Matot-Matsei: Machlah, Tirtzah, Choglah, Milkah, and Noa

 

“Tzelofchad’s daughters—Machlah, Tirtzah, Choglah, Milkah, and Noa"

 

(Numbers 36:11)

 

Tammuz 25, 5786/July 10, 2026

 

WIth the parasha mechuberet - double Torah portion - of Matot-Masei we conclude the book of Numbers. It has been a turbulent, tumultuous and, at times, troubling forty years in the wilderness. And the drama doesn't stop, even as we approach Israel's final days east of the Jordan river. HaShem commanded Moshe to lead Israel into a war of vengeance against the Midianites who had seduced Israel into brazen acts of idolatry, and a brutal war it was. Israel, by G-d's command, slaughtered every last man and woman save for virgin girls, and along with them, the Torah specifically mentions, the heathen prophet Bilaam, whose last minute advice to Balak, king of Moav, is what led israel into the abyss of idolatry. 

The conclusion of the war is followed by a meticulous accounting of all the booty seized by Israel, and then, unexpectedly, the heads of the tribes of Reuven and Gad approach Moshe   with a request, one very difficult for Moshe to accept. They sought to end their journey east of the Jordan, in the fertile lands Israel has just conquered from the Midianites. Moshe is irate that Reuven and Gad should make such a request: hadn't they learned a thing from the sin of the spies? But when the heads of the two tribes vow to join their fellow tribes in conquering the land of Canaan and acquiring their G-d given land inheritances before returning to the land of Ya'zer and Gilead, Moshe accedes to their request. 

We might assume that this is the last bit of unfinished business before entering into Canaan, but one last contingent of Israelites, these from the tribe of Menashe approach Moshe with a petition. They are concerned that the five daughters of Tzelophchad, having acquired their father's land inheritance, might marry outside of the tribe and therefore enable the tribal land of Menashe to be annexed to a fellow tribe. Moshe hears their concern and states that the five daughters of Tzelophchad, Machlah, Tirtzah, Choglah, Milkah, and Noa, must marry within their tribe. 

And so they do. After forty years of travel through the wilderness, stopping at forty two locations along the way, (as listed by Moshe at the beginning of parashat Masei), and after endless, and at times, pointless complaining, lashon hara, a catastrophic collapse of national will and faith in  HaShem, rebellion, being swallowed up by the earth, heated confrontations, serpents and promiscuity and idolatry and insolent demands, the Torah's account of Israel's forty years in the wilderness ends, surprisingly, on a positive and  positively happy note:

"Tzelofchad’s daughters did as HaShem had commanded Moshe. Tzelofchad’s daughters — Machlah, Tirtzah, Choglah, Milkah, and Noa — married their cousins. They married into the families of the sons of Menashe, son of Yosef, and their inheritance remained with the tribe of their father’s family."   (Numbers 36:10-12) One last verse follows this happy news, bringing our journey to an end: 

"These are the commandments and the ordinances that HaShem commanded the children of Israel through Moshe in the plains of Moav, by the Jordan River, opposite Jericho." (ibid 36:13)

Far from being a simple fairy tale ending, there is much more here than meets the eye. First of all, the five daughters of Tzelofchad are mentioned by name on three different occasions in the book of Numbers. And they are mentioned one more time in the book of Joshua (chapter 17). Why does the Torah honor them so? There are other figures who appear in the book of numbers whose names are not mentioned once, let alone three times. The men who came to Moshe wanting to partake in the Passover offering despite being ritually unclean are not named. 

We don't know the names of the seventy elders, nor those who were granted a one time spirit of prophecy, with the exception of Eldad and Medad. And only very rarely are women in the Torah mentioned by name at all! Miriam, the prophet and sister of Moshe and Aharon, who guarded over her baby brother Moshe and saw to his survival is mentioned by name in the Torah a total of nine times only. And five of those mentions were in connection to her speaking ill of Moshe and her subsequent punishment. 

