How are we to explain the mysterious gap which separates the beginning of the verse, "And it was following the plague," from the conclusion introducing the divine command to count the people?
Our parasha records the request (Bamidbar 27:3-4) by the daughters of Tzelofchad to receive an inheritance in Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel:
"Our father died in the wilderness, but he was not among the congregation that gathered against God in the congregation of Korach; rather, he died for his own sin, and he had no sons. Why should our father's name be lessened among his family because he has no son? Give us a possession among our father's brothers."
What is the background of this request?
The well-known opinion of the Ramban states that the mussaf (additional) sacrifices, which are listed in our parasha, were not offered in the desert; they were instituted only at the time when Bnei Yisrael entered the land. In this shiur we shall examine this view...
Parashat Pinchas describes the appeal of the daughters of Tzelofchad. By comparing their request and Moshe's response to the story of the request that brought about the law of Pesach Sheni, we will discover that both incidents teach us something about conflicts between individual and communal interests.
