This week’s Parsha, Torah portion, is called Parshat Pinchos.
It is one of the longest portions of the Torah, clocking in at a whopping 168 verses.
Pinchos’s, the grandson of Aaron, stops a plague that is devastating the people. The plague is a punishment for promiscuous behavior by some of the menfolk.
Subsequent to the plague a census is enacted.
The purpose of the census is to lay the groundwork for dividing up the Land of Israel and giving each Tribe its portion.
The portions of the land will be awarded to each family.
There is however one family that has no father or brothers, no menfolk at all.
It is a family comprised of five sisters.
They are the daughters of a man named Zelopchad who has perished in the desert.
The 5 daughters question Moshe about the inheritance.
Their father did leave Egypt with the Jewish people, but he has passed on, leaving no male heirs to inherit when they enter the land.
They argue that his name should not be forgotten, and that they in fact should be allowed to claim his portion.
Moshe did not know the answer to their question, and he brings their claim to the final adjudicator, Gd.
Moshe is told by Gd that the daughters of Tzelopchad have a legitimate claim and indeed, they should receive their Father’s portion.
Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi expounds on these five exceptional women.
She notes that we are now entering the period of the Three Weeks.
This is the time of year when the Jewish people mourns the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem.
The Three Weeks are bracketed by two fast days, one on the 17th day of Tammuz, which was this past Tuesday, and one on the 9th day of the month of Av which will be on August 13.
In her inimitable fashion, the Rabbanit notices the connection of the numbers.
Particularly the number 5.
Because on both of those fast days we commemorate 5 terrible events that transpired on those days.
Each of the fast days remind us of 5 things that transpired.
Chief amongst the 5, are the sin of the Golden Calf on the 17th of Tammuz, and the Sin of the Spies being one of the 5 awful events that transpired on the 9th of Av.
She makes the point that these 5 women did not take part in either of those crimes.
They should therefore not be included in the punishment.
What do these women want?
They want a future, an inheritance in the beloved Land.
And they are willing to fight for it.
And Gd says yes.
The future they dreamed of was indeed given to them.
There are not many details listed about these 5 sisters but our Sages teach us that they were intelligent and righteous women, after all the case they presented was accepted by Gd.