Massei – Unintended Consequences

Back in Parshat Pinchas, the five daughters of Zelophchad approached Moshe Rabbeinu and argued for the (unprecedented) right to inherit their father’s land:

Why should our father’s name be eliminated from his family because he had no son?  Give us a portion along with our father’s brothers.

לָ֣מָּה יִגָּרַ֤ע שֵֽׁם־אָבִ֨ינוּ֙ מִתּ֣וֹךְ מִשְׁפַּחְתּ֔וֹ כִּ֛י אֵ֥ין ל֖וֹ בֵּ֑ן תְּנָה־לָּ֣נוּ אֲחֻזָּ֔ה בְּת֖וֹךְ אֲחֵ֥י אָבִֽינוּ:

Num. 27:4

Not for the first time, Moshe was stumped, so he consulted with God, who issued the following ruling:

Zelophchad’s daughters speak justly.	כֵּ֗ן בְּנ֣וֹת צְלָפְחָד֘ דֹּֽבְרֹת֒
You shall certainly give them a portion of inheritance along with their father’s brothers, and you shall transfer their father’s inheritance to them.	נָתֹ֨ן תִּתֵּ֤ן לָהֶם֙ אֲחֻזַּ֣ת נַֽחֲלָ֔ה בְּת֖וֹךְ אֲחֵ֣י אֲבִיהֶ֑ם וְהַֽעֲבַרְתָּ֛ אֶת־נַֽחֲלַ֥ת אֲבִיהֶ֖ן לָהֶֽן:

Num. 27:7

The leaders of tribe of Menashe now come and complain about the potential, unintended consequences of this earlier ruling:

Now, if they marry a member of another tribe of the children of Israel, their inheritance will be diminished from the inheritance of our father, and it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and thus, it will be diminished from the lot of our inheritance.

וְהָי֠וּ לְאֶחָ֞ד מִבְּנֵ֨י שִׁבְטֵ֥י בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֘ לְנָשִׁים֒ וְנִגְרְעָ֤ה נַֽחֲלָתָן֙ מִנַּֽחֲלַ֣ת אֲבֹתֵ֔ינוּ וְנוֹסַ֕ף עַ֚ל נַֽחֲלַ֣ת הַמַּטֶּ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר תִּֽהְיֶ֖ינָה לָהֶ֑ם וּמִגֹּרַ֥ל נַֽחֲלָתֵ֖נוּ יִגָּרֵֽעַ:

Num 36:3

The tribal elders were concerned that should these women marry outside their tribe, the land would then pass by inheritance to their children – who would not necessarily be members of the father’s tribe!  As a result, the Divinely promised allotment of land for Menashe could be diminished.

Moshe Rabbeinu responded:

The tribe of Joseph’s descendants speak justly.

כֵּ֛ן מַטֵּ֥ה בְנֵֽי־יוֹסֵ֖ף דֹּֽבְרִֽים:

Notice that the language Moshe used is identical (except for gender conjugation):

• כֵּ֗ן בְּנ֣וֹת צְלָפְחָד֘ דֹּֽבְרֹת֒
• כֵּ֛ן מַטֵּ֥ה בְנֵֽי־יוֹסֵ֖ף דֹּֽבְרִֽים

Moshe Rabbeinu was stuck with two, competing, just claims, which he resolved by modifying his prior ruling:

This is the word that the Lord has commanded regarding Zelophchad’s daughters.	זֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְקֹוָק לִבְנוֹת צְלָפְחָד לֵאמֹר
Let them marry whomever they please, but they shall marry only to the family of their father’s tribe.	לַטּוֹב בְּעֵינֵיהֶם תִּהְיֶינָה לְנָשִׁים אַךְ לְמִשְׁפַּחַת מַטֵּה אֲבִיהֶם תִּהְיֶינָה לְנָשִׁים
Thus, the inheritance of the children of Israel will not be transferred from tribe to tribe, for each person from the children of Israel will remain attached to the inheritance of his father’s tribe.	וְלֹֽא־תִסֹּ֤ב נַֽחֲלָה֙ לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מִמַּטֶּ֖ה אֶל־מַטֶּ֑ה כִּ֣י אִ֗ישׁ בְּנַֽחֲלַת֙ מַטֵּ֣ה אֲבֹתָ֔יו יִדְבְּק֖וּ בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל:

