Elazar, Aharon’s son, married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Pinchas.

It seems strange that Elazar’s wife is called “one of the daughters of Putiel”. Who was Putiel and who were his daughters?

This question is asked in the Talmud, Sotah 43a:

Who are the daughters of Putiel? Are they not those who descended from Yitro who was called Putiel because he fattened (pitem) calves for the sacrifice of idols?

The Gemara responds:

No. The daughters of Putiel were descended from Yosef, who was called Putiel because he scorned (pitpet) his desire and overcame it.

The Gemara resolves this difficulty:

If Pinchas’ mother’s father descended from Yosef, then his mother’s mother descended from Yitro. And if his mother’s father descended from Yitro, then his mother’s mother descended from Yosef.  We can learn from here that Pinchas descended from Yitro and Yosef.

Rashi points out (Shmot 18:1) that Yitro had seven names; Reuel, Yeter, Yitro, Chovav, Chever, Keini and Putiel.

Yitro was originally a Kohen Midian (Midianite priest). Rashi explains in Shmot 2:16 that he was the most important one. Yitro abandoned the worship of idols which caused the Midianites to banish him.

Tziporah, Moshe’s wife was the only one of the seven daughters of Yitro whose name is mentioned.

It is interesting to note that Pinchas who was descendant of a Midianite woman whose family left the world of idol worship was the one who felt up to the task to stop the plague by slaying the Israelite man, Zimri, son of Salu, the leader of the ancestral house of Shimon and the Midianite woman, Cozbi, the daughter of Tzur, the tribal leader of a Midianite ancestral house.

In the Talmud, Sotah 82b, we see the reaction of the people:

After Pinchas killed Zimri and Cozbi, the other tribes began mocking him, saying: “Did you see this son of Puti whose father fattened calves for idol worship and yet killed a tribal prince of Israel?”

To counteract this strong criticism, the Torah reminds us of Pinchas’ genealogy (Bamidbar 25:11) “Pinchas, son of Elazar, son of Aharon the Kohen.” God said to Moshe “Be the first to extend to Pinchas greetings of peace” as it is stated (Bamidbar 25:12) “Therefore say to B’nai Yisrael: ‘Behold I give him My Covenant to peace.’”

Although Pinchas descended from the Midianites as did Tziporah, since Yitro separated the family from idol worship, they were no longer part of that world and there was no reason to treat them differently than the rest of B’nai Yisrael. To get this point across, God specifically singled out Pinchas as a Kohen who followed in his grandfather, Aharon’s footsteps as a pursuer of peace and who would be part of a covenant of eternal priesthood as we see in Bamidbar 25:13 “And it shall be for him and his offspring after him a covenant of eternal priesthood, because he took vengeance for his God and he atoned for B’nai Yisrael.”

The daughters of Tzelophchad stated their case in Bamidbar 27:4:

Why should the name of our father be omitted from his family because he did not have a son? Give us possession of land among our father’s brothers.

The Talmud, Bava Batra 119b brings a braita which discusses the virtues of the daughters of Tzelophchad:

The daughters of Tzelophchad were wise (chachamot), they were expounders of Torah (darshaniot) and they were righteous (tzidkaniot).

According to the Talmud, they were wise as they said, “If we are equal to a son, then let us inherit as a son. If we are not equal to a son then our mother should be required to undergo yibum in order to produce a son.”

They were expounders of Torah as they added, “If our father would have had a son, then we would not have spoken.” Or “Even if our father had a granddaughter, we would not have spoken.”

They were righteous as they only married men who were fitting for them.

The midrash, Sifre 133 states:

The mercies of flesh and blood are greater for males than for females. Not so the mercies of God. His mercies are for males and females equally. His mercies are for all! As it is written in Tehillim 145:9, “The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are upon all of His creations.”

In Bamidbar 27:5-7 we read:

And Moshe brought the claim before God. God said to Moshe, saying, “The daughters of Tzelophchad speak properly. You shall surely give them a possession of inheritance among the brothers of their father, and you shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass over them.”

Rashi brings the midrash, Sifre 134 which says that “this chapter is so inscribed before Me on high.”

Giving the daughters the opportunity to inherit was part of God’s plan.

