This week as we close out the sefer of Bamidbar we revisit the episode of the "wise five" sisters, who in a seemingly brazen fashion confronted Moshe Rabbeinu to claim a piece of the land of Israel for their family. Last week, in parshas Pinchas we read that due to their bold initiative, their father and family would not to be left out, simply because he died young with no sons to claim his heritage. Not only did the wise five intuit G-d's rulings but they were accorded the rare merit of bringing an entire parsha into the written Torah!
In what seems to be an after thought or a delayed reaction at best, recorded in this week's parshas Massei, the tribe to which Tzlefchad belonged, the tribe of Binyamin, point out that the wise five could marry members of other tribes and thus dilute the ancestral heritage of Binyamin. Won't this ultimately compromise the integrity of the tribal properties that Moshe delineated earlier? Here too, due to their inquiry, halachos are announced that will protect Binyamin and the entire system that shevet Binyamin intended to guard. Similar to the wise and righteous women, their concern was upheld by halacha and that very response became a part of the written law. Even the language of Moshe rings the same as he communicates to both groups: "kein bnos tzlofchod dovros" and "kein mateh benei Yosef dovrim".
Yet Rashi does not quote any rabbinic response praising the men for their love of the land, nor for their concern of their own ancestral legacy and that of all the other shevatim as well. Apparently the men of the Binyamin tribe are good administrators, excellent business men and very concerned leaders. On the other hand the daughters of Tzlefchad are "mechavivei ha'aretz", those who cherish the Land of Israel. Moreover, it is through their actions that Chazal derive that their shevet of Menashe were also "mechavivei ha'aretz"; that the shevet maintained this legacy of their ancestor Yosef who requested to be buried in Israel at enormous risk to the family's relationship with the Egyptians. Furthermore, Chazal see that the efforts of these women instruct us that all of the women of the dor hamidbar were all "mechavivei ha'aretz."
What gesture or expression convinces Chazal that these women were indeed righteously pursuing their commitment to our land rather than seeking financial stability and enhancement? To be sure this question has puzzled many and forced one of our leading contemporary sages, Rav Aryeh Leib Shteiman to conclude, after his careful study of the text turned fruitless, that the rabbis must have had some oral tradition on which they based their very generous estimate of the sisters' motives.
Here are two answers that I shared with my kehilla last week as we studied parshas Pinchas. Both are supported by this week's reading and both deserve careful reflection as we prepare ourselves for the days ahead.
Harav Moshe Shternbuch (Ta'am Voda'as) understands that only those who felt that entering the land was imminent would be so moved to seek their place in it that they would storm the doors of Moshe Rabbeinu's bais hamedrash. That sense of imminence, that deeply heartfelt tug, is born from a heartsick love that cannot find peace away from its cherished holy land.
We have no record of the men even inquiring as to fairness of a distribution that will somehow find parity between plots on the Mediterranean, a barren desert hilltop, a spot near the yam hamelech spas, the flat Yarden areas, and the impressive mountains of the north. We have no indication that any shevet argued for any particular area that may have well suited their exclusive needs and talents until the Reuvenites and Gadites were actually standing on top of the area that enticed them. It was only when their entry was around the corner that shevet Binyamin raised their resentment at what may compromise their property.
We are certainly in no place to judge but are surely placed to introspect. We have witnessed events of redemption like no other generation in almost two thousand years. We can repeat the litany in our sleep: the return of our people to our land, re-establishing our self governance, the ingathering of far flung Jews, and the flourishing of Torah study in Israel. And yet how many of us dream of our place and where it will be and what it will look like?
How different were the bnos Tzlefchad! Upon hearing the laws of inheritance, they did not rest until they had an audience with Moshe Rabbeinu and Eliezer kohen gadol. Their arguments showed that they must have burned the midnight oil to organize a powerful and impressive argument to the supreme sages of the time.
Rav Shternbach argues that only an unfulfilled longing coupled with the deep seated belief that their redemptive moment is about to happen could create the palpable passion experienced by Tzlefchad's daughters.
Now please listen to the insight of another contemporary Yerushalmi sage. Harav Nebentzal, the rov of the old city, observed (in Yerushalayim Be'moadeho) that the daughters of Tzlefchad asked for an "achuza". Rav Nebentzal explains that this indicates a deeper appreciation of the land of Israel. There are many who come to appreciate the varied and magnificent landscapes of the land; many will enjoy the diverse and tasty fruits that make other fruits taste bland; still others will relish the moderate climates of Israel. But Hashem calls our attention to the closeness that He has with the land, the dynamic relationship that His constant attention to it creates (Devarim 11:12). The Jew in Israel during the good times when the rains come and are helpful can correctly take strength from the warm embrace of the Almighty. If at times they are forced to feel distance, they can appropriately conclude that they are being called upon. Apparently the benos Tzlefchad, more than others, appreciated this and thus they sought their father's "achuza".
I find this a very compelling insight in light of the context of the narrative. The women are responding to Moshe's description of the upcoming allocation of the land. In that instruction Moshe repeatedly refers to the manner in which the land of Israel will be divided. He refers to Israel and the upcoming process of allocation exclusively as a "nachala" or as an "apportionment". In the course of four verses, "nachala" appears six times and a form of "chaluka" is mentioned. Indeed the Binyaminites in parshas Massei refer to the land similarly, almost exclusively as a "nachala". In the course of twelve pesukim the land is mentioned seventeen times, but not once as an "achuza". Yet the daughters of Tzlefchad refer to their place in Israel only as an "ahcuza", clearly making some statement when they were in fact asking for a place in the land to be bequeathed to their tribe.
Referring to one's right to Israel as an "achuza" takes us back to its first usage as such, to the moment when the land was promised to Avrohom and to all of us. That covenant established Israel as our eternal "achuza" that can uniquely bind us to Hashem, where we can revel in His closeness (see Breishis 17:7-8).
Thus Chazal understood that these wise and righteous five women, more than their counterparts, cherished Israel not for its external beauty which is rich and Divinely blessed, but for the "achuza", the spiritual embrace that can only happen there.
As we ponder the loss of the holy intimacy of our land and mourn for it, may we speedily bring its return and merit to participate in the joy of her renewal.