Three Types of Names: The Daughters of Zelophehad

This Dvar Torah was written by Yacov Fruchter, a Spiritual Leader at Beth Tzedec Congregation in Toronto, a Registered Psychotherapist and a student in the inaugural Shalom Hartman Institute’s North American Rabbinical Ordination program.

Photo by Vitolda Klein on Unsplash

You find that a man is known by three names: the name by which his father and mother call him, the name by which other men call him, and the one he earns for himself; the most important name is the one he earns for himself.

- Midrash Tanhuma, Vayakhel, 1

The night after the birth of each of our three children, Ryla, my wife, and I completed the same ritual.

Drunk on exhaustion, love, and adrenalin, at about 2AM, with a 5lb angel tucked between my hand and folded elbow, we make a list on the nurse’s whiteboard in our room of all the potential names for this new-born life.

Through laughter, tears, and and keeping with my wife’s strict rules of not having our kids names rhyme with each other, or with our own names, and to avoid those that remind us of that annoying kid from third grade, or God forbid, someone we dated in a past life, we decided on the name.

Through this love-drunk and sleep-deprived ritual, we complete the first step of the process quoted above from the Midrash Tanchuma: “Three names are given to every person, the first is given by the parents.”

I think of those moments as among the most spiritually connected of my life, minor experiences of ruach hakodesh (holy spirit) in which we impart the best attributes of a beloved ancestor, our hopes for this new life, and our dreams for the Jewish people and then try to capture it in one name.

In Parshat Pinchas, this week’s Torah portion, we are flooded with names.

The Parsha recounts a census that highlights the most important names from each of the tribes of Israel.

Among them are seven names of women, remarkable and regrettably, the greatest number found in any one Torah portion.

Prominent in this list are the five “Daughters of Zelophehad” -- Mahla, Noa, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirza.

If the latter are the names assigned by their parents, the “Daughters of Zelophehad” is the nickname given to them by the Bible and by later Jewish tradition. This represents the second kind of name in the Midrash Tanhuma- the one given to us by others.

We must wonder why these five women got so much attention in the Torah.

They petition Moses to allow them to inherit their father’s portion in the Promised Land, insisting that they have no brothers and should therefore be allowed to carry on their father’s legacy. Moses, not knowing the response, turns to God, who affirms their request.

Many people celebrate this moment as a hint of feminism in the Torah.

Others view this story as an example of Moses’ humility and, as such, reminds leaders to ask for help.

Professor Christine Hays uses this story as a proof that God’s revelation is adapted and revealed over time, in response to human needs.

I want to suggest an additional reading and explanation for what made these five women so important.

According to the interpretation in the Zohar, their father Zelophehad died at the end of Parshat Chukat as part of the snake plague, which was caused by the Israelites complaining and speaking out against God.

The Torah recounts: “And the people spoke against God and against Moses ‘Why did you make us leave Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread and no water, and we have come to loathe this miserable food.’” (Numbers 21:5).

The Hebrew word used for “speaking out” is vayedaber- thus, Zelophehad sinned through words.

His daughters Mahla, Noa, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirza, who are mentioned by name twice in this portion, approach Moses to request that they inherit their father’s allocated land.

They say to Moses “Avinu met bamidbar,” our father died in the desert (bamidbar). The Zohar understands bamidbar as a play on “vayedaber,” the crime of their father who sinned with words.

Moses is stunned by the demand and turns to God to ask for advice.

God tells Moses, “Ken benot Tzlofchad dobrot,” the daughters of Zelophehad are speaking rightly, a tikkun, a correction, on their father’s action.

In the Yalkut Shimoni, a medieval compilation of rabbinic stories, the daughters of Zelophehad are likened to Noah, Avraham and Moshe who all went against the current of their generations and stood out as righteous.

At a time when most people complained and wanted to go back to Egypt, succumbed to idolatry, and simply found the prospect of going to the Promised Land too difficult, the Daughters of Zelophehad stood up- vata’amodna and they came closer- vatikravna and made a claim for their stake in the destiny of the Jewish people.

In doing so, they fulfilled the third kind of name from the Midrash Tanchuma, the name one earns for himself.

For this act, they are uplifted and named.

I see this story as a reminder to pay close attention within the diversity of our communities to really notice who are standing up in our time and willing to lead, and more importantly to call them in by name and amplify their voices and actions.

This is especially true for those, like the daughters of Zelophehad, who are on the margins of our community.

Shabbat Shalom