Pinchas: Dreams in the Genes

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The Ponovezher Rav, Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, was a great visionary. He survived the devastation of the Holocaust, having lost his family and watching the yeshiva world crumble with the loss of its students. He spoke of grand plans to build a beautiful yeshiva in Israel, full of students. People thought he was insane, that he went crazy during the War. How would the Rav collect funds to construct such an institution? The War stole everything! Where would he get students from? The yeshiva world was virtually non-existent!

“You’re a dreamer” he was told.

“I may be dreaming,” he famously responded, “but I am wide awake!”

Dreams and aspirations are a big part of our lives and our service of Hashem. In this week’s parsha, we meet five special women: the righteous daughters of Tzelafchad. Amidst the chaos of people complaining that they would rather return to Egypt, these five women approach Moshe in front of the entire nation and ask for an inheritance in the land of Israel. Their father died without sons to inherit him, and they wanted to perpetuate his legacy through receiving their own portion of land. Hashem praises these righteous women, as the Torah explicitly states ‘Tzelfachad’s daughters speak justly’¹. Rashi comments on these words, praiseworthy is the person whose words are validated by Hashem! Imagine asking a question to a Rabbi, to a teacher and a voice comes down from Heaven and says ‘What a great question!’ This, in essence, is the recognition these five special women get in the Torah. Hashem valued their question, and this is inscribed in the Torah for eternity.

In addition to that, they have the merit of being the source of teaching a new law to the Jewish people. Because of their great question, the entire nation is taught this law of inheritance! The Gemara tells us² שֶׁמְגַלְגְּלִין זְכוּת עַל יְדֵי זַכַּאי, that merit comes through worthy people and it is therefore a praise of these five women, that the halacha (law) was taught as a result of their question. It was not just given over by Moshe, as all the other laws were. There are multiple commentaries who write about this episode with great admiration for these women. They are praised for their wisdom, for their modesty and for their incredible love for the land of Israel. They had such a tangible longing for the land, that despite the pandemonium around them, all they were thinking about was being in the land of Israel.

Where did they get such aspirations from? Where did their deep love for the land come from? When did they become such dreamers, such visionaries?

We can find the answer by looking back in the verse³ לְמִשְׁפְּחֹ֖ת מְנַשֶּׁ֣ה בֶן־יוֹסֵ֑ף. These women came from the tribe of Menashe, who was the son of Yosef. The verse actually says twice that they came from Menashe, which seems unnecessary. But Rashi explains that this is just to trace their lineage back to Yosef, the father of Menashe. They are not just genealogically the children of Yosef, they are his spiritual children because they emulated his ways. Yosef loved the land, and the daughters of Tzelafchad imitated this great love.

There is a Midrash in Parshat Vayeishev that will enhance our understanding even further. The Midrash tells us that Yosef was able to avoid sinning with Potiphar’s wife in Egypt, despite her persistence, because he viewed himself as an olah temima (a pure sacrifice). Since sacrifices must be brought without blemish, Yosef was able to withstand the incredible temptation of Potiphar’s wife since he believed this would affect his status as a pure sacrifice.

Perhaps we can say that this special quality of she’ifa, of pure desire and dreams to ascend in spirituality and envision greatness was the quality that the daughters of Tzelafchad inherited from their ancestor, Yosef. They were thirsting for the land of Israel, they were dreaming of receiving their portion. At a time when the nation was not in such a strong place; they had sinned with the Moavi women, a plague wiped out 24,000 members of the nation and the people wanted to return to Egypt! It was the women, with their love for the land, who were able to overlook the chaos that surrounded them and dream big for their future.

If we reflect on this beautiful idea, we would be in absolute awe that a 17-year-old boy abandoned by his family, incarcerated in prison, in the depths of Egyptian immorality, was able to stand up to such a test. However, doesn’t the perspective sound flawed? Firstly, we know that Hashem does not take human sacrifices. Such an idea is antithetical to the Torah! Even Yitzchak, who Avraham was willing to sacrifice to Hashem, was not actually offered up. Hashem did not want Avraham to offer him up! Why would Yosef think that Hashem would take him as a sacrifice? More specifically, even if there was such a concept, why would Yosef be chosen as a sacrifice? He was living in an impure place, in Egypt, and since he was outside of the land of Israel, he would never have the status of a pure sacrifice! What, therefore, is the Midrash referring to?

One word. She’ifa. She’ifa means a dream, an aspiration. The root li’shof means to thirst for, to long for. Yosef was a visionary. He knew that Hashem would never take human sacrifice. He knew that even if human sacrifice was allowed, the fact that he was in Egypt would have invalidated his status as a pure sacrifice anyway. But he envisioned it. He withstood the temptations of Egypt with this lofty image in mind. He was a dreamer. He viewed himself as if he were an olah temima, a perfect sacrifice. This was so ingrained in him that he would not dare sin in case he invalidated his holy status. This is called dreaming. This is called thinking big. This is called aspiring for great heights.

May we learn from these holy women and dream big for ourselves and our families. May we merit to see the actualisation of our dreams. We too are the descendants of Yosef, and of these holy women, and this power to dream big and reach our deepest desires is in our genes if we only turn inward.

Inspired by Rav Netanel Wertenschlag