Parashat Pinhas, Numbers 25:10-30:1

First Haftarah of Rebuke, Jeremiah 1:1-2:3

Dear TBE Community,

Yesterday on the Jewish calendar was 17th of Tammuz, a date that rabbinic tradition remembers as the day when the Romans breached the walls of Jerusalem, which ultimately led to the destruction of the Temple three weeks later, on Tisha b’Av, the 9th of the month of Av. On the three Shabbatot of this period, we read three haftarot of rebuke – passages from the prophetic readings that foreshadow the destruction of Jerusalem.

In the Torah, too, we’re encountering moments of foreshadowing: The book of Numbers is nearing its end. The wilderness years are almost over. Two things are on the minds of the Israelite leaders and people and throw long shadows across the desert sand: Invasion and inheritance. Conquest and distribution. The taking of the promised land, and the dividing of it among the tribes.

At the beginning of Numbers, the census counted men eligible for military service. Now, near the end, another census prepares the next generation to enter the land. And usually, the distribution of land follows the male heads of tribe and family, which is why only the men and their sons are listed in the census recorded in this week’s parasha, Pinhas.

With two – or six – exceptions:

In Chapter 26, tucked into the long list of male names, we encounter Serah bat Asher, the daughter of Asher, and we meet Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah, the daughters of Zelophehad.

Serah is mentioned by herself, without further comment or reasoning: The name of Asher’s daughter was Serah. (Numbers 26:46)

She assumes and fills her place in the list in a dignified and uncontestable manner. It feels as if this is her natural place.

The daughters of Zelophehad are introduced as follows:

Now Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, only daughters. The names of Zelophehad’s daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. (Numbers 26:33)

Serah is a fascinating and mysterious case – she first appears in the book of Genesis, as the only woman mentioned in the list of the original seventy people (read, men) who came down to Egypt as part of the great family reunion:

These are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his descendants, who came to Egypt. (…) Asher’s sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah, and their sister Serah. Beriah’s sons: Heber and Malchiel. (Genesis 46:8;17)

More than four hundred years lie between the descent down to Egypt of Jacob’s extended clan and the census in the desert in Parashat Pinhas. And Serah is named in both. Rabbinic lore and midrash elevate her to be the immortal guardian of the Israelite history, especially the redemption narrative – from going down to Egypt to going up into the land; a name that connects both ends and beginnings of an eternal cycle. Thus, Serah – the name means to move abundantly without boundaries – represents a spiritual legacy, an everlasting portion, a presence that will never cease.

The daughters of Zelophehad are the more down-to-earth counterpart: They emphasize female agency concerning Israelite inheritances. Their father has died without sons. According to the usual structure, his share of the land and with that his name would vanish, go extinct. But the daughters challenge Moses, and God:

Why should our father’s name be lost from his clan because he had no son? (Numbers 27:4)

They ask for their father’s name to be preserved. In order to do that, they, five women, need to become the stewards of the holding, the inheritance. And they prevail. God tells Moses:

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. Further, speak to the Israelite people as follows: ‘If a man dies without leaving a son, you shall transfer his property to his daughter. (Numbers 27:7-8)

The daughters of Zelophehad join Serah in her abundantly free moving without borders, in a women’s power dance, a softer way of asserting or claiming a right to inheritance than stabbing furiously (Pinhas) or ceremonious vestiture overladen with symbols (Joshua). The Israelite women, once again, dance: Mahlah, the forgiving dancer; Noa, the mover; Hoglah, the desert bird that skips effortlessly in a circle; Milcah, the majestic dignified one, and pleasing Tirtzah, who is pleased to see her and her sisters’ desires and requests flowing and moving.

To this choreography of desert daughters, I would like to add Achash. I have written about her before, when I wrote about Parashat Shelach and her father, Caleb. Achsah who receives land but asks for more: not just dry Negev land, but springs of water, upper and lower springs. Better land. Irrigated land. Land that can sustain life.

Achsah, whose name means bangle, or adorned ankle, defies her father. The daughters of Zelophehad defy Moses and God’s legal system. Serah, with her ethereal and immortal presence encourages and sustains them to move abundantly and claim their portion. 

Mahlah, Noa, Hoglah, Milcah, Tirzah and Achsah are women who embody truth, under the canopy of Serah’s mysterious wings. They become a countermelody to the prevalent orchestration of male conquest and inheritance lines. They are women who speak genuinely, who don’t need spears or pathos, who move freely and proudly, who refuse to have their names erased.

Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Julia Knobloch