In the State of Israel, we have modern day great great granddaughters of Tzelophchad- over 100 Orthodox rabbaniot, learned women, graduates of serious Halacha (Jewish Law) programs who want to be included.

Six women along with three organizations- Itim, Kolech and the Rackman Center began to petition the Israeli courts in 2019 to allow women who are studying Halacha to take the same tests as the men. In this way, there would be an opportunity for the rabbaniot to be eligible for some of the same positions that the rabbis receive as well as to have their Halachic studies recognized as an academic degree which would help them receive pay increases.

Yesterday, Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled that women would be allowed to take the proficiency tests in Halacha which are administered by the Chief Rabbinate.

The judge, Noam Solberg wrote the following:

A significant development that exists—even within the internal world of Halacha—is the expansion of Torah study to broader circles, with sensitivity to the evolving status of women in society and the centrality of Torah learning in Jewish tradition and culture. In the petition before us, we see further expression of this trend: women seeking to engage in the ‘labor of Torah,’ which, as stated, ‘whoever wishes to take it, may come and take it’ (Avot DeRabbi Natan). This is naturally consistent with Israeli law and with the obligation of the authority-in this case, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel-to act toward the public in an equal manner, in the absence of any justification to do otherwise. Barring women who are wise (chachamot), expounders of Torah (darshaniot) and righteous (tzidkaniot) from taking the Rabbanut exams is discrimination with no justification.

I am personally very appreciative that I was able to study Torah and Halacha on the highest levels at Matan, Women’s Institute of Torah Studies in Jerusalem, for the past seven years.

I am proud to have participated in all of Kolech’s conferences over the past 20 years, including last month’s conference on Women’s Halachic Leadership along with over 100 other rabbaniot who have studied Halacha in Batei Midrash throughout Israel. It is great to see such an amazing community of women who are experts in Jewish law as well as leaders who are making an impact on Israeli society.

I am honored to have been a member of Beit Hillel for over a decade, an organization where male and female spiritual leaders are treated as equals.

I am happy that we were able to uproot our lives 21 years ago and make aliya from Riverdale, New York. While I left the position as the first Madricha Ruchanit (Spiritual Mantor) in the United States, I founded the non-profit organization, Torat Reva Yerushalayim and am able to teach Torah to both men and women in Jerusalem.

May we see more opportunities for women to learn and teach Torah in Israel and follow in the footsteps of the daughters of Tzelophchad.

In Parshat Pinchas, Bamidbar 26:55-56
we read:

Only (ach) by lot should the land be
divided, according to the names of their father’s tribes should they inherit
it. By word of the lottery should this inheritance be divided, with regard to
whether they are many or few.

Are there any exceptions to this
rule?

Rashi quotes Sifrei 132:

The word only (ach) excludes
Yehoshua and Kalev who received special portions. Therefore it is written in
Shoftim 1:20: “And they gave Chevron to Kalev as Moshe had spoken, and he drove
the three sons of Anak (the giant) from there” and in Yehoshua 19:49-50: “The children
of Israel gave a heritage to Yehoshua bin Nun in their midst. By word of God
they gave him the city that he asked for, Timnat-Serach in Har Efraim; He built
the city and dwelled there.”

The Talmud, Bava Batra 122b
comments:

Here it is called Timnat Serach, but
in Shoftim 2:8-9 it is called Timnat Cheres:

Yehoshua bin Nun, the servant of God
died at the age of 110. They buried him within the borders of his heritage, in
Timnat Cheres, in Har Efraim, north of Har Ga’ash.

The Gemara resolves this
discrepancy:

Rabbi Elazar said: At first, before
Yehoshua arrived in the town, its fruits were as dry as cheres (earthenware),
but in the end, after Yehoshua’s arrival, its fruits were rich and would rot
(masriach) if left for too long.

Some report the following version:

At first, the fruits were
excessively rich and they would rot if they were stored even for a short while,
but in the end they were like earthenware, and could be stored for long
periods.

The Gemara asks how Kalev was able
to inherit Chevron which is an Ir Miklat (City of Refuge) which belonged to the
tribe of Levi.

Abaye answers: Kalev received the
provinces around Chevron as it says in Yehoshua 21:12: “And the fields of the
city and its villages they gave to Kalev ben Yefuneh for his legacy.”

