BS"D
UNPRETENTIOUSNESS
UNVEILED: PARSHAT PINCHAS
Shira Smiles shiur 2022/5782
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
Often
in Tanach events recorded in the Torah are clarified with gaps being filled in
through other verses in Tanach. The events surrounding the elevation of
Pinchas, son of Elazar son of Aharon to the priesthood is one of these events.
After
Bilaam failed in his attempt to curse Bnei Yisroel on behalf of Balak, King of
Moav, the Moavites used a ruse to arouse Hashem's anger against Bnei Yisroel.
In a well thought out plan, the Moavite women lured the men into desiring a
sexual relationship with them. The fee would be to perform an act of obeisance
to Peor, their god. The level of idolatry was so high that Zimri, a prince of
the tribe of Shimon, appeared before the Tent of Meeting and openly began
fornicating with Kozbi, a Moavite princess. In what at first glance seems to be
an act of total zealotry and anger, Pinchas grabs a romach/spear and
pierces the two of them together through their intestines.
For
this act of courageous zealotry (Pinchas actually put his life in danger as
Bnei Yisroel was ready to kill him), Hashem validates the justness of Pinchas'
action and granted him a covenant of peace and the priesthood. Our Sages all
ask how such a seemingly totally violent act could generate peace.
Tehillim 105-106 present a
historical narrative of Bnei Yisroel's redemption from Egypt through all the
trials in the desert, their entry into Eretz Canaan, and Hashem's mercy on them
time and time again in spite of our iniquity. Tehillim 106:27-31 recount
this episode with Baal Peor, how Pinchas arose vayephallel, and how his
action stopped the plague Hashem had unleashed on Bnei Yisrael. It is that
word, vayephallel, that our Sages struggle to translate and explain in
order to understand Pinchas' motivation and Hashem's rewarding him in this way.
The
simplest translation of vayephallel is that Pinchas executed judgment.
This was the death penalty decreed upon a Jewish man who fornicates with a
gentile woman. As Reb Elazar explains, that the heavenly angels themselves
wanted to execute Pinchas, but Pinchas "went to court" with God, for
he was acting as a zealot for Hashem's honor.
But
in order to exact vengeance for Hashem's honor, writes Rav Asher Weiss, one's
motivation must be completely noble and must be motivated by compassion.
Indeed, Pinchas was motivated by compassion for Bnei Yisroel for, as Hashem
testified, he repelled Hashem's anger from Bnei Yisroel. As such, he was
privileged to serve as kohain in the Beit Hamikdosh, a position that serves
both Hashem and Bnei Yisroel. A kohain's role is to serve Hashem and to
encourage others to serve Hashem, and to purify them when they sin, to bring
peace between Hakodosh Boruch Hu and Bnei Yisroel, thereby earning the eternal
reward of a covenant of peace.
Let
us now return to our original translation, that Pinchas executed judgment with
Hashem. How did he do that? The Tosher Rebbe quoting Chazal, answers that
Pinchas argued with Hashem: How should 24,000 people die for the sin of these
two? And the plague stopped. Our tradition tells us that Pinchas and Eliyahu
Hanavi are one and the same. [Whether Pinchas lived forever as part of the
covenant of peace or was reincarnated as Eliyahu is a topic for another
discussion. CKS] Eliyahu is held accountable for being zealous for Hashem but
not standing up for Bnei Yisroel in the process. For this lapse, Eliyahu is
instructed to appoint Elisha as his successor. While Pinchas arose from within
Bnei Yisroel, writes the Malbim, Eliyahu had fled to a cave, away from
interacting with and advocating for the people. In this context, the root of p-l-l
also means connection, like the explanation for the name Naphtali. Pinchas was
able to connect his zealotry for Hashem and his love for Bnei Yisroel as dual
motivation for action.
The
name Naphtali is often paired with the middle name Tzvi. Unlike other common
name combinations, IE. Yitzchak Isaac, Dov Ber, this combination is not merely
a translation of each name into another language. [Perhaps the best known
person of this combination is the Netziv, with yet a third name,
Naphtali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin.] The Ohr Doniel speculates as to why these
two names are put together and how they complement each other. A ptil is
a twisted strand of fibers that winds around to make one finished thread.
[Think tzitzit.] A tzvi/deer, unlike other animals, will not stop or
turn back when it finds an obstacle in its path. It may not be the swiftest,
but it will keep running to find a way to reach its destination.
This
is a model for leadership. When there is a lapse in the community, a leader
must do more than just stop, stand up and shout in righteous indignation for
the honor of God. One must connect to the people and find a way to critique and
improve their behavior through sensitive connection, through first finding the
good in them.
Rabbi
Aaron Soloveitchick notes that the Talmud recognizes two aspects of a person,
his inner essence and "that individual." When we see someone acting
inappropriately, we should be concerned not only for Hashem's honor, or for
society, but we should also be concerned with the inner positive core of that
individual and approach him from that perspective. Hashem Himself can hold both
these realities simultaneously, love and the necessity for rebuke, writes the Siach
Mordechai. It was these seemingly contradictory approaches that also
motivated Pinchas, the need for justice to be served as well as the need for
chesed. Especially at the time of extreme anger, Hashem vented that anger on
the wood and stones of the Beit Hamikdosh so as to spare His beloved people,
rendering both justice and compassion.
