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The Torah column is supported by a generous donation from Eve Gordon-Ramek in memory of Kenneth Gordon.

Matot-Masei
Numbers 30:2-36:13

Hollywood definitely loves a sequel — or 10.

But the Torah almost never returns to a narrative to tell us its next chapter, except in the landmark case of the “Daughters of Zelophehad.” These five sisters — Machlah, Noa, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah — approached the powerful men of authority and argued successfully for their right to inherit their son-less father’s tribal portion. (That they get individual names is itself remarkable.)

That was in Numbers 27:1-11 in last week’s portion, Pinchas.

This week, nine chapters later at the very end of the Book of Numbers (36:1-12), the sisters resurface — though not to restate what already occurred, as sometimes happens when the Torah reminds us of an event or law of particular impact.

Rather, their reappearance seems to be in response to a question likely posed by swaths of the biblical audience and which we may wonder as well: “What happened to those courageous sisters?”

The daughters do not speak in chapter 36 as they did in chapter 27. Instead, the male heads of their family come forward to contend that the daughters’ inherited portions should remain within the family. Should the sisters marry outside their tribe, the men argue, the women’s portion would become property of their new family, and their own stakes would be reduced.

Again, the claim is declared valid. Moses decrees, by the word of God, that the Daughters of Zelophehad could marry whomever they wish, as long as their husbands were from their own tribe. This way, “an inheritance of the Children of Israel shall not make rounds from tribe to tribe” (36:7).

From there, the law extended to all daughters of Israel who inherited land and other property. We learn that the sisters (named individually again!) married their first cousins, living dutifully within the legal restrictions of their time and place. And there the story ends.  

Or does it?

Many students of Torah rejoice at the unusual inclusion of the names of the Daughters of Zelophehad in both places where their story is told. They epitomize the power of sisterhood, the potential for women to speak and be heard and the ability of women in a very male-dominated society to make and win their case.

In the second installment, though, some of that earlier victory is diminished. They don’t speak, and their autonomy is curtailed by their male relatives who emphasize their place as “assets.” We can understand the men’s motivation, but also may feel unsettled by the apparent marginalization of the sisters and the limitation of their marriage prospects.

As it turns out, the rabbis of the Talmud were also discomfited by the restrictions imposed on the daughters of Israel. They declared that the prohibition on inter-tribal marriages was lifted once the Israelites entered and apportioned the land, and that the ending of the ban was met with great celebration.

The anniversary of the announcement, that members of all Israelite tribes were eligible as prospective partners, was Tu B’Av, the 15th day of the month of Av, one of the most joyous, if little known, days on the Jewish calendar (Babylonian Talmud tractate Taanit 30a).

Tu B’Av, which starts at sundown Aug. 18, comes just six days after the most mournful day on the Jewish calendar, Tisha B’Av, the 9th of Av, which starts at sundown Aug. 12, when Jews worldwide commemorate the destruction of the Jerusalem Temples and far too many subsequent tragedies in Jewish history. It is a day of lamentation and deep sadness and is considered by some to herald the beginning of the High Holiday season.

But it is actually on Tu B’Av, the day of Love and Rebirth, when we are invited to begin to wish each other to be “written and sealed in the Book of Life” for the coming year. This happy day, considered even more festive than Yom Kippur (when we have a clean slate for the New Year), is described by Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel as the day “the daughters of Jerusalem would go out… and dance in the vineyards… and whoever did not have a wife would go there to find himself a bride” (Taanit 26b).

In our time, Tu B’Av has been reclaimed as a day of modern romance and affection, primarily in Israel. Other historical events are attributed to the day to increase its air of celebration, but the connection to the Daughters of Zelophehad is poignant.

What began as a perilous situation for five orphaned sisters is salvaged by the Moses’ decree that they may be recognized as heirs (Part One). But after their choice for husbands is highly regulated (Part Two), their story leads ultimately to the establishment of a beautiful day of promise and hope (Part Three).

This trilogy reminds us that stories arc and evolve. Things shift and change, often with difficulty, but often for the better. The willingness of Jewish tradition to rewrite our script based on new scenarios should encourage us to remember that we are but players in a grand drama, and that perhaps, the best is still to come.