We see that there were exceptions
made for Yehoshua and Kalev since they were the two scouts who tried to
encourage B’nai Yisrael that it was safe to enter the Land of Israel and could
be looked at as the first Zionists.

Just as Yehoshua and Kalev were able
to fulfill their dreams, may all those who wish to make aliya have the
opportunity to do so.

Parshat Pinchas presents the
daughters of Tzelophchad who requested to inherit their father’s portions of
land since he died without having any sons.

In Parshat Masei, Bamidbar 36:6 we
read the epilogue of the story: The daughters of Tzelophchad were permitted to
accept marriage proposals from all of the tribes of Israel:

This is the word that God has
commanded regarding Tzelophchad’s daughters: “Let them marry whom they think
best, as long as they marry within the tribe of their father.”

The idea is that if they marry within
their tribe then the land inherited would stay within the tribe. However, they
had the option of marrying outside of the tribe and in that case, the land
would be transferred to her husband’s tribe.

In the end, each of the five women
married within their tribe as it says in Bamidbar 36:10-12:

Exactly as God commanded Moshe, so
did Tzelophchad’s daughters do: Machla, Tirtza, Chogla, Milka and Noa, the daughters
of Tzelophchad married their cousins. From the families of Menashe, son of
Yosef, they married, and their inheritance remained with the tribe of their
father’s family.

Sforno explains that when the
daughters of Tzelophchad saw that God did not want the inheritance to move to
another tribe, even though they personally had the opportunity to marry someone
from a different tribe, they chose to marry their cousins and in this way, they
kept the inheritance within the tribe of Menashe.

The Talmud, Bava Batra 119 quotes a
Braita:

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov taught:
Even the youngest of the daughters of Tzelophchad did not get married until she
was at least 40 years old.

Tosaphot explain that according to
Rashba, Tzelophchad died around the time of the Sin of the Spies, at the
beginning of B’nai Yisrael’s wanderings in the desert, so all of his daughters
had to have been conceived or born by then. The story of them requesting land
takes place almost 40 years later, right before B’nai Yisrael are about to
enter the Land of Israel.

Why did they wait so long to get
married and how were they still able to have children?

Rashi points out that they waited as
they wanted to make sure that they would marry fitting mates.

The Talmud calls these women “tzadkaniot”,
righteous. Even though they got married later, where in many cases they would
no longer be able to bear children, a miracle was performed just like with
Yocheved, Moshe’s mother who gave birth at an advanced age.

The issues that the daughters of
Tzelophchad faced are still relevant today. Women should only marry someone who
is the right fit. They should not compromise just because they are getting
older. We are lucky to be living in a time where fertility treatments can
miraculously help women who marry later still have the opportunity to have
children.

In Parshat Pinchas (Bamidbar 27:15-17) we read:

Moshe spoke to the Lord, saying: “Let the Lord, God of the spirit of all
flesh, appoint a man over the community who will go out before them and come in
before them. Who will lead them out and bring them home. Let not the Lord’s
community be like a sheep without a shepherd.”

In verses 18-21, God answers:

“Take Yehoshua Bin Nun, a man infused with My spirit and lay your hands
upon him. Have him stand before Elazar the Kohen and before the entire
community and command him before their eyes. You shall place some of your
majesty upon him, so that the entire community of B’nai Yisrael will obey
him…”

The Midrash, Bamidbar Rabba 21:14 asks:

What reason did Moshe have to make this request after declaring the
order of the inheritance?

The Midrash answers:

When Moshe saw the daughters of Tzelophchad inherit the properties from
their father, Moshe said: “This is the time for me to claim my needs.
If daughters inherit, it is surely right that my sons should inherit my glory.”

God answered Moshe with a quote from Mishlei 27:18: “‘He who tends the
fig tree will enjoy its fruit.’ Your sons sat with their own concerns and were
not involved in torah study whereas Yehoshua served you and showed you great
honor. He rose up early in the morning and remained late at night at your House
of Assembly. He arranged the benches and spread out the mats. Since he served
you with all of his strength, he is worthy to serve Israel and he should not
lose his reward.”

