Bostoner Torah Insights: Bostoner ‘Chassidus’ in English and Hebrew: Parshas Pinchas – 23 Tamuz 5785
Bostoner Torah Insights - Yerushalayim
Bostoner Torah Insights
Bostoner ‘Chassidus’ in English
Parshas Pinchas – 23 Tamuz 5785
Bostoner Rebbe shlit”a – Yerushalayim
Secretariat Email: bosto...@gmail.com
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The Gemara (Baba Basra 117a) teaches us how the land of Eretz Yisroel was allocated. One Pasuk, “according to the names of their father’s tribe shall they inherit” (Bamidbar 26:55) teaches that Eretz Yisrael was allocated to men who left Mitzrayim. Another Pasuk, “To these shall the Land be divided as an inheritance” (Bamidbar 26:53), teaches that only those age twenty years old and up when they left Mitzrayim would receive. However, at this time, because of the punishment after the episode of the Meraglim, with few exceptions, every man who left Mitzrayim above the age of twenty was sentenced to die in the Midbar before Bnei Yisroel entered Eretz Yisroel. If so, how could they acquire the land?
In general, the living inherit those who die, however the Gemara teaches a special law called ‘Chazzarah’ that was unique to the acquisition and inheritance of Eretz Yisroel. In this instance, the dead would inherit their portions from the living heirs and then redistribute this inheritance back to the heirs.
Moshe knew that generally daughters do inherit in a scenario when there are no sons. He was uncertain about how this law specifically was applied in regards to the division of the land of Eretz Yisroel. Did the five daughters of Tzlafchad count as five living heirs about to enter Eretz Yisroel, which would cause five additional portions of Eretz Yisroel to ‘return’ through ‘Chazzarah’ to the grandfather Cheyfer for redistribution? Or perhaps Bnos Tzafchad were not considered heirs about to enter Eretz Yisroel and no portion of land would revert back to Cheyfer for redistribution, except those of his living male descendants (i.e. nephews of Tzlafchad)? Hashem revealed to Moshe that the land was to be distributed according to this latter approach.
Later, the Gemara (Baba Basra 120a) explains that Bnos Tzlafchad were permitted by Torah law to marry a man from any tribe, only Moshe gave them advice ‘from the mouth of Hashem’ that they should marry men from their own tribe. Another section of that Gemara (Baba Basra 119b) explains that none of the daughters of Tzlafchad married before the age of forty, but no source is given for this calculation.
Based on the Gemara (Shabbos 96b-97a), whether you hold like Rebbe Akiva who says Tzlafchad was the Mikoshesh Eitzim (Bamidbar 15:32) or Rebbe Shimon that Tzlafchad was from the Ma’apilim (Bamidbar 14:44), Tzlafchad died in the second year after Yetzityas Mitzrayim. According to the Talmud (Baba Basra 121b), Hashem did not speak to Moshe after the Chet HaMeraglim in the same manner that he did before the Chet HaMeraglim until the 15th of Av in the fortieth year when the decree upon the generation of the Midbar had been lifted. Because of their unique issues concerning inheritance, the daughters of Tzlafchad knew they would need to ask about whom to marry and therefore waited until Moshe’s relationship with Hashem resumed to its prior state, before they were willing to ask Moshe and get married.
Rabbeinu Bechaye suggests that the laws of inheritance was recorded in the Torah around a story of women, because inheritance is dependent upon death, and death was brought into the world by Chava, the first woman. However, the Torah specifically chose Bnos Tzlafachad because of their love for Eretz Yisroel. The Torah introduces them as “the daughters of Tzlofchad, son of Cheyfer, son of Gilad, son of Machir, son of Menashe, of the families of Menashe son of Yosef” (Bamidbar 27:1). As Rashi points out, the lineage is traced back to Yosef to demonstrate that just as Yosef cherished Eretz Yisroel, so did Bnos Tzlafchad cherish Eretz Yisroel. In addition, as it would appear from Sefer Yehoshua (17:6), Bnos Tzlafchad were specifically interested in receiving their portion in Eretz Yisroel proper, and were not interested in settling for land in Eyver L’Yarden.
May it be His will that we should merit a new disbursement of tribal portions of Eretz Yisroel, carried out by Moshiach Tzidkaynu, speedily in our days.