by Rav Yosef Tzvi Rimon, Rabbi of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.
Last week's Torah portion ends with Pinchas killing a sinning couple,
and this week's portion - Pinchas, Bamidbar 25,10–30,1 - ends with G-d giving
him His "covenant of peace." This requires explanation!
The Torah originally told us that the Israelites had been sinfully drawn
to the Moavite women, resulting in a massive and lethal Divine plague. To make
matters even worse, Zimri, a leading member of the Tribe of Shimon, publicly
took a Midianite woman – and Pinchas killed them both; this stopped the plague.
The Torah then states, at the beginning of this week's portion: "Pinchas
son of Elazar son of Aharon the Priest reversed My anger against the Children
of Israel, in being zealous for My sake… Therefore say: 'I hereby give him My
covenant of peace.'"
Why does Pinchas receive such a covenant? How are we to understand the
turn of events in this story?
Rashi explains that there is in fact no connection between a covenant of
peace and what Pinchas did – but there is certainly a connection between the
covenant and the result of what Pinchas did. Rashi says that when G-d
gave him a covenant of peace, it means that it "should be a
covenant of peace for him; just as a man owes gratitude and favor to someone
who did him a kindness, so too, here G-d expressed to him His sentiments of
peace."
That is, Pinchas did a type of kindness for G-d, according to Rashi, and
in reward for this Kiddush Hashem (Sanctification of G-d's Name), he received a
covenant of peace with G-d. The idea apparently is that Pinchas created a
Kiddush Hashem in the world, and thus received a reward in kind. As similarly
explained by the Alshekh: "He received this covenant for having publicized
and sanctified My name before all."
On the other hand, other commentaries - the Chizkuni and the Ibn Ezra - explain
that there is a direct connection between the actual act that Pinchas did and
the reward he received. Since there was a real fear that Zimri's relatives
would seek to kill Pinchas in revenge, G-d appeased him by saying that he need
not be afraid, because He would protect him and ensure his welfare, his peace. As
the Chizkuni explains, "The covenant of peace means that Pinchas need not
fear the relatives of Zimri and Cozbi [the Midianite harlot]."
My
esteemed teacher and Rabbi, the late Rav Aharon Lichtenstein (Rosh Yeshivat Har
Etzion and son-in-law of Rav Soloveitchik) once explained that Pinchas was a
man totally involved in pursuing peace. The Prophet Malachi said about him that
G-d's "covenant was with him, life and peace" (2,5).
But despite his peace-loving nature, he recognized that there are times of
crisis when other types of actions are called for – actions of war. Pinchas
knew how to act correctly and to fight even when others did not.
However, performing this deed of zealotry still left a concern: Perhaps
it would somewhat diminish Pinchas’ sensitivity. This fear is reinforced by the
words of the Ramban, who wrote that even the most ethical person loses
something of his morality by being involved in war. There is thus a fear that perhaps
Pinchas would no longer be on the same spiritual level as before. G-d therefore
promised to "give him My covenant of peace" – a Divine
promise that Pinchas would definitely return to the same spiritual state he had
been in, and that the act of killing would not mar his exalted character.
To this we can add: The image
of the Priest is one of peace; this is why the Priests bless the Nation of
Israel with peace, as in the third part of the Priestly Blessing: "Yisa
Hashem Panav, May G-d raise His countenance towards you and give you
peace." Pinchas assumedly drew his nature of peace from his
grandfather, Aharon HaCohen, who was known as a "lover of peace and
pursuer of peace" (Pirkei Avot 1).
As mentioned, even a man of
peace must sometimes go out and make battle. Even a man of peace knows that
enemies – those of Israel and those of G-d – must be fought and struck down. Even
a man of peace knows that one who has pity and compassion on terrorists
is actually a criminal himself, one who fights against peace, not only at home but
also around the world. Sometimes one must actually fight for peace!
The fact that great demands are made upon Priests is alluded to by the
law that only those who are "perfect," that is, with no physical
defect [as outlined in the Talmud and Halakhah], are fit to serve as Priests in
the Holy Temple service. Our Sages stated (Kiddushin 66b) that the word shalom
(peace) in the phrase "My covenant of peace," is
written with a broken letter vuv, and thus can be read without the vuv
as "shalem," meaning "complete." In short, the
priests must be "complete."
Pinchas manifests completeness. He received, "My covenant of shalom/shalem,
peace/completeness." He is a man of peace who, as a close descendant of
Aharon, loves peace. knows how to make peace between people, and knows that the
efforts to attain peace sometimes require extreme means that actually destroy
and remove that which is bad from the world.
May it be G-d's will that we all merit to receive the blessing of peace: "May G-d raise His countenance towards you and give you peace."
No comments:
Post a Comment