Shabbat Parashat Pinchas - 5781

Shabbat Parashat Pinchas - 5781

Rabbi Hal Miller

And it shall be for him and his offspring after him a covenant of eternal priesthood

because he took vengeance for his God and he atoned for the children of Israel.

Bamidbar [25:13]

When we read this verse, we think of the status of Kohen that God bestowed upon

Pinchas for his deed in killing Zimri and Cozbi, and there are many commentaries

discussing that. But what does the end of this verse mean, that Pinchas "atoned

for the children of Israel"?

Throughout the Torah we see references to atonement tied to the sacrifice of a

male goat as a sin offering for atonement. How does our verse fit in with that?

Onkelos translates in the alternative. The word is va'yi'kapeir, which can mean

either "and he will atone", or "he did atone", depending on context of the leading

letter vov. Onkelos says that either Pinchas already did something in the past

that led to the atonement for the people, or that Pinchas would be doing so in

the future as a Kohen. In other words, our verse is not relating this atonement

to the killing of Zimri.

Bamidbar Rabbah [21:3] says, "But did he offer a sacrifice to justify the expression 'atonement' in this connection? No, but it serves to teach you that if a man sheds the blood of the wicked it is as though he offered a sacrifice." Seems like a bit of a stretch, but it does sort of address our question. Sefer HaChinuch in mitzvah 121 discusses the bringing of this goat. He says it only applies to unintentional sins, specifically with the purpose to "humble a sinful spirit." We know that animal sacrifices are supposedly a replacement for our own deaths when we sin, a thought that should humble us when we've done wrong-- but for this it would be me sacrificed. If we look at Zimri as the sacrificial goat on behalf of the rest of the people, this might be a more logical answer for us. Talelei Oros looks at it from a different direction. Two verses prior to ours, we read, "He removed My anger from the children of Israel" [25:11]. God's anger was already upon the people, but the zealousness of Pinchas assuaged that anger. If the sacrifice of the goat, or in this case Zimri, has as its purpose the removal of God's anger, then Pinchas, by this action, accomplished that purpose. Perhaps this is the definition of atonement.