Shabbos Parashas Pinchas - 5777

Shabbos Parashas Pinchas - 5777

Rabbi Hal Miller

Pinchas son of Elazar son of Aharon the Kohen turned back My wrath from upon

the children of Israel when he zealously avenged My vengeance among them, so I

did not consume the children of Israel in My vengeance. [Bamidbar 25:11]

The word is b'kano. It can be translated in varying forms as vengeance, jealousy, or

zealousness. In English, all these forms have a rather negative connotation, yet it

seems that G-d was commending Pinchas. What did G-d mean in His description of

what Pinchas had done?

What Pinchas did was cold-blooded, calculated murder of a fellow Jew. Initially it

would appear that Pinchas would be disquaified from all good things, would be liable

for punishment of death in the public court, liable for punishment from heaven, and

a valid target for his victim's family and friends in blood-revenge. In fact, many say

that despite all the merit we ascribe to Pinchas, he was still removed from the leadership

of the Jews. Until this incident, Moshe expected Pinchas would be his own replacement,

but instead the role fell to Yehoshua. The Kotzker Rebbe says that a leader must

conduct himself with moderation and flexibility.

To get out of all these punishments and risks to his life, there had to be some specific

rule that we are to learn from the incident.

Talelei Oros notes that Zimri's act of taking the forbidden woman, and the lack of any

reaction by the rest of the people caused a plague that endangered the lives of all the

Jewish nation. He says, "Pinchas showed a willingness to sacrifice his portion in the

World to Come. Unless his intentions were completely pure, what he was doing was

murder, but for the sake of his fellow Jews, to prevent their deaths, he stood ready to take

this ultimate risk." Thus, our answer seems to be that he had pure motives. But, Zimri's

relatives argued that this was not so. At the time, the consideration of murder as a

heinous crime seems to have diminished, and people more or less turned a blind eye

to it. If it was acceptable to any degree, then Pinchas' fear of punishment may not have

been enough, and he might have acted out of spite or jealousy for his own honor, not

the honor of G-d. Our verse tells us that this was not so, that Pinchas actually did have

G-d's honor as his sole and pure motivation.