Num. 36:6-7

Zelophchad’s daughters would still inherit the land.  However, their pool of potential spouses would be limited to their tribal kinsmen.  In this amended decision, Moshe Rabbeinu successfully navigated the competing claims and balanced the respective inheritance concerns.  Like any settlement, both sides were left incomplete.  The tribal elders failed to get Moshe Rabbeinu to completely set aside his ruling that women could indeed inherit the land.  The daughters, too, obtained only a a partial victory.  They could inherit so long as they remained connected to the tribe through marriage.

As is often the case, Chazal read deeper insights into the Biblical text.  “Let them marry whomever they please” must be taken literally:

A woman is betrothed with her consent [only].  Without her consent, No!

האשה נקנית דמדעתה אין שלא מדעתה לא

Perhaps this lesson seems obvious to us but in ancient Near East, it was rather radical.

The Rabbis also dealt creatively with intra-marriage requirement imposed upon Zelophchad’s daughters:

Rav Yehudah says in the name of Shmuel	אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל
The daughters of Zelophchad were permitted to marry members of any of the tribes,	בנות צלפחד הותרו להנשא לכל השבטים
as it is stated: “Let them be married to whom they think best” (Numbers 36:6).	שנאמר (במדבר לו, ו) לטוב בעיניהם תהיינה לנשים
But how do I reconcile the meaning of the continuation of the same verse: “Only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married” (Numbers 36:6),	אלא מה אני מקיים (במדבר לו, ו) אך למשפחת מטה אביהם תהיינה לנשים
The verse offered them good advice, that they should be married only to those fit for them, who were often men from within the family.	עצה טובה השיאן הכתוב שלא ינשאו אלא להגון להן

Baba Batra 120b

Rav Yehudah split our verse into two parts: law and dicta.  Indeed, the women were permitted to marry whomever they wanted.  Moshe (and God) however, recommended that they look to their extended family for husbands.^[1]

It didn’t matter to Rav Yehudah that he was altering the plain meaning of the text.  This pasuk presented him with an opportunity to teach that women – no less than men – were in complete control of their own destiny.

The Talmud in Taanit (30b) suggests that the requirement to marry within the tribe had a built-in sunset provision.  Once the tribes captured Eretz Israel, the intra-marriage limitation was permanently lifted:  The Baal HaTurim pointed out that the gematria of the prefatory זֶה הַדָּבָר (“This is the word”, introducing the ruling) equals that of בדור זה (“In this generation [only]), implying that the restrictions of marrying out of the tribe were exigent and therefore temporary.

In fact, the Talmud (Taanit 30b) teaches, in the name of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel: “There were no days as happy for the Jewish people as the fifteenth of Av and as Yom Kippur.”  Yom Kippur is joyous because it is a day of סליחה ומחילה – pardon and forgiveness.  It is also the anniversary day on which the second Tablets were given.  The fifteenth of Av is joyous because “it was the day on which the members of different tribes were permitted to enter one another’s tribe.”

There is, of course, a well-recognized and profound connection.  The wedding day is a “Yom Kippur Katan” for the couple: (i) bride & groom fast; (ii) their sins are forgiven; and (iii) they even recite the mincha Amidah of Yom Kippur.  It is a new beginning; it is a day when two separate people are joined together, just as the two distinct Luchot are brought together to form a single unit.

The union is holy and sacred only because each tablet – and each person- join together willingly, to create something greater than the mere sum of their individual selves.

Shabbat Shalom!

 

 

[1] It’s worth pointing out that they took this sage advice.  See, Numbers 36:11-12.