In devoting my life to Torah, I consider that I am carrying on the legacy of my father and my grandfather. My father loved Rashi so much that he believed that he was given an extra four years of life in order to pursue more of his work on Rashi. My grandfather was shot in a ghetto when he was found studying Talmud. My attachment to Torah is a legacy. I feel myself to be a link in this chain.
And yet I wonder – would my grandfather be happy that I, a woman, am part of the chain? Would he want me to be studying and teaching Talmud? My father was a deeply open person, and in spite of his upbringing, a feminist. But my grandfather, whom I never knew, was part of a world in which women were not taught Torah, were not considered part of this legacy. Would he, does he, smile down on my learning?
Surely in heaven what one sees is the heart.
At least that’s what the daughters of Zlophehad in this week’s parsha thought. Seeing that the land of Israel was being divided based on the male descendants of tribes and having no brothers who would inherit and a father who was already gone, they stepped forward bravely to articulate their desire also to be part of the legacy, to take their share in the nahalah, the inheritance. According to the midrash (Sifre Bamidbar 133), this was their thinking:
The mercies of flesh and blood are not like the mercies of the Omnipresent. The mercies of flesh and blood are over the males more than over the females, but He who spoke and the world came into existence is not thus. Rather, his mercies are over the males and over the females. His mercies are over all, as it is said: “The Lord is good to all, and His mercies over all His works” (Ps.145:9)
Indeed, the daughters of Zlophehad stepped forward and were not directly answered by flesh and blood, by Moshe, but were instead granted an answer from the Holy One Himself, who heard their plea and saw their sincere desire simply to be a part of the legacy, and answered them – ken, yes. Yes, when someone comes forward with a sincere desire to be PART of things, God says yes; down on earth, things might be more complicated, but God says yes to a joining heart.
I imagine that my grandfather, now taking the divine view from heaven, sees my desire to be a part of his inheritance and does smile.
At the Pesach seder, we reject only one son – the one who excludes himself, takes himself out of the game, out of the legacy and looks at us from the outside. But anyone who comes forward and says simply – I want to be part of this inheritance – how can we exclude them? I am thinking now of many others, not just women, but also those on the road to conversion or those who feel excluded for any number of reasons – if they sincerely and bravely come forward to say simply — I want to be part of this legacy, shouldn’t our mercies be not like those of flesh and blood but rather like God’s – open and embracing and loving and compassionate to ALL?
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