This week’s Parsha opens with the reward Pinchas received for killing Zimri ben Salu and Cozbi bat Zur. The Torah states: ב ּ ְ רִ י תִ י שׁ ָ ל ו ֹ םהִ נְנִי נֹתֵ ן לוֹ אֶ ת – I give him My covenant of peace, and Targum Yonatan ben Uziel interprets the reward as: "I will make him an angel who lives forever to announce the redemption at the end of days," meaning he will become Eliyahu HaNavi who will announce the Geula. Usually, in a regular year, Parshat Pinchas opens the תלתא דפורענותא – the Three of Affliction (i.e., the three weeks between the 17th of Tamuz and Tisha B’Av). We begin this period of the Three Weeks with Parshat Pinchas because פִּ נְ חָ ס הוּא אֵ לִ יָהוּ – Pinchas is Eliyahu, who will announce the Geula; indicating our longing and desire for Hakadosh Baruch Hu to send us Mashiach Tzidkeinu speedily in our days, Amen!
Today, B’ezrat Hashem, we will focus on the topic of the daughters of Tzelofchad – בְּ נוֹת צְ לׇפְ חָ ד – and the five Pesukim that deal with their request for an inheritance. Immediately after the reward given to Pinchas, the Torah deals with the commandment that Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave to Moshe Rabbeinu to count Bnei Yisrael Yisrael:
וַיְהִ י אַ חֲ רֵ י הַ מַּ גֵפָה וַיֹאמֶר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן־אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן לֵאמֹר׃ שְׂאוּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ כׇּל־עֲדַת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל מִבֶּן עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וָמַעְלָה לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם כׇּל־יֹצֵא צָבָא בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל׃
And it came to pass after the plague, that Hashem spoke to Moshe and to Eleazar the son of Aharon the kohen, saying: Take a census of the entire congregation of the children of Israel from twenty years old and upward, according to their fathers' houses, all who are able to go to war in Israel.
Why suddenly count the Bnei Yisrael? Rashi explains via the parable of a shepherd whose wolves entered his flock and killed them, and he counts them to know the number of those remaining. The same thing happened with the sin of Shittim, where so many died – so Hakadosh Baruch Hu asked Moshe to count Bnei Yisrael. Another explanation is that when they left Egypt and were handed over to Moshe, they were handed over by number. Now that he is about to die and return his flock, he returns them by number. Therefore, the beginning of the census was at the start of the forty years, and the end of the census was at the end of the forty years.
Immediately after the command to count the Bnei Yisrael, Hakadosh Baruch Hu commands Moshe Rabbeinu:
וְאֵלֶה תֵּחָלֵק הָאָרֶץ בְּנַחֲלָה בְּמִסְפַּר שֵׁמוֹת: לָרַב תַּרְבֶּה נַחֲלָתוֹ וְלַמְעַט תַּמְעִיט נַחֲלָתוֹ אִישׁ לְפִי פְקֻדָיו יֻתַּן נַחֲלָתוֹ: בְּגוֹרָל יֵחָלֵק אַך אֶת הָאָרֶץ לִשְׁמוֹת מַטּוֹת אֲבֹתָם יִנְחָלוּ: עַל־פִּי הַגּוֹרָל תֵּחָלֵק נַחֲלָתוֹ בֵּין רַב לִמְעָט׃ ... וּבְאֵלֶה לֹא־הָיָה אִישׁ מִפְּקוּדֵי מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן אֲשֶׁר פָּקְדוּ אֶת־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּמִדְבַּר סִינָי׃ כִּי־אָמַר ה' לָהֶם מוֹת יָמֻתוּ בַּמִּדְבָּר וְלֹא־נוֹתַר מֵהֶם אִישׁ כִּי אִם־כָּלֵב בֶּן־יְפֻנֶּה וִיהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן־נוּן׃
The land shall be apportioned among these, as an inheritance according to the number of names. To the large, increase their inheritance, and to the small, diminish their inheritance; each according to his number, shall be given his inheritance. Only by lot should the land be divided, according to the names of their fathers’ tribes should they inherit it. By word of the lottery should their inheritance be divided. ... Among this census there was no man who had been included in the census of Moshe and Aharon the kohen, who had counted Bnei Yisrael in the wilderness of Sinai, because Hashem said to them that they would die in the desert. No one was left with the exception of Kalev, son of Yefuneh and Yehoshua, son of Nun.
