About this episode
Study Guide Bava Batra 120 Today's daf is sponsored by Sylvia Klein in loving memory of her mother, Lila Klein, Leah bat Yosef v'Pasha. "She dedicated her life to her family, her students, Israel, and the Jewish people." If the daughters of Tzlofchad got married after the age of forty, how did they have children, as according to a braita , women who marry after the age of forty cannot give birth? Just as Yocheved, the mother of Moshe, gave birth to him at age 130 because her body miraculously "rejuvenated," the same occurred to the daughters of Tzlofchad. The chronology of Yocheved's narrative is extrapolated from the verses to establish that she was 130 years old at the time of Moshe's birth. The names of the daughters of Tzlofchad are mentioned twice in the Torah, each time in a different order—once in order of their intelligence (when they approached Moshe) and once in order of their age (when discussing who they could marry). In legal matters, respect is given to the wisest, while in social settings, it is accorded to the oldest. The daughters of Tzlofchad were permitted to marry anyone they chose, but it was recommended they marry within their tribe. However, other women in their generation who inherited land were prohibited from marrying outside their tribe. This prohibition applied only to that generation, as derived from the words " ze hadavar ." The Gemara raises a difficulty because there are other places (such as the prohibition to slaughter sacrifices outside the Temple and the laws of vows) where these words are used, and the commandments apply to all generations. How can this be explained?