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224  forty-three Hearing Ancient, Courageous Voices for Justice and Change Parashat Masei (Numbers 33:1–36:13) Amber Powers Parashat Masei, the final portion in the book of Numbers, begins with an extensive summary of the travels of the People Israel after their redemption from Egypt. As their forty years of wandering draws to a close, they stand at the Jordan River near Jericho, and Moses instructs them about the boundaries of the Promised Land and how the land will be divided among the tribes. Parashat Masei includes an important postscript to a narrative told in the book’s twenty-seventh chapter, the story of the daughters of Zelophekhad and their challenge to the Jewish inheritance laws, which follow male hereditary lines. Following their father’s death, the five daughters, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah, stand before the entire community and argue that they should inherit their father’s portion of land since they have no brothers to perpetuate their father’s name. Moses brings their request to God, and God declares that their request is just and orders that the daughters should inherit their father’s share of the land. This victory establishes a precedent, and it becomes Biblical law that any woman in that situation has the right to inherit. In the midrash Numbers Rabbah, the daughters are praised for their intelligence and righteousness, and it is said that their role in promoting the addition of this law to the set of laws received at Mount Sinai is a source of merit for them and their descendants.1 This story represents an important affirmation of justice and equality. Although the daughters are part of a thoroughly patriarchal system, they have the courage to speak up and challenge their exclusion. Their victory does not overturn the gender inequality inherit in the system but does mark a very important, moral step toward widening the rights of women in specific circumstances—when a woman’s father has died, and she has no living brother. By successfully arguing for their right to inherit in this situation, the daughters open the door for others to similarly fight for their inclusion and reject the notion that Biblical law is forever fixed and protected from any and all challenges. Unfortunately, the postscript to this narrative told in Parashat Masei is a troubling one. The male leaders of Zelophekhad’s daughters’ family clan argue that if the daughters inherit their father’s portion of land and then marry men from other Parashat Masei 225 tribes, their tribe’s total portion will be diminished because their husbands would be entitled to take control of the land the daughters inherited. Moses declares that the men’s concern is also just and modifies the new law with an additional stipulation. Zelophekhad’s daughters will still inherit their father’s land, but their choice of whom they may marry is restricted to only the men within their father’s tribe, so that the total amount of land assigned to each tribe remains unchanged. The daughters are placed into what is clearly a compromised position. In order to receive what is rightfully theirs, they must restrict their choice of a mate or choose to remain unmarried. The unfair choice they faced between their freedom to partner as they wished and their need for economic security is one that countless queer persons of all faiths have faced throughout the generations. This choice has caused great suffering. The Torah states that the daughters complied with the additional restriction on which their inheritance depended, and they each married one of their cousins. This chain of events raises important questions about how change occurs. First, an individual situation was brought forward to call attention to an inequality in the system . Through its merit, a new law was created that would create equality and protection for anyone in a parallel situation. Once the new general law became public, another group voiced concerns that this new right could lead to their own privilege, the right of each tribe to inherit a fixed portion of land, being diminished. In response, they acted to protect the privilege they held. Their fear of inequality and their resistance to any collective loss ultimately leads to others’ freedom being restricted. The men benefited greatly from the patriarchal system and were unwilling to accept any modification that would reduce their privileged position. For those of us involved in any type of queer advocacy, this story is an ancient example of a...

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