Moshe’s dream of one of his sons taking over for him did not become a
reality. Yehoshua proved himself in the quiet way that he served Moshe. Since
Yehoshua protected Moshe’s honor, he merited to receive Ruach HaKodesh, the
Divine Spirit and prophecy.

We can learn from here that leaders should be chosen based on their own
merits and not through nepotism.

In Honor of Josh and Sharona Halickman’s 26^th Wedding
Anniversary

This week’s Haftara from Yirmiyahu 1:1-2:3 is the first of the three “Haftarot of Calamity” which are read between the 17^th of
Tamuz and Tisha B’Av. Although chapter one describes the upcoming destruction,
the last three verses in our Haftara (Yitmiyahu 2:1-3) leave us on a positive
note:

And the word of God was upon me, saying, “Go and proclaim in the ears of
Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus said God: I remember for your sake the kindness of your
youth, the love of your bridal days, your following Me in the wilderness, in a
land not sown. Israel is holy to God, the first of His grain; all who devour
him shall be guilty, evil shall come upon them- the word of God.’”

God asked Yirmiyahu to make a proclamation of His prophecy to Israel: I
remember when you were prepared to follow Me into the unknown of the desert which
is not an easy place to live.

Rashi asks: What was the “loving kindness of your youth”? Your following
my messengers, Moshe and Aharon from an inhabited land to the desert without
provisions for the way since you believed in me.

Radak interprets the “love of your bridal days” as the giving of the
Torah, when B’nei Yisrael were compared to a bride and God was compared to a
groom.

In Hoshea 9:10 we read:

I found Yisrael like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the
first ripe fruit in the fig tree at her first season.

Buber explains:

This finding is compared to the find of grapes in the wilderness by the
wanderer. The finder found a treasured object in a place where he least expected
it. He saw the encampments of those camping at the foot of Mount Sinai and they
appeared to him as first ripe figs at their season, producing fruit for the
first time.

Why are B’nei Yisrael being compared to the first of God’s grain in the last
verse of the Haftara?

Israel is being compared to the Truma, the first of the harvest which is
consecrated to God and is given to the Kohen and his family to eat. The Truma
is considered “kodesh”, holy and strangers may not partake of it as we read in
Vayikra 22:10:

No layman shall eat “kodesh” (of the holy); one who resides with a Kohen
or his laborer shall not eat “kodesh.”

Truma is also called “reishit”, the first or the best, as we see in
Bamidbar 18:12 which discuses the gifts to the Kohanim:

All the best of your oil and the best of your wine and grain, “reishitam”
their first, which they give to God, to you have I given them.

Yirmiyahu is declaring that just as the stranger who eats from the Truma
will be punished, the nations who try to destroy B’nei Yisrael will be punished
as well.

We learn from our Haftara that even though God was angry with B’nai
Yisrael for sinning, He would never demolish them as He will always remember
the days of their courtship in the desert and their marriage at Mount Sinai.
They will always be his firstborn as they were the ones who said “naaseh
venishma”, we will do and we will listen. No matter how outraged He is, God
will never let the Jewish nation be fully destroyed.

As we admire the grape vines and fig trees growing in Israel, may we be
reminded of God’s everlasting relationship with the Jewish people.

In Parshat Pinchas, we are reminded
of the fact that the older generation (aside from Yehoshua and Calev) died out
in the wilderness due to the sin of the spies and only the younger generation
can enter the Land of Israel.

Rashi (Bamidbar 26:64) states that
there was no decree issued against the women (to die in the wilderness) since
they cherished the land. The men said (Bamidbar 14:4) “let us appoint a leader
and we will return to Egypt” while the women (the daughters of Tzelophchad)
said (Bamidbar 27:4) “give us possession.”

The daughters of Tzelophchad are
introduced in the following way (Bamidbar 27:4):

And they approached- the daughters
of Tzelophchad, son of Chefer, son of Gilad, son of Machir, son of Menashe, of
the families of Menashe the son of Yosef. The names of the daughters were:
Machla, Noa, Chogla, Milka and Tirtza.

Rashi asks why Menashe is mentioned
twice: “son of Menashe, of the families of Menashe the son of Yosef.”

