Pinchas: Legacy

A major theme of Pinchas is continuity. The peoplehood, the religion, the tradition is handed over to the generations that follow. There is a reawakening of the awareness of mortality and, with that,  a rearrangement of priorities.

A census is done for the apportionment of land. This land is to be inherited indefinitely [we now know how long that lasted – it was not forever].  The bequest instructions, initially, totally ignore women. Then the five daughters of Zelophehad present themselves before the empowered. In an act of great courage, they argue that families that that have no male heirs should not be excluded from the inheritance. The triumvirate must bring their question to Gd.  Gd answers:

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

“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.

In an affirmation of a human idea, an issue raised by disenfranchised women, Gd grants these women – and all women under similar circumstances - a measure of economic status and rights:  an inheritance.  Given the exclusive maleness of the additional details about inheritance in the absence of progeny heirs, the revolutionary move of giving women inheritance ( under certain defined circumstances) need not have been part of the answer. The women could have been skipped and the remaining male dominated formula ( Uncles, grandfather, etc.) could have been invoked. Was this recognition of female business competence a special reward for the courage of the sisters? Maybe.

There is a suggestion of extraordinary nature of the interaction in the calligraphy. I am always moved when I see the extra-long, feminizing nuen  on mishpatan  ( אֶת-מִשְׁפָּטָן)in the Torah scroll, in the description of Moshe's bringing their case before the Lrd. Their female voices were heard...and accepted. Their courage still calls out to us.

This clarification of inheritance law is immediately followed by Gd reminding Moses that his time is nigh, he will soon die. In this telling, in context, Moses raises the problem of his successor. This time there is a strict avoidance of nepotism. Caleb, already singled out as a loyal scout who encouraged proceeding into the Promised Land when the others ( except Joshua) bemoaned the apparent impossibility, is ( according to the Midrash) married to Miriam, Moshe’s sister. Joshua

קַח־לְךָ֙ אֶת־יְהוֹשֻׁ֣עַ בִּן־נ֔וּן אִ֖ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־ר֣וּחַ בּ֑וֹ

“Single out Joshua son of Nun, an inspired man,

Joshua had trained with Moses for at least 40 years. He had heard the revelry of the Golden calf; when Eldad and Madad prophesied in the camp, Joshua suggested they be imprisoned, an idea rejected by Moses. He was the second (and, only other) scout to side with Moses. He was the politically correct choice to succeed Moses as the anointed and consensus leader of the people.

Joshua and Pinchas and the daughters of Zelophehad are the paradigms of continuity, but they are not continuations.  The past was unique:  It was an age of miracles, intimate divine interactions. The next generation would preserve these remarkable memories, but they could not expect similar happenings. They were establishing a new thing: legacy.

They would have the annual cycle of festivals, initially with their meal offerings and libations. This was also a new thing set up to remember the foundational memories/myths.

 Unique events would occur in every lifetime, some worthy of commemoration, but the events at the beginning become the context for all that is subsequent. Legacy preserves the past … and distorts it.