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Parshat Pinchas, July 27, 2019
The Story of Pinchas
One of the strangest laws in all of Jewish law revolves around a law that the rabbis ruled is imperative to ignore. You read that correctly; this law is on the statute books yet the rabbis were told that they should never let anyone know about this ruling. It seems too strange to enact legislation only to have it be ignored.
The story follows the biblical escapade of Pinchas, the grandson of the high priest Aaron and grand nephew of Moshe. The Israelites had sinned by engaging in immoral relationships with Midianite women. The Torah states that Hashem was angered by His people’s promiscuity and punished them with a plague that ravaged the Israelite camp. Upon realizing the extent of the death and destruction, Pinchas took his spear and killed the two main provocateurs, Zimri and Cozbi. Immediately the plague stopped yet instead of praising Pinchas, his peers severely ostracized him. It was only Hashem Himself who vouched for the integrity of Pinchas and rewarded him with the gift of eternal priesthood.
Although all the greatest leaders and rabbis opposed what Pinchas did, God Himself shows them to be grossly negligent and misguided in their condemnation. So how do we remedy this conflict? Is God correct or were the leaders and rabbis correct? In discussing this incident the Talmud rules that obviously God has overriding authority but nonetheless the rabbis were procedurally correct in their criticism of Pinchas. They write the following legal treatise on this subject: “Halacha v’en morin ken” - this is the law but we don’t teach people to follow this law.
To better understand this ruling and its subsequent contradictory ruling requires us to delve into the depths of the initial law. Pinchas realized that the Israelites’ blasphemous behavior had a direct correlation with the death of thousands of people. Thus, he calculated that what he was doing was in society’s best interest. By killing the two people who were most responsible for the Israelites’ misdeeds he would ultimately save countless innocent civilians from the wrath of God. Regardless of his justification it still seems contrary to our sense of morality and justice. How could he take the law into his own hand by being judge, jury, and executioner? Hashem though counters our morality by stating that Pinchas was motivated by a purity of intentions and acted in the interest of mankind. Thus, the law emphatically states that in a similar case, it is appropriate for others to behave as Pinchas did. However, the rabbis ruled that since it's impossible for anyone other than God to know with absolute conviction an individual's motivation, the rabbis were unable to permit anyone to act according to this rule.
In other words, the rabbis were concerned that an individual's intentions may be tainted by selfish or personal motives. Can I ever be absolutely certain that my thoughts are 100% pure without a tinge of personal gratification? Can anyone ever be sure of this? Is it possible to be objective about our own views and convictions?
An analogy may be made to a sporting event where opposing fans are observing the exact same play. The referee makes a call indicating that the catch was made or the ball was in fair territory and thus one team wins. All the fans of the victorious team cheer the decision while the fans of the opposing team boo and harshly criticize the referee. If the ruling would have favored the other team then all those who booed would have cheered and all those who cheered would have booed. It’s not that everyone is inherently dishonest, it’s just that we are so impacted by ulterior motives that we can’t be objective. Ask any Yankee fan if in 1996 Jeffery Mauer interfered with Derek Jeter’s home run and the answer will be unequivocally ‘no’. Ask the same question to someone from Baltimore and they will assure you it was intentional interference and that Jeffrey Mauer is still unwelcome in Baltimore.
I know it’s all too confusing but perhaps current news on Israel will assist in understanding the story of Pinchas. I’m sure you have read or heard the news and the never ending atrocities that Israelis have committed against the poor Palestinians. It’s not only Israel that is continuously lambasted, it’s also any individual or politician that stands with Israel. Israel’s actions and intentions are so often distorted and mischaracterized. The facts are ignored if they don’t support the Palestinian narrative and even the most humane policies of the IDF are twisted in a negative slant. Perhaps I am unfair, as Israel is not always angelic, but those that criticize Israel constantly ignore atrocities committed by Iran, Hamas, The Palestinians, and Hezbollah. It seems obvious that those who dislike Israel will find every justification to minimize their achievements and criticize their misdeeds while ignoring the atrocities of those countries they favor. Conversely, those who unashamedly support Israel minimize their misdeeds and choose to only highlight their accomplishments.
I don’t believe what I’m saying is radical. I think it’s a flaw in almost all human beings. We all tend to see things through the lenses of our own creation. Can any rational person believe that Rashida Tlaib or Ilhan Omar who intend to visit Israel will be open minded to the Israeli’s viewpoint? Or for that matter, I doubt quite strongly that many fundamentalist politicians are really interested in hearing about the Palestinian cause.
There are important components to this law that are often overlooked.
1. There are laws and ideals found in the Torah that are absolutely correct, albeit not necessarily able to be incorporated for all people and all time. It’s not a deficiency in the Torah, it’s a reality in the continuous evolution of rabbinic teaching.
2. Pinchas was an enigma and required God Himself to vouch for his integrity. Often people justify heinous acts by claiming they are acting in the manner of Pinchas but fail to have moral clarity in their decision making. Unfortunately, both the murderer of Yitzchak Rabin and the mass murderer of Muslims in Hebron, erroneously used this logic to justify an incomprehensible inhumanity. (I decided not to mention their names as I don’t believe either of these despicable human beings deserve name recognition).
3. Pinchas is called a ‘kanoi,’ an overly zealous individual. This is his nature and his character that is praised by Hashem. However, God’s reward for Pinchas is not only the eternal priesthood but also ‘shalom’ - eternal peace. Although zealotry may have its place, a peace loving individual can’t be a zealot. Hence, Hashem rewards Pinchas by altering his personality and ensuring that he no longer feels the need to be a zealot. In other words zealotry might sound pious but it’s not a blessing that I would aspire to receive.
4. Finally, my intent is not to denigrate humanity by characterizing us as disingenuous or predictable. On the contrary my intent is to give an honest evaluation of the pitfalls that we face in the hope that we can rise above the lowest common denominator. So I ask, am I wrong? Am I misrepresenting one of human nature’s flaws? Am I looking at things through my own lens which may be seen by another as distorted? Ask my wife - she will report that on occasion I have been wrong.
Shabbat shalom and nice to be home,
Rabbi Jack
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