on that night when they returned to their wives, and there were those whose wives became niddah, and since that night passed, this merit also passed and was nullified.
If so, it turns out that it could be that on that night Tzelofchad's wife became niddah and therefore did not conceive a male child! The question thus arises, how could it be that they became niddah, for this explicitly contradicts the words of the Midrash (Tanchuma Metzora 9) which says: When Bnei Yisrael was in Egypt, they did not see blood because of the fear of the Egyptians upon them. And even when they were in the desert, they did not see niddah blood, because the Shechinah was with them. And the women received the Torah first.
According to this Midrash, no woman became niddah, so how could it be that Tzelofchad's wife did not bear sons?! We return to Parshat Shelach, where the Torah says Bnei Yisrael were in the wilderness and came upon a man who was gathering wood on Shabbat. Rashi writes, this speaks to the disgrace of Bnei Yisrael, that they only kept the first Shabbat, but by the second one, it was already desecrated. Megadim Chadashim explains: After Bnei Yisrael left Mitzrayim, they had seven Shabbatot until the revelation at Har Sinai. On the first, they kept the Shabbat, and on the second, Tzelofchad came and desecrated it! It turns out, therefore, that Tzelofchad died even before the revelation at Sinai – on the second Shabbat, while they were still in the desert. Therefore, he was also the only one not present at the Har Sinai! According to the above, it is understood why he had only daughters and no sons – because he was not at Matan Torah, where the women conceived male children!
It is still possible to challenge this explanation of the Megadim Chadashim. According to Tosafot, who holds that the whole matter of the wood gatherer was after the sin of the spies, the question remains – how could it be that he had no male sons? And according to those who hold that he was from the ma'apilim – why did he have no male sons? And if according to the words of the Zohar, who holds that he was from those who died by snake bite – why did he have no male sons? To understand this topic better, I want to bring a wonderful yesod brought in the words of Rav Avraham Yehoshua Heschel in his sefer Chanukat HaTorah.
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 110a) teaches as follows: When we are told וַיִּשְׁמַע מֹשֶׁה וַיִּפֹּל עַל־פָּנָיו – Moshe heard and fell on his face, it is referring to a shocking accusation he heard – that people suspected him of being involved with married women. Rabbi Shmuel bar Yitzchak adds that each man warned his wife not to be alone with Moshe, which led Moshe to move his tent outside the camp to avoid further suspicion.
Rav Heschel writes, regarding the introduction by the daughters of Tzelofchad, it is necessary to scrutinize the wording; and why "because he died in his sin" is included immediately after "and he was not among the assembly of Korach." They should have stated, "Our father died in the desert, and he was not among the assembly of Korach that gathered against Hashem, because he died in his sin, and he had no sons." It can be said that they came to justify their words and prove that because he had no sons, it is proof that he died in his own sin. This is learned from the words of Chazal regarding Moshe, where they suspected him of adultery with a married woman, and each one warned his wife about Moshe. We find in the words of Chazal (Sotah 26a) that regarding a Sotah, it is written: וְנִקְתָּה וְנִזְרְעָה זָרַע – And she shall be acquitted and shall conceive seed. The Gemara expounds: שֶׁאִם הָיְתָה יוֹלֶדֶת נְקֵבוֹת יוֹלֶדֶת זְכָרִים – if she gave birth to females, she will now give birth to males. If so, that entire assembly who warned their wives about Moshe, and they were indeed pure, it is simple that their reward was that they bore males. Therefore, the daughters of Tzelofchad said, "Our father died in the desert, and he was not among the assembly, etc.," and the proof is that "and he had no sons but only daughters." If so, this proves that he was not in the assembly of Korach, but rather "because he died in his sin, etc." This is the wonderful explanation of Rav Heschel.
The Torah says: וַיַּקְרֵב מֹשֶׁה אֶת מִשְׁפָּטָן לִפְנֵי ה' – Moshe brought their case before Hashem. Why could Moshe Rabbeinu not judge their case himself? Rabbeinu Bachya says some explain that since the daughters of Tzelofchad revealed in their arguments that their father was not among the assembly of Moshe's enemies, this was favorable to Moshe, and if he had judged their case, it would have been as if he was taking a bribe of words. Therefore, he refrained from judging them. But this does not seem correct, for if so, Moshe should have handed the case to one of the appointed judges.
