Pinchas
Numbers 25:10-30:1
* Aaron's grandson, Pinchas is rewarded for killing a priest from the tribe of Simeon who was about to have forbidden relations with a Moabite woman.
* A census of people between the ages of 20 and 60 was taken.
* The five daughters of Tzelafchad petition Moses that they be granted the portion of the land belonging to their father, who died without sons; G d accepts their claim and incorporates it into our laws of inheritance.
* Moses empowers Joshua to succeed him and lead the people into the Land of Israel.
* The Parshah concludes with a detailed list of the daily offerings, and the additional offerings brought on Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh (first of the month), and the festivals of Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret.
I have always been fascinated by the story of the daughters of Tzelafchad, whose petition helps nation of Israel to be the first to acknowledge women the right to inherit. Before we get too excited, though, it was stipulated that they must marry cousins within their tribe to do be able to hold onto their father's property. Two steps forward and one step back. In modern day Israel, women are not allowed to divorce - only the man can grant a get, a Jewish bill of divorcement; they are not free to pray openly at the Western Wall, and they are not allowed to marry without approval from the Rabbanut, the Chief Rabbinate. No marriages are allowed in Israel unless they are Orthodox, which is why thousands of couples leave Israel to marry in other countries (Cyprus is a popular destination) and then often return to have a more secular ceremony later. I am grateful that here in the US, as in most countries in the Diaspora, contributions of women to the spiritual, cultural, religious and intellectual Jewish life are embraced with open arms.

Rabbi Robbi

rabbirobbi@wrjc.org