Pinhas: Covenant of Peace to a Zealous Hero

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." 

Pinchas: G-d's Honor: Connecting Pinchas and the Three Weeks

by Rav Netanel Yosifun, Rosh Yeshivat Orot Netanya, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

It is told of one of the great Torah scholars of Israel that in his childhood, he would study Gemara (Talmud) with his father. Before every holiday, they would study the tractate that had to do with that holiday: P'sachim before Pesach, Sukkah before Sukkot, and the like. One year, around the beginning of the Counting of the Omer, his father asked him: "OK, which tractate shall we study now?" The boy answered: "Let's study Tractate Sh'vuot, in preparation for the festival of Shavuot."

His father responded that the boy seemed to be confusing sh'vuot, which means "oaths," and Shavuot, which refers to the Shavuot holiday: "Tractate Sh'vuot does not deal with the holiday," he told his son, "but with the prohibition of swearing in vain and lying and the like."

The boy replied, "Yes, I know that. However, when we stood at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, we swore to fulfill all the mitzvot. As the Talmud teaches, we may not make a vow to fulfill a mitzvah - because we are already bound by the oath that we took at Sinai; we "stand bound by our oath from Sinai." As such, so that we may internalize the greatness of the obligation we accepted upon ourselves at Mount Sinai on the day of the Shavuot holiday when we received the Torah, we must prepare for that holiday now by studying the Sh'vuot tractate…" 

Every year we read Parashat Pinchas at the beginning of the Three Weeks, which is the mourning period for the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash (the Holy Temple) and the exile of Israel. Just as we saw that Shavuot and sh'vuot share in the same important message, it seems that this is also true for Parashat Pinchas and the Three Weeks: they share the message of the centrality of the Beit HaMikdash – as we will explain.

It would seem that in order for us to be able to mourn the destruction of the Holy Temple, we must first learn how important it is. But even before that, we must learn something even more basic: how to get out of our own four cubits, and become people who "really care." 

Our goal must be to be people who care about the Nation of Israel, about the desecration of G-d's name in the world, and about the Exile of the Divine Presence.

This means that learning about the importance of the Temple alone is not enough. For one could say to himself: "The Temple is fascinating, but what does it really have to do with me? How does it concern me?" Or he might even go one step further and say, "Sure, it's important for me to serve G-d – but that's my personal service, and it's for me to concentrate on. But what connection is there between me and the Holy Temple and the revelation of G-d's name in the world??"

In order to answer, or obviate, these questions, what we must do first is develop a sense of really caring about the revelation of G-d's name in the world.

The Ramchal (R. Moshe Chaim Luzatto, 18th century, Italy) wrote about this in his classic work "The Path of the Just," chapter 19, as follows: 

"He whose motivation in his service of G-d is to purify his soul so that he will be worthy of sitting among the Just and the Pious… and receive the reward of the World to Come – we certainly cannot say that his motive is evil. But we also cannot say that this is the best of motives, because when a person is thinking about his own benefit, his service is ultimately for his own self-interest. 

"Rather, the true intention found among the pious who have labored and strived to achieve it, is that the honor of G-d should increase and multiply..."

That is, the highest level in the service of G-d is to desire that His name should be revealed in the world. Such intention will lead and enable one to mourn over the destruction of the Temple, which represents this Divine honor. As the Ramchal wrote in the above work in the name of Tanna Dvei Eliyahu: 

"Every sage of Israel who has attained true Torah knowledge, and grieves over G-d's honor, the honor of Israel, and the honor of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple, and longs for Israel's redemption and the ingathering of the exiles – he will merit to have G-d's spirit of holiness upon his words."

The Ramchal adds there that we should not say: "How can I expect to accomplish anything in this area? Will my prayer make a difference? Can it actually bring about an ingathering of the exiles and redemption?" The answer is - yes! It was precisely about this that the Sages taught (Tr. Sanhedrin p. 68): "Why was Man created alone? So that everyone could say, 'for me the world was created'."

And this is exactly the background from which Pinchas arose. Pinchas was the man who stopped a plague in Israel by killing Zimri ben Salu who sinned publicly with a daughter of Moav. He could have said, as many have said after him, "Who am I? I'm not in charge here. I am not the Sanhedrin and not the king, and it's not my job to solve the problem of Zimri ben Salu." But he was a man who cared, and therefore he was the only one who could resolve it! 

Pinchas was a kanai, one who was willing to go "all the way" for his beliefs and desire to ensure the preservation of G-d's honor. He saw the desecration of G-d's name caused by Zimri's sin, and he arose and did something about it. Ordinary people are not allowed to do such an act as he did, killing Zimri. But one who cares, and is jealous for G-d, is he who is able to solve the problem.

And by virtue of that caring, Pinchas received from G-d the blessings of peace and the everlasting covenant, and merited to become a High Priest and a leader of Israel. And as the Ramchal wrote, G-d ultimately gives the leadership of Israel to those caring people who give their lives for Israel: 

"These are the true shepherds of Israel whom G-d desires greatly, who devote themselves to His sheep, and strive and work for Israel's peace and well-being in all ways... This can be compared to a father who loves no one more than those who love his sons with faithful love..."

May we be privileged to experience this.

Pinhas: Transferring the Scepter of Leadership

by Rav Moshe Leib HaCohen Halbershtat, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel

In this week's Torah portion of Pinchas (Bamidbar 25,10-30,1), we read of Moshe's request to G-d for Israel's future: "Moshe spoke to G-d, saying: May the G-d of all living spirits place a man over the congregation" (27,15-16).