Yet, each of the five daughters of Tzelophchad, Machlah, Tirtzah, Choglah, Milkah, and Noa, who appeared out of nowhere, late in our story, are mentioned by name three times! Even the post biblical literature, the Talmud, Midrash and the Zohar discuss the virtues of the five sisters at great length. What was so special about Machlah, Tirtzah, Choglah, Milkah, and Noa?

We know that the sisters displayed great courage approaching Moshe and petitioning him before the entire assembly of Israel, the seventy elders and the Kohen Gadol included. But they also exhibited great wisdom. Their reasoning was spot on. The logic of their argument was unassailable. So much so that when Moshe turned to HaShem for an answer, HaShem responded: "Zelophehad's daughters speak justly." (ibid 27:7) One can sense HaShem's delight in His succinct approval. The sisters received a direct reply from HaShem! He then amends His own laws concerning inheritance in order to accommodate the sisters' request. And scripture doesn't stop here. In the book of Joshua we read of the actual fulfillment of HaShem's ruling:  

"But Tzelofchad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Menashe, had no sons, but daughters; and these are the names of his daughter: Machlah, and Noa, Choglah, Milkah, and Tirtzah. And they came near before Eleazar the kohen, and before Yehoshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, 'HaShem commanded Moshe to give us an inheritance among our brothers.' According to the commandment of HaShem, he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father. And there fell ten portions to Menashe, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of the Jordan. Because the daughters of Menashe had an inheritance among his sons; and the rest of Menashe's sons had the land of Gilead." (Joshua 17:3-6)

The Torah sees to it that we witness the fulfillment of HaShem's reply to the five sisters. Why all the fuss? The sisters' petition wasn't just any old request. They were determined to have a share in the land of Israel. Unlike the leaders of Reuven and Gad, who saw opportunity outside of the promised land and longed for it, Machlah, Tirtzah, Choglah, Milkah, and Noa wanted a portion in the land G-d has promised their father when he left Egypt with all his contemporaries. 

Tzelophchad, like all his brethren, would not see his inheritance because the males of his generation rejected G-d's promise. But his daughters, like all the other women who left Egypt, were not a part of the sin of the spies. 

Nor had they partaken in the sin of the golden calf. In fact, going back to Pharaoh's attempt to annihilate the Hebrew slaves, we witnessed the women, the midwives, Puah and Shifrah, and the efforts of Yocheved, Moshe's mother, and Miriam, Moshe's sister, and the righteous women who donated their copper mirrors for the building of the Tabernacle laver, all of whom played a major role in Israel's redemption, and, if not for their love and trust in HaShem, Israel's story would have ended back in Egypt before it even started. Machlah, Tirtzah, Choglah, Milkah, and Noa are the proud carriers of the same fire and faith that inspired the women who preceded them. They fought for their share of the land of Israel and will forever be praised.

Midrash tells us that the five sisters excelled in wisdom, and points out that their names are listed one time as "Machlah, Noa, Choglah, Milkah, and Tirtzah," (Numbers 27:1) and another time, in a different order, as "Machlah, Tirtzah, Choglah, Milkah, and Noa," to teach us that they were equal both in wisdom and in righteousness. 

So it is only fitting that the book of Numbers should conclude on the happy note of their marriage: "Tzelofchad’s daughters did as HaShem had commanded Moshe. Tzelofchad’s daughters — Machlah, Tirtzah, Choglah, Milkah, and Noa — married their cousins." "As HaShem had commanded." 

They were not only righteous in demanding their fair share of HaShem's gift of the land, they were also righteous in fulfilling HaShem's commandment to marry within their tribe. Again, tradition tells us that the sisters did not rush into marriage. Despite the limitations on whom they might marry, they each waited patiently for just the right man. 

And despite their advanced ages beneath the chuppah, they all, due to their righteousness, were blessed with many children. Machlah, Tirtzah, Choglah, Milkah, and Noa — may their names and their righteous deeds forever be a blessing!