The
Torah traces Pinchas' lineage back to his grandfather Aharon to teach us that
Pinchas derived his sense of balance and peace from Aharon, the paradigm for
creating peace among members of Bnei Yisroel. How was Aharon Hakohain the model
for Pinchas? Rabbi Goldwicht explains that Aharon was able to achieve
balance and promote peace by understanding that every emotion requires boundaries.
Emotional triggers are set off because of one's ego. However, Aharon was
extremely humble, always thinking in terms of what Hashem would want. When one
puts Hashem rather than self as the motivation for action, one moves from the
emotions of the heart to the balance the brain provides. Making God the focus
removes the egocentric anger. Pinchas could then contemplate both what he
needed to do as a zealot for Hashem and as a zealous advocate for Bnei Yisroel.
The
last verse of the Haftorah of Parshat Balak, Micah 6:8 provides
guidance in achieving this balance, continues Rabbi Goldwicht: "...What is
good and what Hashem seeks from you: only the performance of justice, the love
of kindness, and hatzneyah lechet/walking humbly with your God."
Aren't performance of justice and love of kindness contradictory, mutually
exclusive? Not necessarily. When one minimizes one's ego and walks humbly with
God, when one always contemplates God's will and makes it his own, one makes
peace within oneself. That is how Aharon could feel joy rather than resentment
for his younger brother's appointment as leader of Bnei Yisroel, a position he
himself had held until Moshe's return. Aharon could project the peace within
himself to encompass others.
As
Rav Scheinerman notes, judging an action as good or bad is a product of intent
rather than of result. [Good may result from Hashem's intervention rather than
from the intention of the doer. CKS] The midwives in Egypt were granted batim/houses
because they feared God [even if they could not always be successful in saving
the babies]. Let even those actions you claim to be lshem shamayim/for
the sake of Heaven truly be for the sake of Heaven, not an excuse for your ego.
When
Amalek came to attack Bnei Yisroel, Moshe instructed Yehoshua to go to battle machar/tomorrow.
Amalek was trying to confuse Bnei Yisroel, to make them unsure of how to
proceed. Would this war be a mitzvah, commanded but not
obligatory, a chovah/mandatory war, or a war of rshut/optional
choice. Pinchas had no such confusion, writes Rabbi Kofman in Mishchat
Shemen. He had the same three options, but because his motivation was
clear, he decisively took the romach and
acted. Therefore, as our verse in Tehillim attests, Pinchas' act is considered
an act of tzedakah rather than and act of mishpat/strict justice.
Pinchas acted thoughtfully and compassionately, not as a hothead seeking
vengeance.
Taking
us is a completely different interpretation, Mesillot Bilvovom quotes
the Targum, who translates vayephallel as he prayed, from the same root
as tefillah. As Rabbi Eisenberger explains, there is prayer, and there
is the power of prayer; there is the sword, and the power of the sword. While
the words and the actions may be fairly identical, their power comes from the
mindset. There is tremendous power in focusing on Hakodosh Boruch Hu and being
totally dependent on Him. Both prayer and the "sword" lose their
power when one injects their own ego into the exchange. Pinchas understood that
he had to reinject humility into the people.
If
we fully understood that we were standing before Hakodosh Boruch Hu when we
were davening, we would be so in awe that we would be struck dumb. That is why
we begin our Shemoneh Esrei prayer with, "Hashem sephosi tiftach.../Hashem,
open my lips..." for I do not have the power to speak on my own.
Hashem
has instilled a sense of humility in human beings by creating us as functioning
in some way in ways similar to the functioning of animals We relieve ourselves
as do animals, but we acknowledge Hashem's sovereignty when we recite Asher
Yatzar afterwards. When Bnei Yisroel relieved themselves in from of Peor,
as this was his idolatrous service, the act was an act of pride lacking any
humility. [Think of a child in toilet training. He is so proud of what his body
has "produced." Only as he matures, does he understand the privacy
and humility required of a human being. CKS]
If
vayephallel means to judge, lehitpallel is its reflexive
form. When we pray, we are in essence judging ourselves and our
shortcomings. When we ask Hashem for what we need, do we resolve to use His
gifts to us judiciously? The Brit Shalom/Covenant of peace would bring
Hashem back into our lives both when we pray and when we act.
When
we pray to Hashem, we are reinforcing one of the thirteen Articles of Faith,
the belief in the need to establish a dialogue with the Creator by praying to
Him and to no other. While we may do our hishtadlus but asking for help
at the graves of tzadikim, or taking on a segulah/directed action or
stringency, we must always remember that our hishtadlus is peripheral
and not the answer. As Rabbi Elias explains, the segulah may act like
Motrin, relieving symptoms, but will not cure the cause of the problem or
illness.
If
we are to navigate life successfully, we must face life and its challenges with
pillul, with introspection and self awareness and judgment of our
shortcomings, with love and compassion for ourselves and for others, and with
turning to our Creator in prayer to meet these challenges, overcome them, and
remain shalem/whole and in peace.