The daughters of Tzelofchad of the family of Menashe … (came to Moshe) and said: Our father died in the desert and he was not one of the factions which assembled against God, Korach’s faction….. But he had no sons. Why should our father’s name be lost to his clan because he had no son. Give us an inheritance among our fathers’ kin.
Bamidbar 27: 1-4
The daughters of Tzelofchad, in a highly exceptional manner, challenged Moshe Rabbeinu and taught him an important lesson concerning Torah Law.
They were barred by Divine law from inheriting from their father. They appealed this law from outside the Torah, and showed its limitations based on basic human rights.
The Limits of Every Legal Code
Codified law—even Divine law—must, by definition, be imperfect. It can attempt to provide justice and mercy, but the human condition is always more complex than can be covered by any code of law, however brilliant. The loopholes are immense, as in any legal system, and society can easily fall victim to them.
Moshe is dumbfounded. He realizes that the law is lacking. But instead of telling the women on his own that they are right, he asks God. God responds and tells him, “The daughters of Tzelofchad are right, you shall surely give them a possession among their father’s brothers.” (Bamidbar 27:6-7)
Codified Law can only be an attempt to provide justice. Only Human interpretation can save it from becoming harsh, by infusing it with the human heart
The Role of the Oral Torah
But why did God not include this Law a priori in the Torah? Why was it included only after Moshe asked? The answer is clear: God included in His Torah only such laws that we could not have come to on our own. The rest is left to our sages to work out by themselves through the means of Oral Torah.[1]
Here, however, Moshe was not sure. Is it my responsibility to add what is missing, or is it God’s? Should this law belong to the Written Torah or the Oral Torah?
God informs him: I did not mention this law earlier because it is you who should have decided it on your own. But for now, until you know better, I will fill in the loophole that really should not have been in the text in the first place, since it is Oral Torah. You could have known this yourself!
The Torah as a Beginning, Not an Arrival
Codified Law can only be an attempt to provide justice. Only Human interpretation can save it from becoming harsh, by infusing it with the human heart, as manifested in the Oral Torah.[2]
The text of the Torah is meant to be a point of departure, not a destination. The destination itself is left to the sages. It was the genius of the daughters of Tzelofchad that revealed this to Moshe. And God concurred.
Questions for the Shabbat Table
- Can a legal system ever achieve perfect justice, or will there always be situations that require wisdom beyond the written law?
- Rav Cardozo suggests that the Written Torah is “a point of departure, not a destination.” What does that idea mean to you?
- When have you encountered a rule that seemed correct in principle but failed to account for the human reality of a particular situation?
Diving Deeper
The essay argues that God intentionally left gaps for human beings to fill through the Oral Torah. If that is true, what does it suggest about the relationship between Divine revelation and human creativity? Does Halakhah become stronger because it develops through human interpretation, or does this introduce uncertainty into what should be eternal law?
[1] See the fascinating Midrash Eliyahu Zutta 2, where the written Torah is compared to wheat that will rot if the human hand does not grind and knead it.
[2] For a full understanding of this important principle, see my book: Jewish Law as Rebellion, A Plea for Religious Authenticity and Halachic Courage, Urim Publications, Jerusalem – New York, 2018, chapter 27. For those with a Talmudic background, see Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Glassner, 1856-1924, in his masterpiece on Tractate Chullin, Dor Revi’i, Hakdamah, in which he explains the viability and the flexibility of the Oral Torah.
