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Dear TBT Community,

Transition is the big theme of this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Pinchas. God and the people are shifting their mindset away from their life in the desert and towards their future in the Promised Land: God presents how the land will be apportioned, as well as the laws of offerings for different holidays they will celebrate in the land. But most significantly, this parsha brings us into the experience of leadership transition. God brings Moses up onto Mount Abarim and shows Moses the land that he will not enter. The name of this mountain in Hebrew denotes a sense of passage, of moving beyond and crossing into a new realm. And precisely in this moment of being on the mountain of transition, Moses asks God to appoint a new leader for the Israelites, someone who can be their shepherd once he dies. God chooses Joshua bin Nun as this new leader. We will get to hear a bit more about who he is as a leader during this Friday night’s Dvar Torah. 

During Torah study this coming Saturday, we will look at a fascinating episode that involves five women named the Daughters of Zelophechad and the laws of inheritance. These women change Biblical law and society dramatically, banding together and overturning the laws of inheritance so that daughters can inherit land from their fathers. I look forward to digging deeper into this story with you starting around 10:45am on Saturday!

Rabbi Mimi Micner

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