Parashat Pinchas brings us a rare, powerful story in the Torah. We meet a group of five sisters – Machlah, Noa, Choglah, Milkah, and Tirtzah – who approached Moses before the entire nation. We learn that their father, Zelophehad, had died. According to the law, if a man dies, then his sons were to inherit his property, a piece of territory once they enter the Promised Land. As Zelophehad had no sons, his five daughters turned to Moses and requested that they receive the land that would have gone to their father.  
 
“Let not our father’s name be lost to his clan just because he had no son! Give us a holding among our father’s kinsmen!” Moses brought their case before G-d. And G-d said to Moses, “The plea of Zelophehad’s daughters is just: you should give them a hereditary holding among their father’s kinsmen; transfer their father’s share to them.” (Bamidbar 27:4-7) 
 
What makes this story so important and powerful? First, because of the case of Zelophehad’s daughters, the laws of inheritance changed and from then on, one who died without sons would have his daughters inherit his property. There are very few details about the five sisters, but the sources we have teach us that these women were intelligent, learned and pious women. We encounter their intelligence in their clear presentation of their case in front of Moses, and we hear G-d saying that the sisters have spoken correctly. An interesting detail about them is that in a few places where the sisters’ names are listed, they always appear in a different order, which shows us that they were all equal in their wisdom and righteousness. 
 
Our sages share a valuable lesson from this story. They teach us that Jewish law has the flexibility to expand and embrace women, giving them more rights and a fairer share of our common legacy. An additional lesson I take from this is that Jewish law has the flexibility for us all to find meaning, values and purpose in however we choose to live our Jewish lives and express our Jewish identities.