Let’s Hear It For The Girls | Rabbi Stewart Weiss | Beit Midrash

Torah Portion and Tanach
Matot

קטגוריה משנית

The tumultuous Sefer Bamidbar comes to a close this Shabbat with the reading of double-parshiyot Matot-Masey. Numerous issues are discussed here, including the petition of the daughters of Z’lafchad, who ask for their rightful share in the Land of Israel.

But wait: Didn’t we cover this subject last week, in parshat Pinchas? So why do it again? Not just that; this is actually the very last item in the entire sefer, a kind of signature on the whole book! What is so all-important about it?

I suggest to you that the heroism of the B’not Z’lafchad is a tikun, (correction), a cure & a Kappara (atonement) for all the manifold maladies of Sefer Bamidbar.

You see, the Torah really should have consisted of 3 books, not five. It should have ended after Vayikra; after we had left Egypt, received the Torah, built the Mishkan & appointed the Kohanim & the Sanhedrin. We should have marched straight to Israel, conquered it, & set up shop as a nation. But alas, it all broke down rather disastrously.

This breakdown is manifested in 3 ways: We rebelled against G-d, when we complained about all He was doing for us, grousing about the shortage of meat & water and even about the miraculous Mahn! We rebelled against Moshe, in the popular but ill-fated Korach-ian rebellion against Moshe’s leadership. And we rebelled against the Land of Israel itself, in the outrageous negative report of the m’raglim - spies, to which we tragically subscribed.

Comes the B’not Z’lafchad to correct, with their petition, all these flaws in our national character. Machla, Noa, Chagla, Tirza, & Milka complain that they, too, want a share in the Land. But this is the exact kind of complaint which Hashem loves, like the teacher who is thrilled when his student demands extra homework or begs to be allowed into the after-school math club. Their decidedly positive plea makes up for all the previous, negative ones.

The ladies show their loyalty to Moshe by bringing their petition straight to him, trusting fully in his wisdom & guidance. They specifically point out that their family had no part whatsoever in Korach’s mutiny. And of course, they show their great love for Eretz Yisrael, in their determination to receive an equal share of the Land.

This is why the story of B’not Z’lafchad is given such prominence & why it was chosen to end the Sefer. It rights all the wrongs & allows us to conclude Sefer Bamidbar on a very upbeat note. Note that the initials of these 5 women form the word "Minchatam," literally, "their offering." It is indeed a marvelous offering for the ages.