Meaning, none remained from the first census mentioned in Bamidbar, as they all died in Cheit HaMeraglim. Rashi says, the decree of the spies was not imposed on the women, however, because “they cherished the Land”. While the men said נ ִ תּ ְ נ ָ ה ר ֹ א שׁ ו ְ נ ָ שׁ ו ּ ב ָ ה מִ צ ְ רָ י ְ מ ָ ה – Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt, the women said תְּנָה לָּנוּ אֲחֻזָּה – Give us an inheritance. The Midrash says (Bamidbar Rabbah, 21:10):
וַתִּקְרַבְנָה בְּנוֹת צְלָפְחָד – וֹדְ רוֹת מַה אוֹתוֹ הַדּוֹר הָיוּ הַנָּשׁ ִ ים ג שֶּׁהָאֲנָשִׁים פּוֹרְ צִים, שׁ ֶכֵּן אַתְּ מוֹצֵא שׁ ֶאָמַר לָהֶן אַהֲרֹן: פּ ָ רְ ק ו ּ נִ זְ מֵ י הַזָּהָב אֲשׁ ֶר בְּאָזְנֵי נְשׁ ֵיכֶם, וְלֹא רָ צוּ הַנָּשׁ ִ ים וּמִ חוּ בְּבַעֲלֵיהֶן, שׁ ֶנֶּאֱמַר :ִתְפָּרְ קוּ כָּל הָעָם אֶת נִזְמֵי הַזָּהָב וגו', וְהַנָּשִׁים לֹא נִשְׁתַּתְּפוּ עִמָּהֶן וַיְזֵרָ ה, שׁ ֶאָמְרוּ כָּל הָעֵדָה, וַעֲלֵיהֶם נִגְזְרָ ה ג: לֹא נוּכַל לַעֲלוֹת, אֲבָל הַנָּשִׁים לֹא הָיוּ עִמָּהֶם בָּעֵצָה, שׁ ֶכָּתוּב לְמַעְלָה מִן הַפָּרָ שׁ ָה: כִּי אָמַר ה' לָהֶם מוֹת יָמֻתוּ בַּמִּדְ בָּר וְלֹא נוֹתַר מֵהֶם אִישׁ כִּי אִם כָּלֵב בֶּן יְפֻנֶּה, אִישׁ וְלֹא אִשָּׁה, עַל מַה שׁ ֶלֹא רָצוּ לִכָּנֵס לָאָרֶ ץ, אֲבָל הַנָּשִׁים קָרְ בוּ לְבַקֵשׁ נַחֲלָה בָּאָ רֶ ץ, לְכָך נִכְתְּ בָה פָּרָ שׁ ָ ה זוֹ סָמוּך לְמִיתַת דּוֹר ה ַ מּ ִ דְ ב ּ ָ ר , שׁ ֶ מּ ִ שׁ ּ ָ ם פּ ָ רְ צ ו ּ ה ָ א ֲ נ ָ שׁ ִ י ם ו ְ ג ָ דְ ר ו ּ ה ַ נ ּ ָ שׁ ִ י ם .
The daughters of Tzelofchad approached – reflecting how, in that generation, women repaired what men had breached. When Aharon asked for gold for the calf, the women refused, and only the men donated. Similarly, the men accepted the spies’ slander and said, “We will not be able to ascend,” while the women were not part of that counsel. The Pasuk says, “No man was left... except Kalev and Yehoshua” – man, not woman, for the women believed in entering the Land and now sought a share in it. The Midrash says this is why their story follows the account of the generation’s death. Where the men failed, the women repaired.
Where do Chazal learn that the women cherished Eretz Yisrael, after all, only five women requested an inheritance?!
וַתִּקְ רַבְנָה בְּנוֹת צְלׇפְחָד בֶּן־חֵפֶר בֶּן־גִלְעָד בֶּן־מָכִיר בֶּן־מְנַשֶּׁה לְמִשְׁפְּחֹת מְנַשֶּׁה בֶן־יוֹסֵף וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת בְּנֹתָיו מַחְלָה נֹעָה וְחׇגְלָה וּמִלְכָּה וְתִרְצָה׃
And they approached, the daughters of Tzelofchad, son of Cheifer, son of Gilad, son of Machir, son of Menashe, of the families of Menashe ben Yosef. The names of his daughters were Machlah, Noah, Chaglah, Milkah and Tirtzah.
