Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
Benot Tzelofhad בְּנוֹת צְלָפְחָד (the daughters of Tzelofhad) have a question for Moshe:
אָבִינוּ מֵת בַּמִּדְבָּר וְהוּא לֹא הָיָה בְּתוֹךְ הָעֵדָה הַנּוֹעָדִים עַל ה' בַּעֲדַת קֹרַח כִּי בְחֶטְאוֹ מֵת וּבָנִים לֹא הָיוּ לוֹ׃
לָמָּה יִגָּרַע שֵׁם אָבִינוּ מִתּוֹךְ מִשְׁפַּחְתּוֹ כִּי אֵין לוֹ בֵּן תְּנָה לָּנוּ אֲחֻזָּה בְּתוֹךְ אֲחֵי אָבִינוּ׃
וַיַּקְרֵב מֹשֶׁה אֶת מִשְׁפָּטָן לִפְנֵי ה'׃
“Our father died in the wilderness. He was not one of Korah’s crowd who rebelled against God. He died for his own sin; and he had no sons.
Why should our father’s name be lost to his family just because he had no son? Let us inherit the land for our father’s family!”
Moshe brought their case before God.
Our פַּרְשָׁנִים (parshanim, commentators) wonder:
Why did Moshe have to bring this question to God? Was he really stumped?
יֵשׁ שֶׁפֵּרְשׁוּ כִּי כֵּיוָן שֶׁגָּלוּ בְּנוֹת צְלָפְחָד בְּטַעֲנָתָן שֶׁלֹּא [הָיָה] אֲבִיהֶן מֵעֲדַת שׂוֹנְאָיו שֶׁל מֹשֶׁה, הָיָה בָּזֶה קֵרוּב הַדַּעַת לְמֹשֶׁה, וְאִלּוּ הָיָה דָּן אֶת דִּינָן הָיָה כְּאִלּוּ נוֹטֵל שֹׁחַד דְּבָרִים.
Some have explained that it’s because benot Tzelofhad revealed that their father was not part of Korah’s rebellion. Moshe understood that if he were to judge this case himself, he might not judge truthfully, because this information could be like a bribe.
- When someone tells you they are your friend, would it be easy to be a judge over a question they were involved in (would you be able to tell them "no" if you had to)?
רְאוּיָה הָיְתָה פָרָשָׁה זוֹ לְהִכָּתֵב עַל יְדֵי מֹשֶׁה.
אֶלָּא שֶׁזָּכוּ בְנוֹת צְלָפְחָד וְנִכְתְּבָה עַל יָדָן.
This section should have been written by Moshe (like most laws in the Torah, which are taught by Moshe, to the people, without anyone else involved).
But benot Tzelofhad were given a reward, and the section was written because of them.
- Look back at pesukim 3-5 above. What do you think benot Tzelofhad did to deserve this reward?
- It probably took a lot of courage for benot Tzelofhad to ask their question in front of Moshe, Aharon, and all the other leaders! Do you ever not ask a question, maybe because you're afraid of what people might think? What might benot Tzelofhad tell you in that situation?
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