An Inheritance Rehash

So far we've just touched on one aspect of parshas Pinchas, that of Tzelophehad''s daughters and inheritance. Interestingly enough, the entire parashah is more or less on a similar vain.

In chapter 25, the eponymous Pinchas is rewarded for his zeal in killing Zimri with the gift of the everlasting priesthood (kehunah, not to be confused with the big kahuna of Hawaiian and Kevin Spacey fame). This establishes the line of the high priests which shall be passed on to Pinchas's offspring.

In chapter 26, there is another one of the seemingly everpresent censuses to determine the number of people who will be splitting up the Holy Land once it is conquered, as their national inheritance.

Chapter 27 is when Tzelophehad's daughters come up and inheritance is expressly discussed. Then G-d tells Moshe to go up to Mount Avarim and from that vantage point look across the Yarden River valley at the Land of Israel. Moshe asks for G-d to choose someone to serve as the his successor.

Then the final two chapters of the parashah deal with the various sacrifices that must be made for Shabbos and the holidays, Pesach, Shavuos, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkos.

Well that's not very inheritance like, man?! What have you been smoking? The Pesach seder makes explicit reference to the fact that the rituals of Pesach are meant to serve as a spiritual inheritance for future generations. The rituals and laws of Shabbos and the holidays serve as a token of our Jewish heritage, both religiously and culturally, if only as a way to ensure that families convene together every Friday evening and handful of other times throughout the year for a nice hot, home-cooked meal.