“And Moshe brought their lawsuit to Hashem” (27:5).
What was Moshe’s problem?
Receiving a portion in Eretz Yisrael, explains the Ohel Torah, is tied up with keeping the Shabbos, as Chazal have said (based on a Pasuk in Yeshayah) ‘Whoever keeps Shabbos properly receives an inheritance without borders’. That being the case, someone who desecrates Shabbos, forfeits that portion.
Our sages have said that the man who was put to death for desecrating Shabbos (at the end of Sh’lach-L’cha) was none other than Tz’lofchad. According to that opinion, he forfeited his right to a portion in Eretz Yisrael.
However, there is an opinion which maintains that he acted ‘le’Shem Shamayim’. On the one hand, this did not absolve him from the death penalty, whilst on the other, it seems, it would enable him to retain his portion.
This was something that only G-d could ascertain. That’s why Moshe passed the lawsuit on to Him to deal with.
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