Making sense of the sedra: Pinchas

There are episodes in Jewish history when a seemingly straightforward act becomes extraordinary because of the climate in which it takes place.

In parshat Pinchas, we meet the five daughters of Tzelofchad: Machlah, Noa, Choglah, Milkah and Tirtzah. Their father had died in the wilderness leaving no sons, and they approached Moshe with a bold request: “Why should our father’s name be lost from his family because he had no son? Give us a portion in the land.”

At first glance, this appears to be a legal or financial claim. They were asking for inheritance. But our sages see something much deeper. These remarkable women were not only asking for property; they were expressing a profound love for Eretz Yisrael and an unshakeable belief in the Jewish future.

That is what makes their request so powerful. They spoke at a time when others were weary from the journey. The generation of the wilderness had experienced fear, uncertainty and, at times, a longing to return to Egypt. Yet the daughters of Tzelofchad looked forward. They did not allow the mood of the moment to define their destiny. They believed that the future of the Jewish people lay ahead of them, in the Land of Israel, and they wanted their portion in building that future.

The Midrash therefore places them among those rare individuals who “took the reward of an entire generation”. Not because they performed the most dramatic act, but because they stood up for Jewish hope when hope was not fashionable.

I am writing these words from the United States of America, where I am currently privileged to be leading the Immanuel College Jewish Life and Learning trip. Over these days, our Year 9 students have experienced something immensely powerful: the opportunity to encounter Jewish life not just as a subject in a classroom, but as a living, breathing, vibrant reality.

We began our programme at the Ohel, the resting place of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, perhaps the figure who has made more of an impact on diaspora Jewish life than any other Jew in the past 100 years. It may seem unusual to begin a school trip in a cemetery, but there was something deeply anchoring about that experience. When young people are invited to reflect on life, purpose, legacy and what they want to contribute to the world, the entire journey becomes elevated. It becomes not just sightseeing, but soul-seeing.

Since then, the students have encountered Jewish history, Jewish leadership, Jewish resilience and Jewish pride in extraordinary ways. At the 9/11 Memorial, we heard from Ari Schonbrun, a survivor of that terrible day, whose story brought home the fragility of life, the strength of faith and the responsibility to use every day meaningfully. We had the privilege of meeting Judge Ruchie Freier, the first Hasidic woman to serve as a New York Supreme Court judge, whose life is a remarkable example of courage, conviction and Kiddush Hashem. We visited the American Dream Mall, where we met philanthropist and owner Don Ghermezian, and saw how vision, ambition and generosity can create opportunities on a breathtaking scale.

These are not ordinary school-trip experiences. They are formative Jewish life encounters. They allow our students to see that Torah values are not abstract ideas; they are lived through courage, resilience, leadership, generosity and purpose.

It is a privilege, through the Jewish Life and Learning programme at Immanuel College, to offer our students experiences that broaden their horizons, deepen their identity and help them understand that they are part of something much bigger than themselves. Jewish education at its best gives our children not only knowledge of where we have come from, but confidence in where we are going.

That is the message of the daughters of Tzelofchad. They teach us that there are times when the greatest act of faith is to look beyond the uncertainty of the present and say: we want a share in the future.

May all our children, like Machlah, Noa, Choglah, Milkah and Tirtzah, always have the courage to step forward, to believe deeply in the destiny of our people, and to claim their own portion in building a vibrant Jewish future.

Rabbi Yoni Golker is at Magen Avot United Synagogue