It is told about the author of the Minchat Chinuch, R’ Yoseph Babad, who was appointed as a city rabbi. The head of the community approached him and said: "Rabbi, your father officiated my wedding 45 years ago!" Two days later, the same community head came for a legal ruling, and the Minchat Chinuch said to him: "Wait, my father married you 45 years ago, right?" "Yes." "Then I will not judge you!" "Why?" "Why did you inform me that my father married you? You knew you had a case with me in two days and wanted to arrange things – therefore, I cannot judge you!"
Similarly, Moshe Rabbeinu said to the daughters of Tzelofchad, "Why are you providing me with these introductions about your father and his actions? This is bribery of words and unacceptable to me!" The Kotzker Rebbe offers a wonderful yesod for understanding this idea. Moshe did not want to judge them because he thought that even if the daughters of Tzelofchad were entitled, according to the law, to an inheritance in Eretz Yisrael, they would not receive an inheritance. Why? Because the Gemara says (Shabbat 118a):
כָּל הַמְעַנֵּג אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת נוֹתְנִין לוֹ נַחֲלָה בְּלִי מְצָרִים
All who delight in the Shabbat are given an inheritance without boundaries.
The daughters of Tzelofchad came to Moshe and said to him: "Our father died in his sin." Moshe responded: "If he died in his sin – he desecrated Shabbat – then certainly they do not deserve an inheritance in Eretz Yisrael!" The daughters of Tzelofchad then replied: "Our father didn’t desecrate Shabbat because he wanted to smoke a cigarette or because he wanted to go to the sea. Our father desecrated Shabbat to strengthen the observance of Shabbat!" Moshe then said to them: "A judge can only judge by what his eyes see, through the witnesses. How do I know that he intended in his heart to strengthen Shabbat?! I do not know what was in his heart; only Hakadosh Baruch Hu knows!" Therefore, Moshe passed the case on to Hakadosh Baruch Hu: “You, Ribbono Shel Olam, determine if the act of the wood gatherer was for the sake of Heaven. If so, they indeed deserve an inheritance in Eretz Yisrael!” Hakadosh Baruch Hu provided His response to Moshe Rabbeinu: “כֵּן בְּנוֹת צְלָפְחָד דֹּבְרוֹת – They indeed speak truth. נָתוֹן תִּתֵּן לָהֶם אֲחֻזַּת נַחֲלָה – Give them a possession of inheritance. This is how the Kotzker Rebbe explains why Moshe let Hakadosh Baruch Hu decide their judgment.
If these are the facts, we can understand a wonderful yesod and begin to tie up loose ends. We asked: where is the evidence the daughters of Tzelofchad cherished the Land and did not simply want to build their real estate portfolio? The Midrash writes (Yalkut Shimoni 773): Every righteous person who stands firm in a wicked generation merits the reward of the entire generation. Noach, who lived in the Dor Hamabul, earned the reward of all. Avraham, who lived in Dor Haflaga, earned the reward of all. So too, the daughters of Tzelofchad, who lived in the generation of the wilderness, merited the reward of all.
Twice the people sought to return to Egypt. Once, after the decree of death in the desert: נִתְּנָה רֹאשׁ וְנָשׁוּבָה מִצְרָיְמָה; and a second time when Aharon died, the Clouds of Glory departed, and the Cna’anim came to fight them. There, they retreated eight journeys from Hor HaHar back to Moserah; the sons of Levi pursued them to bring them back, and they killed seven families, while four of their own also fell. Eleven families from Bnei Yisrael were annihilated in a civil war because the people wanted to return to Egypt. It was at that point the daughters of Tzelofchad came and said to Moshe: "We want an inheritance in Eretz Yisrael." They did so with battles raging before their very eyes. The Midrash continues and says: Hillel would say:
בִּשְׁעַת הַמְפַזְּרִין כַּנֵּס אֶת הָרֶגֶל, בַּאֲתַר דְּלֵית קָפִיץ קְנֵי מִנֵּיהּ, בַּאֲתַר דְּלֵית גּוּבְרִין הִשְׁתַּדֵּל לִהְיוֹת גָּבֶר
At a time when people are scattering, gather your feet. In a place where no one is jumping to act, acquire merit over them. In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man.
Chazal say, the behavior of the daughters of Tzelofchad stopped the drift of Bnei Yisrael from returning to Egypt. Five single women came before Moshe and proclaimed, “Give us an inheritance!" Moshe said to them: "Why are you coming now?! There’s a war going on!" They were adamant, however: “In a place where no one wants, there we buy the goods! We want Eretz Yisrael!” Chazal tell us, from here you know that the daughters of Tzelofchad cherished the Land!
