The Big Ask

The 27th chapter of the book of Numbers in the Holy bible, documents a rare event in Israelite History, it was the day that five sisters went before the Israelite leaders, priests and the whole assembly of to make a strange request. Most people who attended Sunday school will recall the story of the Israelites wandering about the desert of Sinai for 40 years on account of their sin of complaining, after they had escaped slavery in Egypt. During those forty years, people who were over the age of 20 when they sinned communally died, including Zelophehad.

Zelophehad fathered five amazing daughters called: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. These women would have grown up in a society where the second classicism of women was firmly entrenched. There was even discrimination when it came to worshipping God. Women were excluded from certain areas of the tabernacle and from certain activities, especially during and after the periods and childbirth. Women were also excluded from inheriting property. If a man died without any male children, his property was given to his closest male relative and his wife would also be inherited. It wasn’t clear what happened to any daughters but it is highly likely that they became destitute and disadvantaged. 

It took five courageous sisters to change that. Imagine the scene that day when they approached the assembly. Thousands of men gathered in one place, the atmosphere would have been super charged. After all the topic of discussion was the division of the land among the twelve tribes of Israel. Then, on the edge of the crowd, 5 ladies appeared, bound together by a single rope knotted at each waist in an attempt to keep them together as they made their way through the crowd. On their bodies, were all their clothes, layer upon layer to form a shield from the groping hands of unscrupulous men in the crowd, their veils tight around their faces and ears to protect them from the sneers and the cat calls that were sure to greet them. As they approached, those on the edge turned round and formed a wall, asking them where they thought they were going, telling them to go back to the kitchen where they belonged. They had planned for this, rehearsed what they would do in the face of opposition. When they role played, they had laughed the whole time but they pressed on, practicing what they would say, knowing that this was their only chance of a life free from destitution. 

Then Hoglah, the middle child and the most determined of the five spoke up. Her voice, clear above the humdrum, just as she had practiced, said, "We are here to see Moses our leader". The wall wobbled with laughter, almost collapsing with mirth then reformed, as impenetrable as ever and then it spoke, "who do you think you are? Go back!". The women remained silent, their feet firmly positioned, their faces, looking up, strong in their determination. Again, Hoglah made her request with more strength in her voice and again, the wall trembled, this time with undisguised anger and shouted, "Get back".  Then the pushing began. The men pushed and pulled but couldn’t split them up because of the well tied knots. The shouting escalated, the disturbance grew and Moses and the leaders looked up in the direction that the noise was coming from. Moses dispatched Joshua and Caleb to find out the reason for the upheaval, to calm the men and fish out the culprits.

They returned, towing five dishevelled women, bound together at the waist with them. Moses looked them over and addressed them. 'Who are you?', he asked. One by one, they called out their names. From oldest to youngest and then Hoglah said, 'we are the five children of Zelophehad, from the tribe of Manasseh'. They wanted him to know their names, they wanted him to see them as human, with desires, plans, hopes and dreams. 'Why have you come here, this is no place for women' said Moses. 'Yes we know, my Lord, but it is a matter of life and death and we want life, so we came' said Hoglah,  as she fixed him with her piercing gaze. 'Speak', said Moses and speak she did, for herself, her sisters, for women in her community and women that were not yet born. She made the first recorded case for fairer treatment of women with regards to inheritance. She spoke up when every indication was of a negative outcome. Even her mother had not believed, for she had not come. Moses was so moved by her request that he sought God and received a surprising reply. Yes! God the almighty recognised women, he said yes to their request and they inherited their fathers share of the land. A victory for the sisters and all women of Israel.

For centuries, women have been putting themselves at risk in a bid to achieve the same privileges and freedoms as men and there has always been fierce opposition. More recently, the suffragettes. Were thrown into jail, kept in asylums and threatened, all in a bid to keep women down as second class citizens. The freedoms that we enjoy today, were fought for by women like you and me.

There is still much to be done, we must never rest on our oars as we seek a redress of the current situation of gender inequality. Rather when we think of the example of women like the five daughters of Zelophehad, we should be strengthened to continue in asking, even demanding for equality, so that we, our friends, colleagues, daughters and unborn females will have a better chance to be all that we were meant to be.