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Daughters of Tzelophchad Midrash
(א) וַתִּקְרַ֜בְנָה בְּנ֣וֹת צְלׇפְחָ֗ד בֶּן־חֵ֤פֶר בֶּן־גִּלְעָד֙ בֶּן־מָכִ֣יר בֶּן־מְנַשֶּׁ֔ה לְמִשְׁפְּחֹ֖ת מְנַשֶּׁ֣ה בֶן־יוֹסֵ֑ף וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ שְׁמ֣וֹת בְּנֹתָ֔יו מַחְלָ֣ה נֹעָ֔ה וְחׇגְלָ֥ה וּמִלְכָּ֖ה וְתִרְצָֽה׃

(1) The daughters of Zelophehad, of Manassite family—son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh son of Joseph—came forward. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

Sifrei Bamidbar 27:1

"And there drew near the daughters of Tzelofchad": When the daughters of Tzelofchad heard that the land was to be apportioned to the tribes and not to females, they gathered together to take counsel, saying: Not as the mercies of flesh and blood are the mercies of the L-rd. The mercies of flesh and blood are greater for males than for females. Not so the mercies of He who spoke and brought the world into being. His mercies are for males and females (equally). His mercies are for all! As it is written (Psalms 145:9) "The L-rd is good to all, and His mercies are upon all of His creations." "the son of Chefer, the son of Gilad, the son of Machir, the son of Menashe": Scripture apprises us that just as Tzelofchad was a first-born, so, were all of the others first-born, and to apprise us that they (the daughters) were worthy daughters of a worthy man. For all whose deeds and the deeds of whose fathers are veiled and who Scripture traces (to their forbears) for praise are righteous ones the seed of righteous ones; and all whose deeds and the deeds of whose fathers are veiled and who Scripture traces (to their forbears) for denigration are evildoers the seed of evildoers. R. Nathan says: It is written above (26:65) "For the L-rd had said of them: They will surely die in the desert. And there was left not a man of them, etc.", followed by "And there drew near the daughters of Tzelofchad, etc." What is the connection? Scripture comes to teach us that the strength of the women in that generation was greater than that of the men, the men saying (Bamidbar 14:4) "Let us make a leader and return to Egypt, and the women saying (Ibid. 27:4) "Give us a holding, etc."

(ז) כֵּ֗ן בְּנ֣וֹת צְלׇפְחָד֮ דֹּבְרֹת֒ נָתֹ֨ן תִּתֵּ֤ן לָהֶם֙ אֲחֻזַּ֣ת נַחֲלָ֔ה בְּת֖וֹךְ אֲחֵ֣י אֲבִיהֶ֑ם וְהַֽעֲבַרְתָּ֛ אֶת־נַחֲלַ֥ת אֲבִיהֶ֖ן לָהֶֽן׃

(7) “The plea of Zelophehad’s daughters is just: you should give them a hereditary holding among their father’s kinsmen; transfer their father’s share to them.

Lubitch on Midrash Tana'im Deut 1:17

Tanot asked God: If Tzelophchad's daughters spoke the truth, why didn't you write that in Your Torah in the first place, for after all, You are truth and Your Torah is truth, and Your word endures forever?

God answered, Truth will grow from the ground (Psalms 85:12).

Tanot asked, but is it not written God's Torah is whole? (Psalms 19:8)

God answered her, I already wrote in My Torah, Be wholehearted with God your Lord (Deut 18:14). And what's more, I wrote, walk before me, and be wholehearted (Gen 17:1).

There is truth that descends from on high, and there is truth that grows from below. Blessed is the generation in which truth from above meets truth from below. And this is what Scripture means when it says Truth will grow from the ground, and justice look down from Heaven (Psalms 85:12).

Yalkut Shimoni, Pinchas 27

The Midrash records the following dialogue between the daughters of Tzelafchad and Moses:

Daughters: Give us a portion of the land along with our father’s brothers.

Moses: It is impossible for a daughter to inherit.

Daughters: Why?

Moses: You are women.

Daughters: Then let our mother enter into yibbum (levirate marriage—as is the law with the wife of a person who died “without seed”) and conceive an inheritor that way.

Moses: Impossible. Once there are children, yibbum is not possible.

Daughters: You are contradicting yourself, Moses. Either we are not “seed” and the obligation of yibbum applies to our mother, or we are “seed” and can inherit the land ourselves.

In that moment they convinced Moses. When he heard the justice of their complaint, he immediately presented their case before Gd.

Lubitch on Pinchas 27

When Moses set up the judicial system, he said that the elders should bring difficult matters before him and he would adjudicate. Instead, he should have said that God would adjudicate in such cases. The midrash explains that God sought to rebuke Moses for this error. Moses' punishment involved the simple case posed by the daughters of Tzelophchad, in which the ruling was so obvious that even a child would know the answer. Moses was shamed for not knowing how to respond to a group of women; instead, he had to consult with God. This rabbinic response serves to detract from the legality of this case and present it solely as a means of punishing Moses.

Talmud, Bava Batra 119b; Bamidbar Rabbah 21:11; Yalkut Shimoni

The daughters of Tzelafchad were righteous women. They did not marry until they were forty years old. They waited for suitors worthy of them.

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