In memory of my mother, my teacher, Rina bat Rachma (Gabi), at the conclusion of the first 30 days of mourning.
At the conclusion of the book of Numbers, the issue of the daughters of Tzelopheḥad, this time due to the concern of their relatives about the potential loss of part of the tribal last allotment to other tribes due to the daughters’ right to inherit the land as though they were sons.
I learned from Prof. Zvia Walden these interpretations of the daughters’ names: “These are the names of his daughters: Maḥlah, No‘ah, and Ḥoglah and Milkah and Tirtzah” (Num. 27:1). Those five daughters were like the fingers of a strong hand, supporting and grasping, never loosening their support of each other:
Maḥlah makes things happen (meḥolelet) and goes out in dance (maḥol); No‘ah moves (na‘ah) and gets others moving; Ḥoglah traces a circle (ḥagah) as did Ḥoni the Circlemaker; Milkah is in motion (mehalekhet); Tirtzah runs (ratzah). And the hand doesn’t fulfill its function unless all the fingers act in concert (in N. Weingarten-Mintz & T. Biala, eds., Dirshuni, vol. 1).
Each one, in her own way, took action, demanding “Give us a holding in the midst of our father’s brothers,” so that they too would be heirs of the land, to build there and be built there. The daughters of Tzelopheḥad, rather than cowering in the shade (tzel) or showing any fear (paḥad), paved the way for all of us — women, mothers, daughters — to demand and receive a place as equals in every way.