Rashi asks why all these details are mentioned, as it states he was the son of Menashe, who we know is the son of Yosef. He says, it is to teach us that just as Yosef cherished the Land – as he requested that his remains be carried out of Egypt for burial in Eretz Yisrael: וְהַעֲלִיתֶם אֶת עַצְמֹתַי מִזֶּה אִתְּכֶם – so too did Tzelofchad’s daughters cherish the Land, as they requested: תְּנָה לָּנוּ אֲחֻזָּה. This teaches that all those mentioned in the above Pasuk were righteous, because whenever a person’s deeds, and those of their ancestors, are unspecified, and the Torah specifies one of them for praise, that indicates he is a righteous person, and the son of a righteous person. And the opposite too. If the lineage is mentioned disparagingly, such as בָּא יִשְׁמָעֵאל בֶּן נְתַנְיָה בֶּן אֱלִישָׁמָע, then it is known that all those mentioned with him were wicked.
The next question is: what is the proof that Yosef cherished the Land? The Gemara states (Ketubot 111a): Yaakov Avinu asked his sons וְשָׁכַבְתִּי עִם אֲבֹתַי – And I will lie with my fathers. He requested that they carry him out of Egypt and bury him in the burial place of his ancestors (in Chevron). The Gemara says there is a hidden meaning here. Yaakov Avinu knew that he was completely righteous, and if the dead of the lands outside of Eretz Yisrael come alive (during Techiat HaMeitim), why did he trouble his sons to bring him to Eretz Yisrael? The reason is that he was concerned lest he not merit the tunnels (מְחִילוֹת) – a direct pathway for souls to return to Eretz Yisrael when the day arrives – and would need to undergo (painful) gilgulim until reaching the Land. Similarly, Yoseph made Bnei Yisrael take an oath that they’d carry his bones up from Egypt. He too knew that he was completely righteous, but he troubled his brothers to carry his coffin the entire way because he was concerned lest he not merit the tunnels either.
From the words of the Gemara, it emerges that if Yosef had been promised that he would merit the tunnels – and a “direct route” to Eretz Yisrael – he would have been buried in Egypt and not requested to have his bones taken out of Egypt. If so, what is the proof for Rashi's words that Yosef cherished the Land and therefore asked to have his bones carried up?
Another question arises: how do we learn that the daughters of Tzelofchad cherished the Land? Is their request for a possession among the brothers of their father really a sign they cherished the Land? What if they had been offered a choice? What if they were told, "You have the option of either three dunams in Manhattan or three dunams in District D of Be'er Sheva – please choose." "We’ll take the property in Be'er Sheva!" “But three dunams in Manhattan cost over 300 million dollars, whereas three dunams in Be'er Sheva might only be worth thirty-thousand dollars!” "We’re not interested in Manhattan! We want Be'er Sheva!"
If indeed this was the offer presented to them, and this was the choice they made, we’d understand that they indeed cherished Eretz Yisrael. But there was never such an offer on the table. Everyone there was entering Eretz Yisrael, and no options were presented to them. Eretz Yisrael was being divided amongst the whole nation, so why shouldn't they ask for a piece of land too?! Where is the proof here that they deeply cherished the Land?!
An alternate approach is brought by the Netziv in his commentary Emek HaNetziv on Sifrei: There is certainly no proof from their request for an inheritance when the whole nation is coming to the Land, and who really knows what the women did when the men wanted to return to Egypt. Rather, the main proof is from their words of בְּתוֹךְ אֲחֵי אָבִינוּ – among the brothers of our father. Meaning, they were specifically seeking a portion in Eretz Yisrael and not across the Jordan River, which was already conquered, and where they did not need to go armed but could sit peacefully on their inheritance. Their strength was that they greatly cherished Eretz Yisrael, and they were calm and confident women in its conquest.
Similarly, the Chatam Sofer quotes the Gemara (Bava Batra 199b) in saying: בְּנוֹת צְלָפְחָד חַכְמָנִיּוֹת הֵן דָּרְשָׁנִיּוֹת הֵן צִדְקָנִיּוֹת הֵן – The daughters of Tzelofchad are wise, they are interpreters [of verses], and they are righteous. And like the Netziv, he says their emphasis on “among the brothers of our father” connects to their fear or being given an inheritance with half of Shevet Menashe across the Jordan River; indicating they cherished Eretz Yisrael specifically, even though the other portion was much larger.
The author of sefer Likutei Yehuda quotes his grandfather, the Imrei Emes, who said that his mother was once ill in the city of Otwock on the week of Parshat Pinchas in the year 5660, a few weeks before her passing. She heard that he was learning the parsha of B’not Tzelofchad, who cherished the Land, and she asked how Chazal know that their request was because they cherished the Land rather than simply wanting a tangible inheritance. The Imrei Emes answered that according to all the Midrashim, the incident of Tzelofchad's death was in the first or second year – whether according to the opinion that he was the mekoshes eitzim or from the ma'apilim – therefore, if they were asking only because of inheritance, why did they wait forty years and not demand movable property at the time?! There was certainly such property left behind by their father – wealth from the spoils of Egypt and Yam Suf, which was of practical value and significance to them. Yet, they waited until now because it was only now that Eretz Yisrael was being divided – a clear indication of their affection for the Land.
