Zionism done right

This piece attempts to provide some color to a comment of Chazal regarding the Bnos Tzelafchad's חיבת הארץ as well as explain away an apparent inconsistency in a specific Amora's approach to it

Bamidbar 27 opens with the daughters of Tzelafchad making their case to share in the distribution of EY by inheriting their sonless father Tzelafachad's portion instead of his brothers.

Chazal posit a love for the land of Israel as their motivation, explaining that the reason this narrative is juxtaposed with the previous chapter owes to it being illustrative of an inferred contrast therein that only the men died out in the midbar as only they had cast aspersions on the land (to the extent of wanting to return to Egypt) as opposed to the women that were lovers of the land and wanted to proceed apace even after the report of the spies. Namely, ibid 26:64: וּבְאֵלֶּה לֹא הָיָה אִישׁ מִפְּקוּדֵי מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן אֲשֶׁר פָּקְדוּ אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּמִדְבַּר סִינָי with Rashi quoting from Chazal: ובאלה לא היה איש – אבל על הנשים לא נגזרה גזירת המרגלים, לפי שהיו מחבבות את הארץ. האנשים אומרים: נתנה ראש ונשובה מצרימה (במדבר י״ד:ד׳), והנשים אומרות: תנו לנו נחלה (במדבר כ״ז:ד׳). לכך נסמכה פרשת בנות צלפחד לכאן. 

Bamidbar 27:3 has the daughters of Tzelafchad stating that: אָבִינוּ מֵת בַּמִּדְבָּר וְהוּא לֹא הָיָה בְּתוֹךְ הָעֵדָה הַנּוֹעָדִים עַל יְהֹוָה בַּעֲדַת קֹרַח כִּי בְחֶטְאוֹ מֵת וּבָנִים לֹא הָיוּ לוֹ with Rashi citing Chazal that: והוא לא היה וגו' – לפי שהיו באות לומר בחטאו מת, נזקקו לומר לא בחטא מתלוננים ולא בעדת קרח שהצו על הקב"ה היה, אלא בחטאו לבדו,⁠ לא החטיא אחרים עמו. ר' עקיבא אומר: הוא מקושש, ור' שמעון אומר: מן המעפילים היה.

I'd like to focus on R Shimon's opinion that Tzelafchad was part of the מעפילים and died in that episode. 

Bamidbar 14 describes the effect that the report of the spies had on the people with them saying (verse 4) נִתְּנָה רֹאשׁ וְנָשׁוּבָה מִצְרָיְמָה which in turn led to the long delay in entering the land. After the people were informed of the delay they regret their rash response and want to continue on to EY (as was the plan all along). Moshe cautions them against it but they push ahead (וַיַּעְפִּלוּ לַעֲלוֹת) regardless and suffer a thrashing at the hand of Amalek and Cana'an. 

Although they pushed ahead without a divine imprimatur, this action can still be viewed as an act of חיבת הארץ—the opposite of the sentiment expressed in נִתְּנָה רֹאשׁ וְנָשׁוּבָה מִצְרָיְמָה. It was no doubt misguided, however, it can also be interpreted as a manifestation of their abiding love of the promised land. 

This was the house that Tzelafchad's children grew up in, presumably imbibing much of their father's enthusiasm for EY.

They were distraught to find out that sans male children their father's dream would come to naught; as well as being desirous of EY themselves. However, they did learn a lesson from their father's tragic end, and brought their case to Moshe, going about their family's zionism the right way this time around. 

This may be what R Shimon intended to convey by identifying Tzelafchad as one of the מעפילים. By telling Moshe the circumstance of their father's death they were communicating their family's great zionism, hoping to finally actualize it with Moshe's (and by extension HaShem's) say so. 

A similar theme can be detected in the Talmud, which portays R Yehudah as a great lover of EY (B Ber. 43a): אֲמַר לֵיהּ רַב חִסְדָּא לְרַב יִצְחָק: הַאי מִשְׁחָא דַאֲפַרְסְמוֹן מַאי מְבָרְכִין עִלָּוֵיהּ? אָמַר לֵיהּ, הָכִי אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה: ״בּוֹרֵא שֶׁמֶן אַרְצֵנוּ״. אָמַר לֵיהּ: בַּר מִינֵּיהּ דְּרַב יְהוּדָה דַּחֲבִיבָא לֵיהּ אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל, לְכוּלֵּי עָלְמָא מַאי? Rav Ḥisda said to Rav Yitzḥak: This balsam oil, what blessing does one recite over it? Rav Yitzḥak said to him, this is what Rav Yehuda said: One recites: Who creates the oil of our land, as balsam only grew in Eretz Yisrael, in the Jordan valley. Rav Ḥisda said to him: Except for Rav Yehuda, for whom Eretz Yisrael was extremely beloved and who therefore mentioned it in his blessing, what blessing does everyone else recite over balsam oil?

On the other hand, some twenty folios prior (ibid 24b, with a similar story appearing in B Ket. 110b), surprisingly, R Yehuda is reported as ruling that it is forbidden to leave Bavel for EY: רַבִּי אַבָּא הֲוָה קָא מִשְׁתְּמִיט מִינֵּיהּ דְּרַב יְהוּדָה דַּהֲוָה קָא בָּעֵי לְמִיסַּק לְאַרְעָא דְיִשְׂרָאֵל, דְּאָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה: כׇּל הָעוֹלֶה מִבָּבֶל לְאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל – עוֹבֵר בַּעֲשֵׂה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: {ירמיהו כ״ז:כ״ב} ״בָּבֶלָה יוּבָאוּ וְשָׁמָּה יִהְיוּ עַד יוֹם פׇּקְדִי אוֹתָם נְאֻם ה׳⁠ ⁠״. The Gemara relates that Rabbi Abba was avoiding being seen by his teacher Rav Yehuda, as Rabbi Abba sought to ascend to Eretz Yisrael and his teacher disapproved, as Rav Yehuda said: Anyone who ascends from Babylonia to Eretz Yisrael transgresses a positive commandment, as it is stated: “They shall be taken to Babylonia and there they shall remain until the day that I recall them, said the Lord” (Jeremiah 27:22).

Apparently, notwithstanding R Yehuda's passionate love of EY–to the extent that a halachic position of his pertaining to it was considered unique to him and not normative—his love of HaShem's will was greater still, and if R Yehuda understood the Torah as disallowing Aliyah from Bavel then so be it. 

Although Tzelafchad's daughters and R Yehudah shared an abiding love for the promised land they were unwilling to act upon it outside of the Torah's framework, modeling for us what true Zionism looks like.