One of the great motifs in the book of Numbers is the land of Israel: the implicit rejection of the land by the Israelites revisionist perspective of how great things were back in Egypt; the spies (then the Israelites) rejection of the land outright; Moses heartbreaking yearning to enter the land; the question of the two-and-a-half tribes (Reuben, Gad and half of Menasseh) settling beyond the Jordan River, beyond the land; and the daughters of Zelophehad wanting to inherit their share of the land.
The five daughters of Zelophehad Machla, Noa, Chogla, Milka and Tirtza petitioned Moses to change the law that excluded them from receiving their fathers inheritance in the land of Israel.
Before approaching Moses they had to navigate the complex paths of the judicial system, from the courts of 10 judges, then of 100 judges, until finally they were directed to Moses himself to determine their fate.
There are four times that Moses is said not to have known the answer to queries posed to him: the cases of the blasphemer, of those who missed out on the Pascal sacrifice, of the Sabbath desecrater and of the five daughters of Zelophehad.
How painful must it have been for Moses to have been approached by the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of Menasseh to live outside the land, when his own deep desire was to enter the land. This was the thing he wanted more than anything else, yet was denied, while these tribes rejected the land as their home even as it was theirs for the taking.
What about the five daughters? They wanted a share in the land of Israel, but their only chance was for Moses to advocate for them, for what he so deeply wanted yet was denied.
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