Problems in the story of the daughters of Tzelofchod.
1) Why did God not spell out the right of daughters to inherit in certain situations when Moses had been instructed to share out the land?
2) The daughters of Tzelofchod are hard to understand. If it had been the custom for daughters to inherit in certain circumstances, why did they raise the issue at all? If, on the other hand, daughters did not inherit under any circumstances, how did they dare to raise the issue ? If, as Maimonides points out, it all had to do with the cause of their father's death, why did Moses have to ask God about the halachah, the ruling on this matter?
3) How could the daughters of Tzelofchod have seen something that had escaped Moses, and how could Moses have been expected to know something that had not even been legislated?
4) Why did the daughters say that their father had "died in the desert?" Everybody had died in the desert! Besides, how was this fact relevant to the issue?
5) Why was Moses asked to ascend Mount Avarim although the time for him to die had not come yet?
6) Why does Moses refer to God as "the Lord of the spirits?" When Moses describes the tasks facing his successor, why does he twice stipulate that that successor must "go out in front of the people and return in front of them?"
1) We have explained in chapter eighty two that the Midianites actually felt more threatened by Israel than the Moabites, since they had not been assured of physical or economic immunity, seeing that God had forbidden Israel to harm Moab. God had not imposed such strictures concerning Midian
(Deut 2, 18-19) This is why the Midianites tried to cause the downfall of Israel through their committing immoral, licentious sexual unions. When this had failed, they planned other actions just as the Ammonites had done.
(Samuel I 10,6) who hired mercenaries to attack Israel. Secondly, since their princess Kosbi had been killed by Pinchas, they had reason to plan revenge. God revealed their plan to Moses; this is why the Torah writes "they are about to oppress you, to beguile you with their wiles, just as they have beguiled you at Baal Peor."
2) Midrash Rabbah Numbers 21, explains that whoever treats the Midianites with mercy, will only wind up being abused by them, as happened to David, when the latter sent messengers to express his condolences at the death of their King Nachash.
(ibid).
3) Apparently, God had not commanded an immediate campaign, rather at that point the injunction was not to befriend them or make peaceful overtures to them, al tatzor, means "do not besiege." Here too, only encirclement was the order of the day. Meanwhile the Jewish people were to be counted following the plague that had killed twenty four thousand of them. After that came the problem of the daughters of Tzelofchod and all that was entailed in that. The moral niveau of the Jewish people had not yet recovered to the point where they could have looked forward to a successful defence in the event of a Midianite attack. For that reason, Gods advice was that they should stage a surprise attack, which would likely result in victory based on normal military considerations not involving hashgachah peratit, Divine intervention. The reason the campaign is referred to well in advance of its actual execution, is to include it with the report about the campaigns against Sichon and Og, which had been fought successfully by men who were morally entitled to wage war. The people were to appreciate that the men chosen for this campaign had to be such as would qualify on a moral basis. The report about distribution of the land of Israel to the men over twenty, plus those who had come out of Egypt, is, as Rashi says, to show that the dead inherited the living. In this way, both the people to be counted at this time as well as the ones who had left Egypt, would jointly share in inheriting the land.
4) Since the count of the warriors was to include only those who were free from sin, and who therefore qualified for entry into the land, Moses considered himself excluded. This is why he did not lead Israel into battle, personally. He had thought that this was a battle in which Joshua had to assume command, until God later repeated to him- after the section about the sacrifices and vows, "take revenge for Israel from the Midianites; after that you will die!" The emphasis in that verse is on the fact that he would die only after that had been accomplished, not prior to it. Moses, who had construed the meaning of the word tzaror as an infinitive, not as a directive, delegated Pinchas, who, since he had commenced the mitzvah was to be allowed to complete it.
5) God may not have commanded the females to be killed in order to give Moses a chance to still have a major share in carrying out that mitzvah personally. Moses was quite right in chiding the troops who allowed the very people to survive that had caused the plague to happen, and who already had the death of twenty four thousand Israelites on their conscience. Moses had not given such a command before, since he had taken it for granted that this part of the Midianite population would be killed by his warriors. He is not reported as including Pinchas in this reprimand, out of respect for the latter. On the other hand, Pinchas had not wanted to issue such instructions which, if wrong, could not have been corrected at a later date. The reason we have specific instructions for the temey-ey meytim, those who had defiled themselves through contact with corpses, and who have to remain apart from the main body of the people is, that this time only twelve thousand people were involved. Previously, when the whole army had been involved fighting Sichon or Og, and everyone had become defiled through contact with the dead, a separation would not have accomplished anything. Therefore, the legislation about ritual purification of vessels formerly owned by gentiles is in place here.
