To open our class today we are going to listen to a song, "New Arithmetic," by the wonderful Jewish artist and educator, Alicia Jo Rabins. She has created an amazing and incredibly engaging curriculum called Girls in Trouble in which she explores the lives of many different female characters in TaNaKh. Today we will listen to her song about the Daughters of Zelophechad, the subject of our shiur. I have included the lyrics on your source sheet. As you listen and read along with the lyrics, if you already know the story of the Daughters of Zelophechad, think about how her song relates to the story. If you are not familiar with the story, what do you think this song might be about?
Let's look at the first text in the Torah that introduces the Daughters of Zelophechad.
Is there anything interesting about how this text introduces us to the five sisters?
Unusually, the five sisters are called by their names. There are many female characters in the Torah who are never even given names but here we five women are named.
I like to use art when I teach text because it can be helpful to have a visual representation of the story that we are studying. This drawing shows one of the sisters making a heartfelt plea on her knees with her arms spread wide while Moses looks like he has a very bad headache. Another sister is right up in his face while the others seem to be talking to him all at the same time. No wonder he looks like he has a headache. All those strong women assailing him at the same time! What do you notice about this drawing?
Here is the first text which appears several verses later which tells the sisters' story. Their names are repeated and their words are recorded as they speak to Moshe and the Elders and everyone assembled at the Tent of Meeting. This is a big deal. Not only are they named but they are given voices and are listened to by the all the important people of the Israelites and the most important man himself, Moshe. Let's see what they say!
Text 1
Questions
- What is the situation of the Daughters of Zelophechad?
- What are they asking for?
- What is the answer to their question?
- Why do the five daughters make a point to say their father was not a part of Korach's rebellion but rather died for his own sin?
- What is their reasoning for why they should inherit?
- Why do you think Moshe had to take their case before God?
- God's ruling goes further than just their particular case. Why do you think this happens?
- Why do you think God found their case to be just?
- What about how they made their case could be a model for speaking to authority in your own life when you have a request?
We have looked at the Torah text that tells the first part of the story of the Daughters of Zelophechad and discussed how they presented their case before Moses. Let's turn now to what the Rabbis had to say about the five sisters. They are mentioned a lot, for women, in Rabbinic texts. In this text they are given the highest praise the Rabbis can bestow on men or women. Pay close attention to their reasoning and examples. Just note, as is often the case, the Rabbinic knowledge of biology is a little suspect.
Text 2
§ The Sages taught: The daughters of Zelophehad are wise, they are interpreters of verses, and they are righteous. The Gemara proves these assertions. That they are wise can be seen from the fact that they spoke in accordance with the moment, i.e., they presented their case at an auspicious time. As Rabbi Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak says: Tradition teaches that Moses our teacher was sitting and interpreting in the Torah portion about men whose married brothers had died childless, as it is stated: “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies, and has no child, the wife of the dead shall not be married abroad to one not of his kin; her husband’s brother shall come to her, and take her for him as a wife” (Deuteronomy 25:5). The daughters of Zelophehad said to Moses: If we are each considered like a son, give us each an inheritance like a son; and if not, our mother should enter into levirate marriage. Immediately upon hearing their claim, the verse records: “And Moses brought their cause before the Lord” (Numbers 27:5). That they are interpreters of verses can be seen from the fact that they were saying: If our father had had a son, we would not have spoken; but because he had no son, we are filling the role of the heir. The Gemara asks: But isn’t it taught in a baraita: They would say, if he had had a daughter, we would not have spoken? Rabbi Yirmeya said: Delete from the baraita here the word: Daughter. As they were themselves daughters, this cannot have been their claim. Abaye said that the baraita need not be emended, and should be understood as follows: Even if there was a daughter of a son of Zelophehad, we would not have spoken, for she would have been the heir. That they are righteous can be seen from the fact that they did not rush to marry, but rather waited to marry those fit for them. Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov teaches: Even the youngest to be married among them was not married at less than forty years of age. The Gemara asks: Is that so? But doesn’t Rav Ḥisda say: If a woman marries when she is less than twenty years old, she is able to give birth until she reaches the age of sixty; if she marries when she is twenty years old or older, she is able to give birth until she reaches the age of forty; if she marries when she is forty years old or older, she is no longer able to give birth at all. If so, how could Zelophehad’s daughters have waited until the age of forty to marry? Rather, since they are righteous women, a miracle was performed for them, like the one done for Jochebed. As it is written: “And a man of the house of Levi went, and took as a wife a daughter of Levi” (Exodus 2:1).
Questions
- What are the three traits that the Rabbis say the Daughters of Zelophechad posses?
- Why do the Rabbis say it was an auspicious time for them to speak?
- Explain the case that is made for them being interpreters of verses.
- What is the connection between their righteousness and their age?
- Why do you think the Rabbis judged them so kindly and generously?
- Do you agree with the idea that only righteous women are availed of miracles?
- These seem like high standards for women to live up to to be considered righteous, after all many men in the Torah are not held to these same standards, yet they are still considered righteous. Do you find any parallels between the Rabbis' expectations for righteous women and society's expectations for women today?
We are introduced to the sisters in Parshat Pinchas but their story does not end there. It continues in Parshat Masei. The male leaders of their tribe are concerned with the inheritance that the daughters are to receive and what might happen to it if they marry outside of the tribe. They, the male leaders of the tribe, speak to Moshe about their concerns. Let's listen in and see how the Daughters of Zelophechad lose some of their hard won freedom.
Text 3
Questions
- What happens in this text that circumscribes the ruling made in the previous Torah text?
- What must the Daughters of Zelophechad now do in order to inherit their father's land?
- Do you think the claim of their male relatives is just?
This last text from the Rabbis explains the connection between Tu B'Av and the story of the Daughters of Zelophechad. It is important because it ultimately gives women the freedom that the Daughters themselves were denied--to marry whomever they pleased, whether or not their betrothed were in their own tribe.
Text 4
Questions
- How is this Rabbinic text about Tu B'Av related to the story of the Daughters of Zelophechad?
- How do you think the Sages felt about the restraints that were placed on the Daughters of Zelophechad?
- What is their reasoning for those restraints being lifted in subsequent gnerations?
In closing let's take a few moments to reflect on these texts and this story of these five women. They dared to speak up for themselves and were rewarded but their reward was circumscribed by the males of their tribe and by God. They were later given the highest praise by the Sages as wise, interpreters of Torah who were righteous. Their story is then directly connected to the holiday instituted by the Sages on Tu B'Av, the Jewish day of love. On your piece of paper/in your journal answer these prompts: How can the daughters serve as a model in your own life in how they approached authority? In how they made the best of their circumstances and spoke up for themselves? What kind of role models can they serve for us today? What does it mean to be a woman and be wise, and interpreter of Torah, and righteous according to the Rabbis? What does it mean according to our culture?