With this, we’ve reached an understanding of the Parsha and its connection to the days we find ourselves in. In sefer Emunat Itecha, the author brings a point I would like to expand upon. There is a yesod in the words of Chazal, called עולם שנה נפש – Olam, Shanah, Nefesh. Olam is place; Shanah is time; and Nefesh is person. The Zohar writes, on Yom Kippur, the three vertices of Olam Shanah Nefesh connect: The holiest person – the Kohen Gadol – in the holiest place – the Kodesh Hakodashim – on the holiest day – Yom Kippur. Yosef was in the aspect of Shabbat in time. Emunat Itecha writes that Yosef kept Shabbat even before it was given, and therefore, his son Ephraim offered a unique sacrifice on Shabbat (during the Mishkan’s inauguration).
Now pay attention to the wording brought by Targum Yonatan ben Uziel in presenting the case of the man who gathered wood on Shabbat: קָם גַבְרָא מִדְבֵית יוֹסֵף – And there arose a man of the house of Yosef. It does not say "Tzelofchad arose" but “a man of the house of Yosef!” It turns out that Yosef excelled in the sanctity of Shabbat even abroad, and if the sanctity of Yosef's Shabbat influenced abroad, it affected his grandson Tzelofchad. Tzelofchad felt the pain of Shabbat. People did not know that anyone who desecrates Shabbat is liable to death, so Tzelofchad went and sacrificed himself for the sanctity of Shabbat!
If so, just as Yosef kept Shabbat in Egypt, so did Tzelofchad in the desert. There is Shabbat in time – the day of Shabbat; Shabbat in person – Yosef HaTzadik; and Shabbat in place – Eretz Yisrael. Yosef is in the aspect of Shabbat in a person; Tzelofchad sanctified Shabbat in the desert, in the aspect of time; and the daughters of Tzelofchad requested Shabbat, in the aspect of place – the Land of Israel! The daughters of Tzelafchad taught us that gaining an inheritance in the Land is only through genuine desire and yearning. Otherwise, they would not have merited an inheritance there.
We can understand a most wonderful yesod. Chazal say (Ta’anit 29a), after the spies delivered their report, all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night. That day was the eve of Tisha B'Av. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to them:
אַתֶּם בְּכִיתֶם בְּכִי שֶׁל חִנָּם וַאֲנִי קוֹבֵעַ לָכֶם בְּכִיָּה לְדוֹרוֹת
“You cried a cry for nothing, and I will establish for you a crying for generations.”
For two thousand years we have been crying over the destruction of the Second Beit Hamikdash! David HaMelech reveals to us the reason for the people's crying that night:
וַיִּמְאֲסוּ בְּאֶרֶץ חֶמְדָּה לֹא הֶאֱמִינוּ לִדְבָרוֹ – Moreover, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said: "If you despise it, you will cry for nothing!"
אַתָּה תָקוּם תְּרַחֵם צִיּוֹן כִּי־עֵת לְחֶנְנָהּ כִּי־בָא מוֹעֵד׃ כִּי־רָצוּ עֲבָדֶיךָ אֶת־אֲבָנֶיהָ וְאֶת־עֲפָרָהּ יְחֹנֵנוּ׃
You will surely arise and take pity on Zion, for it is time to be gracious to her; the appointed time has come. Your servants take delight in its stones and cherish its dust.
The desire for Yerushalayim’s rebuilding is contingent upon the intense longing of Bnei Yisrael for it, to the extent that they cherish its stones and dust. The Kuzari writes (27): When we truly desire the Beit Hamikdash, it will be built! What does it mean to desire? After all, don’t we ask three times a day in the Amidah for its rebuilding? Chazal say that our Tefillah is כְּצִפְצוּף הַזַּרְזִיר – like the chirping of a starling. Do you truly mean the words you utter in prayer?! If someone tells you, "Mashiach is coming next week!" you might respond, "Can he instead come after the holidays – I just planned a trip."
How many tears have you shed in the past year over the fact that our Father in Heaven has no home? Sefer Chareidim writes (59): Every Jew must cherish the Land of Israel and come to it from the ends of the earth with great longing, like a son to his mother’s embrace, because our initial sin that was decreed as a weeping for generations was due to our disdain for it. And in the redemption of our souls, it will be written, "For Your servants have cherished her stones and favor her dust." Therefore, the Amoraim would kiss its dust and stones upon arriving there.
The Gemara (Ketubot 111a) says: "Anyone who dwells in Eretz...