With these learnings, we can advance to three answers I found in the words of the commentators. Sefer Imrei Shamai references the Pasuk כֵּן בְּנוֹת צְלׇפְחָד דֹּבְרֹת – Rightfully the daughters of Tzelofchad speak, where כֵּן teaches: fortunate is the person that Hakadosh Baruch Hu agrees with his words (Rashi). Furthermore, the Gemara (Bava Batra 119a) states that this parsha of inheritances was worthy to be written through Moshe, but the daughters of Tzelofchad merited and it was written through them. It can be said that their merit was because they cherished the Land, just as the sons of Yosef merited that more laws of inheritance be written through them, as it says: מַטֵּה בְנֵי יוֹסֵף דֹּבְרִים כֵּן, and we know how much Yosef HaTzaddik cherished the Land.
Rav Dovid Kviat, in his sefer Sukkat David, explains why Rashi connects the phrase "לְמִשְׁפְּחֹת מְנַשֶּׁה בֶן יוֹסֵף," which appears in the daughters’ request, to Yosef – and why Yosef’s request to have his remains brought out of Egypt teaches that he cherished the Land. He suggests that even without a particular love for the Land, it would have been understandable for Yosef to want to be buried near his brothers and family. In Egypt, they would have made his grave a site of glory and honor for generations – as they did for other kings – and his name, along with the memory of his heroic deeds that saved Egypt from famine, would have been preserved to glorify him. But instead, Yosef rejected the honor the Egyptians would have given him, and this rejection stemmed from his deep affection for Eretz Yisrael. His love for the Land outweighed even the greatest honors Egypt could have bestowed.
Sefer Livyat Chein brings chilling words from the Zohar. The Zohar HaKadosh writes (Terumah 141:2):
One whose soul departs outside the Holy Land, and the body becomes impure with the impure spirit of outside the Land, that impure spirit is absorbed and remains within it, until the body decays and is consumed by the earth.
This means that through the food of the outside lands that a person ate all his life and was absorbed into his body, which is food from the external forces, the impure spirit is absorbed and remains in his body. The Zohar continues:
And if that body, which absorbed the impure spirit, is brought up to be buried in the Holy Land, about it is written, "And you came and defiled My land, and made My heritage an abomination." My land, upon which the impure spirit does not prevail, with your body, in which the impure spirit was absorbed, that you bring to bury in My land, you defile it, to become impure with it. And it says – if Hakadosh Baruch Hu had not made a remedy for the land, that the impure spirit would not remain in it, since that body decays, Hakadosh Baruch Hu sends a spirit from above and drives the impure spirit out of the Land of Israel, for He is compassionate towards His holy land, that it should not remain in impurity from the impurities of the pleasures of outside lands. Yosef HaTzaddik, the impure spirit never prevailed over his body, not in his life nor in his death, even though his soul departed in another domain, outside the Land. What is the reason? Because he did not follow the impure spirit in his life, and it had no hold on him at all, and therefore it was fitting to bring his body to the Land of Israel. And with all this, he did not want his body, that is, his flesh, to be brought up to be buried in the Holy Land, because he was concerned for the honor of the Land of Israel. Rather, he said to the tribes, "And you shall carry up my bones, and not my body." All the more so, other people who died outside the Land should be concerned themselves and not command to bring up their bodies, so as not to defile the Land of Israel.
Livyat Chein writes, it is explained that Yosef HaTzaddik was exceedingly stringent not to have his body – his flesh – buried in Eretz Yisrael, because he was concerned for the honor of the Land. Therefore, he told the tribes, “וְהַעֲלִיתֶם אֶת עַצְמֹתַי” – referencing עַצְמֹתַי – my bones, and not גּוּפִי – my body. Why? Because Yosef cherished the Land.
It turns out that one who wishes to be buried in Eretz Yisrael does not necessarily prove his love for it, because this desire is only natural – one wants to be buried with one's ancestors. Rather, it’s from the precise wording of the Pasuk that we learn how much Yosef cherished the sanctity of the Land. Thus, these are three proofs of Yosef’s affection for the Land.