The Medrash teaches that Moshe specifically asked for a leader who would recognize and appreciate each individual for what he was, and who would personally lead them in battle as he did. 

This is quite remarkable. Moshe Rabbeinu is about to leave this world, and the main thing that concerns him is that his flock, the People of Israel, should not be left as "sheep without a shepherd" (verse 17). He turns to G-d in prayer and asks that the new leader He plans to appoint for Israel will be one who understands the complexities of the nation, who can relate to people's souls, who takes full responsibility, and who knows how to meet everyone's various needs.

The Medrash further notes that this request of Moshe appears in the Torah after the laws of priorities in inheritance - and especially the story of the daughters of Tzlofchad and their inheritance of his land. Moshe therefore thought that this means that his sons should inherit and take over his own position. However, G-d said no, and that Yehoshua was more worthy than them. Why? Because Yehoshua was constantly engaged in the study of Torah and in facilitating it for others, and always assisted Moshe in his duties, and was therefore the correct choice to lead the nation.  

This raises the following question: What did Moshe think at first, and what did he understand afterwards?

The law is that a new King of Israel is anointed with the special Oil of Anointment, and with this he acquires the kingship not only for himself, but also for his descendants after him for all generations. As written: "So that he and his descendants in Israel will reign for many days" (D'varim 17,20). This is true not only for kingship, but for all positions of leadership; they all pass from father to son – "on condition that the son can fill his forefathers' place in wisdom and fear of G-d" (Maimonides, Laws of Kings 1,7).

Moshe Rabbeinu certainly knew that his sons were not as learned as Yehoshua. On the other hand, he felt, in addition to his fatherly instincts, that if Tzlofchad's daughters inherited him, certainly his sons should inherit him. G-d, however, explained to him that though this is true in principle, his sons do not meet the added requirements of filling their father's shoes in terms of wisdom and fear – and therefore the law is that it is not their place to inherit Moshe's position. 

G-d also added that "Yehoshua is worthy of leading Israel," according to the Medrash. This means that even if the law would have been that Moshe's sons could lead, it is important to consider what is "worthy" and what is the most correct thing to do in every case. Since Yehoshua was the most suitable and worthy, and also worked hard and with integrity and devotion to attain his position, he was the proper choice to take over the mantle of leadership.

R. Natan taught in the Medrash: "Moshe was saddened that none of his sons became the leader." G-d told him, "Your brother Aharon's sons are like your own [for Moshe taught them Torah, rendering them like his sons – Tr. Sanhedrin 19b], and whomever I appoint as leader will go and consult with Aharon's son Elazar." G-d understood the difficulty that Moshe was facing, in that the new leader would be his student and not his son, and therefore commanded Yehoshua to go to the door of Moshe's nephew Elazar and ask him to consult the Urim V'Tumim regarding critical decisions for Israel.

The Torah thus teaches us in a detailed format how a new leader must be chosen. He must be the most worthy choice, one who is eligible for the post according to Torah law, and also worthy on his own merits. In addition, if the outgoing leader is not succeeded by his own son, the transfer of authority must be effected with the greatest sensitivity, to ensure that no one's feelings are hurt.

Installing the New Leader

The verses tell us that four steps must be carried out during the actual appointment of the new leader: 

G-d said to Moshe, "Take Yehoshua bin Nun, a man of spirit, and place your hand upon him. And present him before Elazar the Priest, and before the entire congregation, and charge him in their presence. Bestow some of your majesty upon him so that the entire congregation of the children of Israel will take heed." (Bamidbar 27)

The four necessary steps for the transfer to go over smoothly and without dispute are these:

1. "Place your hand upon him" -  Rashi explains: "Give him an interpreter, so that he will hold Halakhic discourses during your lifetime - so that people will not say about him that he dared not raise his head when Moshe was alive" [and see also Sifrei Bamidbar 140,1]. The transfer must take place even before the outgoing leader actually leaves, so that it will be clear to all that the new leader has the approval of his predecessor, who believes in and trusts him completely.

2. "Present him before Elazar the Priest, and before the entire congregation" – The new appointment must be carried out before the entire congregation and its leaders, in order to avoid any subsequent challenges.

3. "And charge him" – regarding Israel. He should know the troubles they made for Moshe, in order that he accept the job with all its difficulties. It often happens that a person takes upon himself an attractive and desirable position, but when he sees the difficulties that are involved, he shies away from dealing with them, explaining that he did not accept the job with such conditions. To avoid this, the candidate must be provided with all the necessary information beforehand, so that he accept the job with full knowledge of what it involves, and will then execute his responsibilities effectively.

4. "Bestow some of your majesty upon him" – Just as Moshe's face shone, so too Yehoshua's face must shine, "so that the entire congregation of Israel will take heed" and will honor and fear him (Rashi). One of the conditions of success for a leader is that his authority be established – and this requires the trappings of honor. A king needs a crown, royal garments, a luxurious palace, and an honor guard. A chief rabbi requires a special Rabbinic cloak and recognition and honor from the elders and the entire congregation. These must be afforded the leader, in order that he be able to wield his authority effectively for the benefit of all.

May G-d grant that we merit very soon the leadership of "a shoot from the stem of Yishai [father of David]," for whom "righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faith the girdle of his waist" (Yeshayahu 11,1-5).