Torah Connection - Pinchas

I really struggled with this Parsha.  What a mish mash!

1. Recap of the end of last parsha, when, right after getting Bilaam's blessings, the Jews are seduced into idol worship, resulting in massive divine retribution, which only ends when Pinchas kills several of the perpetrators. Ugh.  Not a nice story.

2. Rundown of the census, in preparation for the upcoming war of conquest.  Um, OK.  G*d's decree that the slave generation would die off in the desert is confirmed -- only Caleb ben Yefune and Yehoshua bin Nun, the faithfuls spies, are spared.

3. An interesting anecdote, and a hat-tip to Biblical-era women's rights:

Chapter 27¹ The daughters of Zelophehad, of Manassite family—son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh son of Joseph—came forward. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ² They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the chieftains, and the whole assembly, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and they said, ³ "Our father died in the wilderness. He was not one of the faction, Korah's faction, which banded together against the Lord, but died for his own sin; and he has left no sons. ⁴ 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!"
⁵ Moses brought their case before the Lord.
⁶ And the Lord said to Moses, ⁷ "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.
⁸ "Further, speak to the Israelite people as follows: 'If a man dies without leaving a son, you shall transfer his property to his daughter. ⁹ If he has no daughter, you shall assign his property to his brothers. ¹⁰ If he has no brothers, you shall assign his property to his father's brothers. ¹¹ If his father had no brothers, you shall assign his property to his nearest relative in his own clan, and he shall inherit it.' This shall be the law of procedure for the Israelites, in accordance with the Lord's command to Moses."

4.  G*d tells Moses to climb Mt. Abiram, look over the land of Israel, and die there.  Moses points out that he has not yet appointed his successor.  With G*d's guidance, he proceeds to commission Yehoshua bin Nun (Joshua) in an official ceremony with all the priests.  Then he realizes that we still have the whole book of Deuteronomy before he can die.

5. Let's go over some more sacrifices!  Daily, weekly (Sabbath), monthly (new moon), and festivals (Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkoth).

I can't get a coherent theme out of all this, and I am so behind, I'll just let this sit there.