The next question is – where is the evidence that the daughters of Tzelofchad similarly cherished the Land? Perhaps they were merely real estate traders!
It is told of a man who, for his 10th wedding anniversary, bought his wife a gift – a grave. The man came and gave his wife a card with the section and plot number written on it: "Here, my dear wife, this is your gift!" The wife was very startled: "You're buying me a grave as a gift for our ten-year anniversary?!" When they reached 11 years of marriage, the wife asked: "So, what did you buy me this year?" "Until you use the first gift, I'm not buying you any more gifts!"
I would like to focus on two Pesukim and try to understand the depth of the matter. The Torah says:
וַתַּעֲמֹדְנָה לִפְנֵי מֹשֶׁה וְלִפְנֵי אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן וְלִפְנֵי הַנְּשִׂיאִם וְכׇל־הָעֵדָה פֶּתַח אֹהֶל־מוֹעֵד לֵאמֹר׃
They stood before Moshe and before Elazar the kohen, and before the princes, and the entire community at the Tent of Meeting entrance, saying.
Rashi, citing the Midrash (Bamidbar Rabbah, 21:12), asks why before both Moshe and Elazar? Is it possible that if Moshe did not know the answer, Elazar would? Rather, reverse the text and interpret it – meaning, the opposite is true. They first went to the officers of tens, officers of hundreds, officers of thousands, then to the princes, then to Elazar, then to Aharon, and only then to Moshe Rabbeinu.
The Abarbanel explains that since Eretz Yisrael was to be divided according to male representation in the family count – לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם בְּמִסְפַּר שֵׁמוֹת כׇּל זָכָר לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָם – the daughters of Tzelofchad came to claim their father's share, as he had no sons. They first approached Moshe, who referred them to the recently appointed judges and officers. Elazar, whom they turned to next, responded similarly. The officers and princes likewise deferred, saying they hadn’t heard a ruling about such a case. Seeing no one would decide, the daughters waited until Moshe, Elazar, the princes, and the leaders were all gathered at the Ohel Moed, and presented their case publicly, saying: “Let the one who is worthy judge.” And then came their claim:
אָבִינוּ מֵת בַּמִּדְבָּר וְהוּא לֹא־הָיָה בְּתוֹךְ הָעֵדָה הַנּוֹעָדִים עַל־ה' בַּעֲדַת־קֹרַח כִּי־בְחֶטְאוֹ מֵת וּבָנִים לֹא־הָיוּ לוֹ׃
Our father died in the wilderness, but he was not among the group that banded together against Hashem, in the company of Korach, but he died because of his own sin without leaving any sons.
Rashi, referencing the Gemara (Shabbat 6b), explains that they needed to clarify that he did not die in the sin of the complainers nor in the rebellious assembly of Korach, but he died in his own sin and did not cause others to sin with him. Rabbi Akiva says he was the מְקוֹשֵׁשׁ עֵצִים – the wood gatherer, while Rabbi Shimon says he was among the מַּעְפִּילִים – those who disobeyed orders and attempted to enter Eretz Yisrael immediately after the incident with the spies.
The question arises – why did the daughters of Tzelofchad elaborate so much on their father's story? Surely their father died in the wilderness. Where else could he have died if not there? In the Himalayas?!
The Ramban says, they needed to say he was not in the assembly of Korach because they had no portion in the Land. The Seforno adds to these words – their judgment was that their property would be lost in the ban that Moshe Rabbeinu declared when he said, "סוּרוּ נָא – Depart now from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything of theirs, lest you be swept away," and so they were judged in the heavenly court, as it says וְאֵת כׇּל רְכוּשָׁם – and all the property.
The Meshech Chochma suggests it is possible that they were scholars (Sifrei), and they knew that those executed by a court have their property go to their heirs, while those executed by the king have their property go to the king (Sanhedrin 48b). And since Moshe was considered a king, even though Shevet Levi did not take a portion in the Land, it is possible that if Moshe received Tzelofchad's property by law as king, we could not take it as an inheritance, but he would surely distribute it among the other tribes. Meaning, if their father died as one executed by the king, they would lose the entire inheritance, and their claim would be invalid. While Korach’s assembly were executed by the king, if he died in his sin among the ma'apilim or because he gathered wood on Shabbat, his property would still go to his heirs.
I found a third opinion in the words of the Zohar HaKadosh. Tzelofchad was neither among the ma'apilim nor was he the wood gatherer. He was among those bitten by snakes – those who spoke against Moshe Rabbeinu and against Hakadosh Baruch Hu (Chukat). The Tzror Hamor ...
