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Week 109 - Monday - 24 December 2001

BAVA BATRA: CHAPTER 8: MISHNAH 3

The daughters of Zelophehad took three portions in the inheritance: the portion of their father who was among those who came out from Egypt: and they divided with his brothers in the possessions of Hefer; and as he was a firstborn, he took two portions.

Kehati

As we learned in the previous mishnah that "whoever takes precedence in inheritance, the progeny take precedence" so that the daughters of one's son inherit in his place, this mishnah brings the case of the inheritance of the daughters of Zelophehad. The Torah writes, "Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad... And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tent of the meeting, saying: 'Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not of the company of them that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but he died in his own sin, and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he had no son? Give unto us a possession among the brothers of our father,' and Moses brought their cause before the Lord. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: you shall surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brothers; and you shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them" (Num. 27:1-7). We also learned in a baraita: "You shall surely give them a possession of an inheritance" - that refers to their father's inheritance; "Among their father's brothers" - that is the inheritance of their father's father (i.e., Hefer, Zelophehad's father); "and you shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them" - that is the firstborn portion. Our mishnah, too, deals with these inheritances that the daughters of Zelophehad inherited.

The daughters of Zelophehad took three portions in the inheritance - in Eretz Israel: the portion of their father - Zelophehad, who was among those who came out from Egypt - the Gemara explains that the Tanna of this mishnah holds that Eretz Israel was divided up according to those who had left Egypt, as it states in the Torah portion on the division of the land, "They shall inherit in accordance with the names of the tribes of their fathers" (Num. 26:55). In other words, the land was divided up according to the number of people who left Egypt, as an inheritance from their fathers. And even though those who left Egypt did not enter the land but died in the desert and did not take up their portion in the land, nevertheless when the country was divided up it was not divided according to the name of those who entered it, but according to those who had left Egypt, i.e., those who entered the land inherited from their fathers. For example, if Reuven and Shimon left Egypt and Reuven had ten children in the desert who entered the land while Shimon had only one, Reuven's ten sons received one portion to divide up among them, while Shimon's single son received an equal portion just for himself, for the sons inherited their fathers' portions.

As to Zelophehad, since he had left Egypt his daughters inherited his portion in the division of the land; and they divided - Similarly, they took the portion of their father, which was his with his brothers in the possessions of Hefer - Zelophehad's father; for Hefer was also one of those who left Egypt, and his sons took his portion as well as their own. The daughters of Zelophehad also received their father's portion in Hefer's possessions when Zelophehad's brothers divided their father's inheritance among themselves, for a son's daughter stands in the place of the son to receive a portion together with her father's brothers in her grandfather's estate, as we learned in the previous mishnah: whoever takes precedence in inheritance, his offspring take precedence; and as he - Zelophehad, was a firstborn - of Hefer, accordingly he took two portions - in his father's inheritance. In other words, had Zelophehad been alive, he would have received double the portion his brothers received, and his daughters, accordingly, divided up among themselves that double portion. And even though when Zelophehad died the Jews had not yet inherited Eretz Israel and the rule is that a firstborn only receives a double portion of whatever the father owned at the time of his death and not of assets accruing to him later (Bekh. 8:9), Eretz Israel was nevertheless considered as already in the possession of those who left Egypt, as we see in the verse, "And I will bring you to the land ... and I will give it to you as an inheritance, I am the Lord" (Ex. 6:8) In other words, "I have already given it to you as an inheritance," so it was as if Hefer had already taken possession of his portion.

BAVA BATRA: CHAPTER 8: MISHNAH 4

The son and the daughter are alike in the inheritance, but the son takes twice as much of the father's assets, and does not take twice as much of the mother's assets. The daughters are supported from the father's assets, and are not supported from the mother's assets.

Kehati

This mishnah teaches the differences between inheritances derived from one's father and those derived from one's mother.

The son and the daughter are alike in the inheritance - The Gemara explains that the same rule governs the inheritance of a son and that of a daughter (where there is no son), whether the inheritance is from the mother or the father. In other words, just as they inherit the mother's estate, they inherit the father's; and just as the son takes precedence in inheriting from the father, he takes precedence in inheriting from the mother (see B.B. 111a); but - the only difference between the inheritance from one's father and from one's mother, is that the son takes twice as much of the father's assets - if he is a firstborn, as specified in the Torah (Deut. 21:17), and does not take twice as much of the mother's assets - as it states (ibid.), "But he shall acknowledge the firstborn son by giving him a double portion in all that he has," but not in all that she has. A firstborn daughter, however, does not receive a double portion in the inheritance of either her father or mother, for the rules of the firstborn only apply to males, as it states in the Torah portion of the firstborn (Deut. 21:15), "...and they have borne him sons...,” sons are included in these rules of the firstborn, but not daughters.

The daughters are supported from the father's assets - After the death of the father, his daughters are supported from his assets, as this is one of the conditions in the ketubah, it being a condition imposed by the Bet Din (Ket., 4:11); and are not supported from the mother's assets - after her death, for the ketubah conditions only apply to the father's assets and not to the mother's, as the father is bound by the provisions of the ketubah but the mother is not.

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