6-7) The repeated emphasis on the amount of the loot was to remind the people of the extent of the victory, coupled with the fact that they had not suffered any casualties at all. By dividing the loot into 5o% for those who had stayed behind in the camp, and appropriating 1/5ooth from the combatants, the temple treasury would in fact receive one tenth of one percent from the total loot, and the numbers would automatically be equal to the number of thousands listed for all the animals captured etc. The half was recorded to let us know the amount of the 10 per cent that Eleazar was entitled to as a tithe. Altogether, detailing the quantities which twelve thousand men had captured from a nation led by five kings, would remind the people of the impressive nature of their victory.
(daughters of Tzelofchod)
1-2) It is understandable that when after the census the Torah says "to these the land shall be distributed," the daughters of Tzelofchod thought that only men were meant. After all, only men had been counted. Since they were clever, they employed whatever argument they could muster against what they were afraid would happen. One of the strongest arguments they marshalled was "our father died in the desert," i.e. after the division for the yotzey mitz- rayim, the menfolk who had been part of the Exodus had already been determined.
4) Therefore, they reasoned, he had possessed a share in the land. When the decree of the spies occurred, condemning that generation to die in the desert, it had also been stated "and your children concerning whom you have said they will become booty...to them I will give the land." The daughters of Tzelofchod reasoned that anyone included in the term "your children" was also included in the second half of the sentence which promised these children the inheritance of the promised land. Since Tzelofchod had not belonged to the fellow travellers of Korach, but died in a normal fashion, he did not need to lose his inheritance. Alternately, if they as daughters could not fulfill the function of the male heirs, then at least their mother should be permitted to be remarried and have children from a levirate union. Possibly, the final nun written in extra large script, indicates that Moses not being too familiar with the rules of inheritance, wanted to know from God if this case rated special legislation. (27,5, tells us of Moses submitting their law suit to God)
3) An important detail in the legislation that had not escaped the daughters of Tzelofchod, was the line "to these the land will be shared out for inheritance in accordance with the number of names." (26,53) Later on, (26,54) we read "to the names of the tribes of their fathers." In view of this, we find that the Torah was certainly not amended for the sake of these girls, but that they had been astute enough to recognize a nuance which Moses had not yet noticed. When Onkelos renders verse 46 "and the daughter of Asher was Zerach," as "the daughter of Asher's wife was Zerach," he may have done so in order to explain why Zerach did not inherit land in Eretz Yisrael. She was not a direct descendant of someone who had established a claim by being one of the adults leaving Egypt. The daughters of Tzelofchod had their case mentioned simply in the wider context of the laws of inheritance. Zerach, on the other hand, is mentioned by name merely because she had still been alive after all this time.
5) The instruction to ascend Mount Avarim was not meant to be carried out immediately, neither was Moses to die immediately. Rather, God announced His plan at this point to enable Moses to make arrangements for his succession and to make supplication to God concerning the decree. God wanted Moses' successor to have been chosen with his complete approval.
6) Moses appeals to God in His capacity as providing man with the spirit that makes him successful in managing his life. He prays for a leader who not only commands authority, but who also acts as a true shepherd of his flock. The first "he will lead them out and bring them back," refers to his authority, the second similar statement to the shepherd like manner in which such authority is to be wielded. In addition, God tells Moses that the leader will subordinate himself to the religious authority of Eleazar in his capacity as the High Priest. Through him, he will consult with God on critical issues. We then read about communal offerings, to remind us of the ultimate purpose of Israel's residence in the holy land. If the conquest of the land was to be used for serving, at the table of God, then, and only then could the people be certain to be the recipients of Gods unlimited bounty.
למשפחותא מנשה בן יוסף – למה נאמר, והלא כבר אמר: בן מנשה? אלא לומר לך: יוסף חיבב את הארץ, שנאמר: והעליתם את עצמותי (בראשית נ׳:כ״ה), ובנותיו חיבבו את הארץ.ב וללמדך שהיו כולם צדיקים, שכל מי שמעשיו ומעשי אבותיו סתומים ופרט לך הכתוב באחד מהם לייחסו לשבח, הרי זה צדיק בן צדיק. ואם ייחסו לגנאי, כגון: בא ישמעאל בן נתניה בן אלישמע (מלכים ב כ״ה:כ״ה), בידוע שכל הנזכרים עמו רשעים היו.