Rashi
answers that their lineage goes all of the way back to Yosef to teach us that
Yosef cherished the Land of Israel as he requested to be buried there.  Yosef’s great great great great granddaughters
requested to inherit the land as they did not have any brothers to inherit
their father’s portion of land.

Kli
Yakar explains why the women of that generation had a much greater love and
appreciation for the Land of Israel than the men:

The
men hated the Land of Israel, since they were macho and far from righteousness. They
were not interested in going from a place where there were no requirements
(Egypt) to a place where they would be burdened with obligations (Israel). They
said (Bamidbar 11:5) “We remember
the fish which we ate in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, the watermelons, leeks,
onions and garlic.”

Sifrei
explains that in Egypt, they were free of the constraints of the mizvot. They didn’t
have the burden of taking Trumot and Maasrot (donations and tithes
of the produce designated for the Kohaim, Leviim, poor etc) from their vegetables since outside of Israel, one is not obligated in
Mitzvot Hatluyot Ba’Aretz, the mitzvot that only apply in the Land of Israel.
They were stingy and preferred to remain outside of the land rather than share
with the Kohanim.

Kli
Yakar continues: The women of that generation were righteous and loved tzedaka.
They wanted to observe mitzvot like Hafrashat Chala
which is special mitzvah for women as well as a mitzvah of the Land of Israel. They
were excited about separating Trumot and Ma’asrot. We are taught in the Talmud,
Sotah 11b that it was in the merit of the righteous women of that generation
that our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt. The women wanted to leave the
place where they were exempt from the mitzvot in order to move to a place where
they would be obligated in more mitzvot.

Kli
Yakar concludes that the daughters of Tzelaphchad took after Yosef. They were
careful with their relationships and they loved the Land of Israel. Yosef kept
his distance from Potiphar’s wife and the daughters of Tzelaphchad made sure to
marry men who were fitting for them. The daughters of Tzelphchad wanted to
enter the land as they loved taking part in giving Tzedaka, while Yosef loved
righteousness and made sure that his father’s entire household had food during
the famine.

For
more than one hundred years, we have seen the love of many women for the Land
of Israel, women, including both of my grandmothers, who went out of their way
to raise funds to help build the State of Israel as we know it today. One
pioneer of this movement was Henrietta Szold who founded Hadassah in 1912.

May
we continue to see the State of Israel grow and may both women and men come on aliya
and have the opportunity to take on as many mitzvot as possible.

In Honor of Sharona & Josh
Halickman’s 23^rd Wedding Anniversary 

When we speak about Chet HaMiraglim,
the sin of the spies, we mention that Yehoshua and Calev were the only two of
the twelve spies who did not bring a false report and they were therefore not
punished as the other ten spies who died in a plague, rather, they were able to
enter the Land of Israel.

After the sin of the spies, in
Parshat Shlach, the rest of the nation was told (Bamidbar 14:29-31) “In the
desert your corpses shall fall, all of you who were counted according to your
numbers, from twenty years and above, because you complained against me. Surely
you shall not come into the land to which I raised My hand to swear that I
would cause you to live in it; except for Calev ben Yefuneh and Yehoshua bin
Nun. Your infants, about whom you said that they will be as spoils, I shall
bring them there and they will know the land which you despised.”

Note that each time a census was
taken the women were not counted.

In Parshat Pinchas, after the census
we read (Bamidbar 26:65) “For God said to them, ‘They will surely die in the
wilderness,’ and not a man was left of them, except for Calev ben Yefuneh and
Yehoshua bin Nun.

It is interesting to note that the
women were not mentioned.

Rashi points out that the decree was
not issued against the women since they cherished the land. The men said to
each other (Bamidbar 14:4), “let us appoint a leader and we will return to
Egypt” while the women (the daughters of Tzelophchad) said (Bamidbar 27:4) “give
us possession!” According to Sifre, 16, this is why the chapter of the
daughters of Tzelophchad is adjacent here.

The men were the ones who said
(Bamidbar 14:2-3) “…If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had
died in the wilderness! Why is God bringing us to this Land to die by the sword?
Our wives and young children will be taken captive! Is it not better to return
to Egypt?”

We see from here, that just like the
spies, the men were not interested in inheriting the Land of Israel and therefore
they did not merit to live there. The women, who normally would not have
inherited their own plots of land were given special permission to inherit in
the case where they had no brothers.

