Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Baba Batra 120 Is the order of the Zelophehad’s daughters significant?

A close reading of the story about Zelophehad’s daughters highlights that the order of these women in two different verses are not the same. Numbers 27:1 has this order of the daughters. “The daughters of Zelophehad, of Manassite family—son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh son of Joseph—came forward. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.” While Numbers 36:11 has this order of the daughters. “Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, Zelophehad’s daughters, became the wives of their uncles’ sons.” The significance of the order is discussed in today’s daf TB Baba Batra 120.

Later on, the verse lists them according to their age, stating: “For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married” (Numbers 36:11), and here the verse lists them in a different order, according to their wisdom: “And these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah” (Numbers 27:1). This supports the ruling of Rabbi Ami, as Rabbi Ami says: In the context of sitting in judgment or learning Torah, follow the participants’ wisdom in determining the seating, so that the wisest is granted the highest honor, and in the context of reclining for a meal, follow the participants’ age. Rav Ashi says: And this is so only when one is outstanding in wisdom, then wisdom trumps age; and this is so only when one of the participants is outstanding in age, i.e., particularly old, then age trumps wisdom.” (Sefaria.org translation) According to this interpretation, we learn the order the women married from the verse in chapter 36. When the daughters of Zelophehad challenged Moshe for their right to inherit their father in chapter 27, they approached him according to their wisdom. Mahlah was the wisest.

The Gemara provides an alternative interpretation. “The Gemara cites an alternative opinion: The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: The daughters of Zelophehad were equal in stature, as it is stated: “For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were [vatihyena] married.” The word “vatihyena” demonstrates: There was one uniform existence [havaya], i.e., spiritual level, for all of them. (Sefaria.org translation)

The Torah: A Women’s Commentary writes a third possibility. “The sisters are introduced by name, not merely as Zelophehad’s daughters. Their names reoccur in each episode (though the order varies for no apparent reason-my emphasis). The meanings of their names remain uncertain but the impact of their actions in the Bible is clear. In addition, archaeologists have discovered two of these names, Noah and Hoglah, listed as town names on clay fragments from the eighth century BCE, known as the Samaria Ostraca. Similarly Tirzal, Milcah, and Mahlah appear as names of towns or regions in Israelite territory in various biblical texts.” (Page 972) For more about the Samaria Ostraca, see the note on page 973.

Whether or not the order is significant, their achievement is. “The achievement of Zelophehad’s daughters was a landmark in women’s rights regarding the inheritance of land, from those days up to now. In addition, however, the story of these five women offers a compelling lesson for all those who believe that their destiny is fixed or that divine justice has abandoned them.  It encourages us to think differently-and provides a message of hope for all those who faced with obstacles.

“Perhaps the most important legacy of Zelophehad’s daughters is there call to us to take hold of life with their own hands, to move from the place that others have given us-or that we have decided to keep because we feel immobile-and to walk, even to the most holy center, to where nobody seems to be able to go… Thus, this parashah inspires us to discover that we to have the ability to know what is right for ourselves and what our rights ought to be. When we believe in our capacity to shape our history, to the point of being able to change even a law that came from the revelation at Sinai, then we pay a tribute to Zelophehad’s daughters.” (page 986)

 

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