The Redemptive Power of Women

The confrontation of the daughters of Zelophehad with Moshe over the seeming injustice of being read out of their father’s inheritance stands as the only legitimate challenge to power during the entire desert sojourn. The fact that God accepted their plea sets them up as a paradigm for the proper way to challenge power and accords these women a heroic status:

The daughters of Zelophehad… came forward (tikravna). They stood (ta’amodna) before Moshe, Eliezer the priest, the chieftains, and the whole assembly, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting… (Numbers 27:1-2)

Two distinctive midrashic traditions evolved, marking these sisters as special. The first, found in the Talmud, views them, in particular, as exemplary:

It was taught [in a Baraita]: The daughters of Zelophehad were wise women (hakhmaniyot), they were interpreters [of Torah] (drashaniyot), they were virtuous (tzidkaniyot). (See Bava Batra 119b; Tanhuma Pinhas 7)

This sugya (Talmudic discussion) goes on to describe their acumen, their mastery of Talmudic wisdom and their ability to argue their case convincingly. In other words, the sages praised their unique sagacity and righteousness (emulating qualities particularly prized by rabbinic society), asserting that on account of the qualities found in these individuals, God accepted the justice of their plea.

The following midrash frames the virtues of these women differently:

“Then came forward the daughters of Zelophehad.” (Numbers 27:1) In that generation the women protected that which the men were breaching. For you find that when Aaron said to them (the Children of Israel) [after Moshe had received the Ten Commandments]: “Take off the gold rings [that are in the ears of your wives…]” (Exodus 32:2); the women were unwilling and protested against their husbands, as it is stated: “So all the people took off the gold rings that were in their ears.” (Exodus 32:3), [We infer from this that] the women did not take part in making the [golden] calf.

And so, in the case of the spies who had spread slander [concerning the land of Israel] – “when they returned, they made [the whole congregation] murmur against him.” (Numbers 14:36) A decree was     issued against them, because they said: “We are unable to go up [against this people for they are stronger than us].” (Numbers 13:31) The women, however, were not in counsel with them. What is written further on regarding this matter)? “Because the Lord had said to them, ‘They shall surely die in the wilderness,’ not a man of them remained.” (Numbers 26:65) – “a man,” and not of “a woman.” Because they (the men) did not want to enter the land, but the women came forward to ask for an inheritance [in the land]: “Then came forward the daughters of Zelophehad.” (Numbers 27:1) For this reason, the parashah was written next to the story of Miriam’s death, for at that moment the men broke down what the women defended. (Tanhuma Pinhas 7)

The focus of this later midrash is on the heroic behavior of the women of the desert generation in general. Through some creative reading, the sages who composed this midrash declared that the women of the desert generation were not involved in any of the major betrayals of the God; not the sin of the golden calf, nor the sin of the spies, and that it was the daughters of Zelophehad who saved the entire divine mission to bring the people into the land by demonstrating their desire to be among those included among those who would inherit the land. Their loyalty to God and His plans for His people, in light of the disloyalty of the menfolk who betrayed God, saved the people.

What we have in these two midrashim are two very different projections of what Jewish leadership should look like. The first portrayal of the daughters of Zelophehad sees them as paradigms of the ideal model of the rabbinic sage. The other sees Jewish women as representatives of ideal faith and loyalty to God. This shoutout to Jewish womanhood should serve as an eternal model not just for women but as an inspiration for all.