Divine Law - It’s Not Set In Stone

Divine Law—It’s Not Set In Stone
by Rabbi Angela Buchdahl 

This week’s Torah portion, Parshat Pinchas,
contains one of the most quietly revolutionary moments in all of Torah –
innocuously framed as a legal appeal brought by five women:
the daughters of Zelophechad.

Their father died with no sons. And under the existing law,
their family’s land—Zelophechad’s inheritance and legacy—will be lost.
These women step forward with courage,
approach Moses and the entire assembly to say:
“Why should our father’s name be lost from his clan
just because he had no sons? Give us a portion too.” (Numbers 27:4)
But Moses cannot answer them – because it’s not his decision to make.
It’s Divine Law. So he brings their case before God.

God responds: “The plea of Zelophechad’s daughters is just.
You shall give them an inheritance.” (Numbers 27:7)

Since –to our modern ears – this change feels right and just,
we might miss what a radical, even scandalous response this is –
with God essentially saying:
Oops. You’re right, ladies, that doesn’t seem fair at all!
My mistake. I am going to change Divine law.

I guess the Torah wasn’t exactly ‘set in stone.’

I will admit I hadn’t really taken in the implications of this story until this year when the clergy team had the privilege of learning with Prof Chris Hayes, retired Sterling Professor of Religious Studies at Yale.

She explained that the daughters of Zelophechad story is one of only 4 instances in the entire Torah when God changes the law in response to human pushback. But the fact that Divine law can change at all was completely countercultural to the prevailing idea of Divine law in the Greco Roman tradition.

According to Stoic and Greco-Roman philosophy,
Divine law is absolute TRUTH with a capital T.
Like the laws of gravity, or 2+2=4, these Divine laws are rational,
universal, and eternal.
Because the law is Divine, it cannot change—
just as the laws of physics do not change, it is immutable.

By this standard, what God does by changing inheritance laws – is heresy.
Repealing a Divine law is like repealing gravity.

But Jewish law, halakhah, does not derive its authority from divine reason.
But from Divine Will—
the will of our Creator, who has engaged us in a covenantal relationship.

True–our 10 Commandments include some of the most rational, universal,
moral laws there are–including do not murder,
do not bear false witness, do not steal.
But the first of the 10 is simply a statement: I am God.
That’s not a commandment, exactly.
It’s setting up who is the commander. Which is especially important when you don’t understand why you have to do a law.

It’s akin to when a parent commands a rule to a child who thinks it irrational,
and when asked WHY, the response is simply:
Because I am the MOM.

The will of God in Jewish law is not always comprehensible.
The prohibition against mixing wool and linen—shatnez—
Let’s face it – makes no logical sense.
And it’s not universal– its only for Jews.
In Judaism, the orienting principle of Divine law is not Logic or Reason,
or even Ethics– it is HOLINESS.
Gods laws are designed to make Israel holy, kadosh—
which in Hebrew literally means “set apart.”
In many ways it’s the more irrational and particular laws that set us apart.
Everyone knows all human beings should not murder or lie!
But not eating pork chops – that makes us different!

And what could be more kadosh—more set apart from the Greco-Roman understanding of Divine Law—than a God who listens
and sometimes even changes God’s mind?

When Jews of the rabbinic period encountered Greco-Roman philosophy,
this tension between Torah law and reason created deep anxiety–
and Jews responded in several different ways.
Some Jews created apologetics –
(Philo was the poster child of this approach) —
where they tried to fit the Torah into Greek categories.
They argued that even if kashrut seems irrational, it isn’t.
It teaches us the 4 highest Greek values of self-control, courage, justice,
even wisdom. I will admit that this is often the approach I take
when I explain why I keep kosher today:
it’s a discipline. It’s more ethical for the animals.
It makes me more mindful.

A second response to this tension came from Paul.
Paul saw Mosaic law as too particular, too temporal,
too obsessed with ritualistic adherence.
He could not reconcile Mosaic law with this Hellenistic understanding
of Divine law. So he abandoned it, and created his own little offshoot,
now known as Christianity.

The third response was the rabbinic one.
The rabbis did not try to make Torah conform to Greek ideals.
They were not scandalized that Torah didn’t align with a singular truth.
In fact, they rejoiced in it.

The rabbis rejected the idea that law had to be rational, unchangeable,
or that there even was an absolute Truth.
The Talmud recounts a 3 year-long argument between the house of Hillel
and the House of Shammai, where a heavenly voice finally pronounces:
Eilu v’eilu divrei Elohim chayim—
"These and those are both the words of the living God.”
2 Irreconcilable truths. Both the words of God.
Shivim panim l’Torah. “There are 70 faces of Torah.”
And sometimes, getting it “right” isn’t the point.

This is not moral relativism—it is a requirement for moral discernment.
Because the rabbis understood something profound:
in matters of human behavior, there is no single truth
that can apply in every situation.
Mathematics has truths.
But when it came to morality, they were skeptical of absolutism.
Moral questions rarely fit in the dichotomy of True or False. Good or Evil.
Often, what is “good” or “right” depends on context, time,
and the people affected.

A law that was just in one generation might become unjust in another.
A rule that protected the community in the past might now harm it.
The daughters of Zelophechad prove this.
The law—God’s law—was not good enough for them.
And instead of being punished for pushing back against God,
they are praised. Their moral insight becomes law.
This is not about a weakness in Divine Law.
This is about the strength of God’s belief in us.

God relies on the moral insight of humans to refine the law.
This responsibility is what makes the Jewish people different and distinct.

To absolutize any one value, or even Truth is not just flawed—it’s idolatry.
We have seen the danger of those who claim certainty,
sometimes in the name of God.
In Judaism, God's greatest success is not when humans obey
without question, but when we become God’s moral partners—
and even, at times, God’s critics.

So what if the Torah wasn’t given to offer immutable truth—
but to invite us into a lifelong engagement with truth-seeking?
What if the laws weren’t meant to be obeyed mindlessly—
but were there to engage our minds in questions of justice,
goodness and morality?

I imagine that when the daughters of Zelophechad made their case, God smiled.
Like a parent whose child ends up becoming her teacher.
which can be maddening and annoying, but you also can’t help but feel proud.
When those 5 daughters make their case,
God appreciates that this holy chutzpah is what sets us apart,
and what makes us HOLY.