Value of Perspective

"Happy Tuesday everyone! Hope you all are doing well.

This week we read Parshat Pinchas, and in this parsha, in this Torah portion, is one of my favorite stories in the entire Torah. And that is the story of five badass feminists: Mahlah, Noa, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirza, and they are the daughters of Zelophehad. And when their father dies, they go to Moses and say, “We don’t have any brothers, but we want to keep our father’s name alive. Please let us receive our father’s inheritance.” And Moses takes their plea to God and God says, “Yeah. They’re totally right. We have to change the law.” And on this verse of Torah, Rashi, the medieval commentator, tells us that the eyes of Zelophehad’s daughters saw something that the eyes Moses could not. They brought a perspective that Moses didn’t have, that God didn’t have. And in doing so, and in Moses and God listening, they made the society more just. This is an amazing teaching for us today. The only way we can solve our polarized society is through empathy, is through love, is through hearing stories and understanding where people are coming from. As we celebrate July 4th this week, as we celebrate a document that calls for the unalienable rights of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, may we dedicate ourselves to hearing stories, to finding empathy, and to approaching each other with humanity and love. Wishing you all a really special July 4th full of stories and love and family and understanding. See ya next week."

Below you will find a source sheet with the sources from this #TorahTuesday