Taste of Torah – ParashaPinhas
Prepared by Rabbi Ari Lucas, Associate Rabbi, Temple Beth Am 7/10/15
The Five Women Who Changed God’s Mind
Law, even God’s law (or perhaps especially God’s law), must respond compassionately to the claims of marginalized people in society. I believe that’s the message of the large letter nun that appears in the story of the daughters of Tzelophehad in ParshatPinhas.
Tzelophehad was a man from the tribe of Menasheh. He had five daughters, no sons. These five daughters approach Moses and the leadership of the Israelite community to offer their claim: “Our father,Tzelophehad, has died... and he left no sons. But we are our father’s legacy - do not let his name perish. Let us receive his inheritance.” (Numbers 27:4)
In the original law given at Mt. Sinai, daughters were excluded from inheritance. But these five women thought that rule was unjust. So they challenged the status quo. Moses isn’t certain how to respond. He takes their case to God. It is here that we encounter one of the Torah’s thirty-two large letters.
וַיַּקְרֵב מֹשֶׁה אֶת-מִשְׁפָּטָן, לִפְנֵי ה'
And Moses brought their (f. pl) case before God. (Numbers 27:5)
The final nun, appended to the word mishpat - legal case - is a feminine possessive suffix. In the Hebrew language in general and in the Bible in particular, feminine plural suffixes are rare. This is a function of the rule that when referring to mixed groups of men and women, the default is to use male conjugation. I remember learning as a child that if there are 99 women in a group and 1 man, the group is referred to in the masculine plural. That never seemed quite right to me. I know the Academy of Hebrew Language - the authoritative body that establishes Hebrew language rules - has debated changing the rule to match gender to the majority of a group.
The grammatical oddity is emphasized by the large nun. Here we have a case of 5 women challenging a patriarchal law. The Torah is emphasizing that this is a claim by women, for women.
There’s something so visually striking about this large nun. There’s the law (mishpat) and then there’s the women represented by the big nun. The two are stuck together in the same word, yet they are in tension. The big nun, standing straight and strong, is the scribal hint that when law and people are in tension, people win. They (f. pl) are more significant than the law.
God affirms this point, assuring Moses, “Tzelophehad’s daughters are speaking the truth” and they should receive their father’s inheritance. Not only that, but their claim establishes a precedent for any case where a man dies without sons. As a result of their petition, daughters become eligible for inheritance. (S.A. H.M. 281:7 Rema, Takkanat R. Herzog 1943) Their (f. pl) case goes down in history and we read it in the Torah to remind us of the time when five brave women changed God’s mind - as well as the many men and women whose claims throughout history have led to a more just and inclusive law and society.
Shabbat Shalom
This is part of a series Rabbi Lucas is writing on the big and small letters in the text of the Torah.