Weekly Torah portion: Pinchas

By Rabbi Joshua Dorsch

SAN DIEGO — In our Torah portion this week, Pinchas, we read about the daughters of Tzlafchad. Tzlafchad had no sons, only daughters. According to biblical law, only sons could inherit from their fathers, which would have left his daughters with nothing. So they petitioned Moses for the rights to their father’s land. Moses granted it to them. This interaction is celebrated and cited as an important step in creating equality in the eyes of Jewish tradition and Jewish law.

One of the things that I admire most about Tzlafchad’s daughters was their willingness to ask for what they wanted, and what they felt they deserved. It actually would have been much easier to be upset, to complain about their unfortunate situation, and continue to be miserable. Yet they took the risk and initiative. They put themselves out there and mustered up the courage to ask for what they wanted, and ultimately got what they needed.

In the face of adversity, and in the face of perceived injustice, it is much easier to sit in the background and be upset. But doing that often creates more frustration, and doesn’t help us make progress. Like Tzlafchad’s daughters, I hope we can all muster up the courage to ask tough questions, and to advocate for ourselves and for what we want. We may not like the answers we receive to the difficult questions we ask. We may need to fight harder to get what we deserve. But, like Tzlafchad’s daughters, we never know what might happen until we are willing to put ourselves out there and ask.

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Rabbi Dorsch is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego.  He may be contacted via joshua.dorsch@sdjewishworld.com