Unexpected Words from the Wise
Parashat Pinchas, Numbers 25:10–30:1
Rabbi Russ Resnik
Seven things distinguish a fool and seven things distinguish a wise person. The wise person does not speak in the presence of one who is wiser. The wise person does not interrupt when another is speaking. The wise person is not in a hurry to answer. The wise person asks according to the subject and answers according to the Law. The wise person speaks about the first matter first and the last matter last. If there is something the wise person has not heard, the wise person says, “I have never heard.” The wise person acknowledges what is true. The opposite of all these qualities is found in a fool. Pirke Avot 5:9
Three times in the narrative of Torah, the Israelites encounter legal cases not directly covered by the statues and ordinances they have recently received from God. The cases involve a blasphemer (Lev 24:10–22), some men who were ritually unclean at the time of the Passover sacrifice (Num 9:6–14), and a violator of Shabbat (Num 15:32–36). Each time when the people ask Moses for a ruling, he must answer “I have never heard,” until the Lord gives him additional instructions. Now, in Parashat Pinchas, a fourth case comes before Moses.
Zelophehad, of the tribe of Manasseh, has died leaving no heir—that is, leaving no son. His surviving daughters, however, appeal to Moses. As women, they cannot inherit land directly, and so they are concerned that their father’s name and inheritance among the tribes will be lost to his family forever. Accordingly, they make their request: “Give us a possession among our father’s brothers” (Num 27:4). Moses seeks the Lord, who rules in favor of the daughters, and against the patriarchal assumption of the times, thus adding a new instruction to Torah: “If a man dies and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter” (Num. 27:8).
Moses fulfills the description of the “wise person” in the quote above from Pirke Avot. When he does not know, he says “I do not know.”
One midrashic tradition praises Moses since he thereby taught “the heads of the Sanhedrin of Israel that were destined to arise after him, that … they should not be embarrassed to ask for assistance in cases too difficult for them. For even Moses, who was Master of Israel, had to say, ‘I have not understood.’ Therefore Moses brought their cases before the Lord.” (Jacob Milgrom, Numbers, The JPS Torah Commentary, citing Targum Jonathan)
The ability to admit “I have not heard; I do not know” is rare among leaders, especially in our day of spin and talking points. It seems to be an unspoken rule of politics that you don’t admit mistakes, and you don’t say “I don’t know”—even when you don’t know! How refreshing it would be today to see those in power simply admit their mistakes and acknowledge the gaps in their knowledge.
The Psalmist says “The Torah of the Lord is perfect” (Psa 19:7 [8]). A thousand years later, Paul writes, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16–17). But Scripture’s perfection, its ability to make us complete and thoroughly equipped, does not mean that it spells out everything in detail. Sometimes it directs us back to the Lord for more instruction, or to another provision laid down toward the end of the Torah:
If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge . . . then you shall arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God chooses. And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment. (Deut 17:8–9)
Traditional Judaism often cites these verses as a basis for the Oral Torah, rabbinic teachings and interpretations not found in the written Torah but seen as essential to properly applying it in the various times and places of the Jewish story. This tradition sees the Torah—written and oral—as given once for all, but discovered anew in every generation through discussion and friendly argument. Students in yeshiva, a Jewish school for Torah study, continue to study in this manner today.
To an outsider this method of study can appear chaotic. Each pair works at its own pace; everyone is talking out loud; boys are constantly jumping up to find books or consult with other students; people come and go seemingly at random. But that’s how yeshiva students have been learning for centuries. (Sue Fishkoff, The Rebbe’s Army: Inside the World of Chabad-Lubavitch)
In the case of the daughters of Zelophehad, of course, the answer comes not through study and debate, but through an oracle of God. Nevertheless, their story establishes a truth that remains vital for us. God’s word does not address every specific circumstance we will encounter in life, but it provides all the direction that we need. A wise student of Scripture must sometimes say “I have not heard; I do not know” and seek to learn more.
Thus, right after Paul tells Timothy that Scripture equips completely, he charges him, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Tim 4:2). Scripture itself ordains teaching, study, exhortation as the means of revealing all that it has to offer.
As we consider these general applications of the story, however, we should not overlook the specific ruling regarding the daughters of Zelophehad, for it echoes the theme of restoration that sounds throughout Torah.
The twelve tribes are about to enter the Promised Land, where each is to receive a divine allotment, but sin has broken into the story again. Zelophehad “died in his own sin,” according to his daughters, leaving no heir (Num 27:3). The daughters probably don’t mean to say that their father was an exceptional sinner, but simply that his life, like all lives, was tainted by sin. Regardless, the division of the land is disrupted, and divine order is threatened. But God takes action to restore the wholeness of the land and people of Israel. What is most striking here is that he does so through the daughters, those who normally are marginalized. Women are generally subject to men in the Mosaic legislation, but God reveals that they are able to inherit, to bear the family name, and to preserve the legacy. God’s ruling in this case reminds us that he originally created woman out of man, not to be subservient, but to be “a sustainer beside him” (Gen 2:18 Alter).
Here again the grand narrative of Torah moves forward not on the limited insight of human actors, who often must say, “I don’t know,” but on the boundless wisdom of God, wisdom we access when we recognize that our own wisdom comes up short.
Adapted from Creation to Completion: A Guide to Life’s Journey from the Five Books of Moses. Messianic Jewish Publishers and Resources.
Scripture references are NKJV.