This week’s Torah portion, Pinchas (Numbers 25:10 – 30:1), picks up where last week’s portion, Balak, leaves off. In last week’s portion, Pinchas followed an Israelite “notable” and a Midianite woman into their tent and murdered them. In the beginning of this week’s portion, named for Pinchas, we learn that he was rewarded with hereditary priesthood. Pinchas’s story presents an interesting dilemma for modern readers to wrestle with. Yet it didn’t shout at me “write about this!” so I read on. The parashah continues with the taking of a census of every male over twenty. The purpose of the census was to divide the land which the Israelites were going to enter. It is in this parashah that we learn of Zelophehad’s five daughters, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Micah, and Tirzah, who challenged the patriarchal system and gained their rightful share of the land as their father’s inheritance. These were smart women – they knew that their request was outside of the norm, and that Moses would have to ask God for the answer to their petition. They believed in the fairness of God’s laws, and had faith that the answer would be favorable.