We learn from here that none of the
women died in the wilderness and even those who were older than sixty entered
the land with the younger generation.

This Shabbat in Israel we will read
the Haftara about Eliyahu HaNavi from Melachim Alef (Kings I) 18:46-19:21. This
Haftara will not be read outside of Israel this year, as next Shabbat when
Parshat Pinchas will be read outside of Israel, we will be observing the three
weeks leading up to Tisha B’Av and the prophecies of destruction will be read.

 In our Haftara, God shows Eliyahu a vision
which according to Ralbag is meant to rebuke Eliyahu for having criticized
Israel in harsh terms saying that they deserved to be punished. God’s vision
will show Eliyahu that instead of wishing to punish the people, He is showing
them patience and compassion, giving them time to repent. From this vision,
Eliyahu should learn that his role should be to pray for them, not attack them.

The vision is found in Melachim Alef
19:11-12 “The word of God said, ‘Go out of the cave and stand on the mountain
before God.’ And behold, God was passing and a great and powerful wind,
smashing mountains and breaking rocks went before God. ‘God is not in the
wind!’ Eliyahu was told. After the wind came an earthquake. ‘God is not in the
earthquake’. After the earthquake came a fire. ‘God is not in the fire’. After
the fire came a still, thin voice.”

The lesson that Eliyahu learns is
found in sentences 13-14 “It happened when Eliyahu heard this, he wrapped his
face in his mantle and went out and stood by the cave’s entrance; and behold, a
voice spoke unto him and said ‘Why are you here Eliyahu?’ He said ‘I have acted
with great zeal for God, the God of Legions, for the Children of Israel have
forsaken Your covenant; they have razed Your alters and have killed your
prophets by the sword so that I alone have remained and they now seek to take
my life.”

According to Ralbag, God showed
Eliyahu three destructive forces through which he could have punished Israel,
as the prophet thought he should. But each time, God told him that his desire
was neither in the wind, the earthquake nor the fire for he did not wish to
destroy Israel despite the severity of their misdeeds.

According to Malbim, God meant to
teach Eliyahu and other prophets and leaders that the preferable way to teach
people is calmly and lovingly, not through anger and force as Eliyahu had done
by bringing the drought and killing the prophets of Baal.

At this point a new prophet is
chosen to replace Eliyahu. According to Rashi, since Eliyahu still wanted to
punish Israel, even after this vision, God did not want him to continue as a
prophet.

We can learn from this story that
our leaders and rabbis should not give fire and brimstone speeches to try to
convince the nation to follow the Torah. Rather, they should teach with loving kindness
and serve as role models that the nation will want to emulate. If they are
unable to lead in the manner prescribed by God, then they would be better off
leaving their positions of leadership.

This Shabbat, we read the first of
the Three Haftarot of Retribution which are read during the three weeks of
mourning for the Beit HaMikdash (Temple).

In Yirmiyahu 1:11-12 we read:

And the word of God came to me
saying:

Yirmiyahu, what do you see?

And I said,

I see a rod (makel) of an almond
tree (shaked)

Then God said,

You have seen well;

For I watch over (shaked) my words
to perform it.

What does the image of a rod of an
almond tree signify?

A rod is associated with beating. Bilam
used a rod to beat his donkey in last week’s Parsha. Unfortunately, even in the
last generation it was considered acceptable in some parts of the world
including some schools in Europe and the United States for teachers to strike
students who were misbehaving with a ruler.

Radak explains that the retribution
would come quickly to Israel, just as the almond trees blossom first in the
spring (as we know from the famous Tu Bishvat song “Hashkedia porachat…”)

In Kohelet Raba 12:5 we learn:

Just as the almond tree takes 21
days to produce its fruit after it blossoms, so every decree (all of the
catastrophes that befell Israel) took no longer than 21 days (from the 17^th
of Tamuz to the 9^th of Av).

Shaked does not just mean almond, it
also means to watch over.

Even during the catastrophes, God
was watching over the Jewish people and pushing to end the retribution as
quickly as possible.

May these three weeks of retribution
pass quickly and may the Jewish people unite and fulfill Yirmiyahu’s prophecy
to rebuild and make amends.