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The Torah is teaching us the power of the tzaddik. The daughters of Tslafchad presented their petition to Moshe…and Moshe prayed to G‑d to concede to their request and to permit them a portion in the land. G‑d agreed to Moshe’s prayer as the Midrash says,[18] “Moshe commanded, and G‑d obeyed him” (Meor v’Shemesh, Masai).
Moshe so empathized with their dilemma and respected their love of the land that he actually prayed for a favorable verdict. The Midrash implies that it was Moshe’s prayer itself that actually drew down the positive decision.
If women felt that rabbis had this kind of empathy with their yearning for more formal study or fuller participation in community life, any decision (even a bitter one) would still also be sweet. When, instead, they are admonished for their urge to express themselves in ways that are deeply rooted in Torah but not in keeping with the traditional female role, an adversary relationship develops and at that point every option brings loss.
Moshe prayed to be able to give them a favorable verdict. As much as he wanted truth, He wanted to share something with them that was an objectively good thing, and for which he himself longed (i.e. the land) but which was not, under normal circumstances, available to women.
The Torah is teaching a powerful lesson to the rabbis of today. If they are to imitate Moshe (which they must strive to do) then they must find a place of deep and authentic compassion for the women who approach them with halakhic petitions. Their empathy should be so compelling that it moves them to prayer:
Let it be Your will HaShem my G‑d…that Your halakhah permit a favorable judgment, a judgment that will enable the fullest expression of service for all involved.
Only after touching this place of genuine empathy with the petitioner should the rabbi begin his halakhic research.
The incident of the daughters of Tslafchad occurs on the steppes of Moav, the last stop on the Israelites’ forty-two stage journey from Egypt to the Holy Land. Thus, its reenactment in the 6,000 year scale of history will be one of the last developments before the messianic age. The exact time correlations are not clear, though we are fast approaching the end of days, which, apparently, must begin before the year 6,000 (244 years from now).[19] This means that if we are not yet collectively at the “steppes of Moav” we are very close, and the glow of its dawning light is certainly present. It is therefore no surprise that a growing number of women in this generation identify with the daughters of Tslafchad and find their own stories, dilemmas and yearnings mirrored in their tale.[20]
The story of the daughters of Tslafchad presents a methodology of attitude that, if practiced in good faith by all parties, will draw the unfolding of G‑d’s highest will into the halakhic discourse generated by our times.
