Parsha Home

Parshat Pinhas

Numbers 25:10 - 30:1

At the end of the last parsha, we read how the women of Moab were seducing the Israelite men. A plague is ravaging the people with no hope of stopping the punishment from G-d. Pinchas, the son of Elazer (the Kohen Gadol), witnesses a sexual encounter between an Israelite man named Zimri, and a Moabite woman. Pinchas kills both of them and the plague immediately stops. In this parsha, we read that G-d rewards Pinchas for his zeal in defending the honor of G-d. He is told that the Priesthood (kehunah) will forever come from his seed.

A new war with the Midianites was near, and G-d commands Moses to take a new census of the people. This information is needed not only for the formation of an army, but also for the allocation of the land after the conquest of Canaan. The total number of men, over age twenty is 607,730. Land size was proportional to the population of the tribe and its geographical location would be chosen by lottery. The Leviim were to be counted separately.

Zelophchad, a member of tribe of Menasheh, died leaving five daughters but no sons. A question arose about whether the daughters could inherit their father’s estate. The case was brought before Moses who in turn asked God for guidance. The final decision was that if a father died leaving no sons as heirs, his surviving daughters can inherit his property. If he died leaving no children, his estate would pass to his brothers, or to the next of kin.

Finally, G-d tells Moshe that it is almost time for him to die. He commands Moses to climb the mountain of Aravim where he can view all of the promised land. Moses asks G-d to appoint a successor and G-d chooses Yehoshua Ben Nun. Unlike Moses, who was guided by G-d, Joshua would be guided by the Kohen Gadol, Elazer. When the people do enter Canaan, their duties regarding the sacrifices and offerings were to be continued.

The Torah states that for his action in slaying Zimri and the Moabite woman:
“Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aaron the Priest, has turned away My wrath from the Children of Israel, in that he was very jealous for My sake among them, so that I consumed not the Children of Israel in My jealousy. Wherefore say: Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace; and it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him, a covenant of everlasting priesthood; because he was jealous for his G-d.”

There are two questions that we can think about based on these opening verses. First, why was Pinchas rewarded for his act of killing? Second, why is the reward a “covenant of peace” in the form of the hereditary priesthood? Wasn’t that distinction given to Aaron in a previous parsha?

Let’s discuss the second question first. Rashi states, that the designation of Pinchas as the son of Elazar, the High Priest, and the grandson of Aaron, is to highlight his lineage as a descendant of Aaron. Even still, the Torah’s language conferred the priesthood on Aaron and his sons and hence not necessarily his grandsons and later descendants. Thus with this act, G-d states for all time the descendants of Pinchas, and hence Aaron, will have the hereditary title of kohen.

The first question, about rewarding Pinchas, is more complex. The Torah is quite explicit in stating that the very act of violence committed by Pinchas stops the plague, which had killed 24,000 people. And yet, the reward is a “covenant of peace”. One can only wonder what the rest of the leaders of Israel, including Moses, were doing to stop the morality plague striking the people.

This situation is somewhat reminiscent of the Hasmonean revolt against the Syrian Greeks during the story of Chanukkah. Mattathias and his sons were kohanim who lead the bloody revolt that cleansed the Temple and brought about the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days. The “Macabees” were Priests who took action against the moral plague of Hellenistic assimilation and the desecration of the Holy Temple by installing idols and defiling the Holy Ark.

How can a covenant of peace be connected with violence when we pray in the daily service “may we be disciples of Aaron the kohen, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving our fellow creatures and drawing them near to the Torah”.

If you look at verse twelve, you will see that the word “shalom” is written with a shortened “vav” so that it looks like a “yud”. We can then read the verse as though it said, “behold, I give unto him My covenant ‘shel yam’…” , My covenant of the sea. What would be the covenant of the sea? At the red sea, according to the Midrash, the sea did not immediately part. Nevertheless, the Children of Israel walked into the sea until the water was up to their necks and then the sea parted. This demonstrated their willingness to take an active part in their salvation. Once the people demonstrated a willingness to participate with G-d, G-d saved them by causing the sea to part. Thus, the covenant of the sea, refers to the covenant made between G-d and Jewish people at the shores of the sea when Moses sang “az yashir Moshe, u’venai Yisrael”… Pinchas realized that the plague devastating the people was caused by their own immorality and only by direct action of the people could the plague be stopped. This indeed was an act of peace for as we know in modern times, peace comes through strength and not weakness.

Another meaning for the covenant of the sea reminds us that the Torah is often referred to as a “sea”. Thus, the covenant of the sea means the covenant of the Torah. In ancient Israel, the kohen was the repository of Torah knowledge. The kohen was supposed to be a teacher, knowledgeable in all areas of the Torah. The Kohen Gadol was responsible for the secrets of the Aron HaKodesh, for the korbanos, the parah adumah, as well as the mystical atonement ritual on Yom Kippur.

We can also associate the word “yam” (yud-mem) with the number fifty. The covenant shel yud-mem or the covenant of the fifty refers to the fifty levels of righteous to which the people were elevated at the time of the Mattan Torah on Mt. Sinai. At that time, G-d made a covenant with the people to be their G-d for all time.

A final interpretation, given by the sages is that the vav in “shalom” is divided to remind us that true peace is never achieved unless it is for the purest of motives. Pinchas single handedly stopped the plague. He could have declared himself the new leader after Moses. Instead, he asked for no reward but to serve G-d. The Torah states that he was “jealous for his G-d”. His dynasty in peace shall endure. Recall, however, that after the victory over Antiochus in 168 BCE, the Hasmoneans installed themselves as rulers in Israel instead of a descendant of King David. The kingdom was not to survive long since the Romans soon took over and destroyed the second Temple in 70 CE. The Sages state that the reason for the destruction of the Second Temple was “sinah chinan”, baseless hatred and loshen hara (evil speech and gossip).

In the book of Bereshis, we read that on when G-d separated the light and the darkness, he pronounced it “ki tov” (it was good). However, on the second day, when G-d divided the waters to create the dry land, the phrase “ki tov is missing”. The sages point out, that the division of light and darkness was a divinely ordained for the benefit of mankind. The light represented righteousness and darkness represented the evil forces of the yetzer hara. This divine light is not the same light that was created for the Sun, Moon, and stars, but according to the Zohar, a spiritual light, set aside for the righteous. Light and darkness are thus not physical, but spiritual entities. The division of the waters, while divinely ordained, produced a separation of material substances, which lead to machlokes or controversy.

The “vav” is a connector and a separator. It joins together individual entities into one grouping (me and my shadow). However, this act of connecting is also an act of separating. The phrase “me and my shadow”, distinguishes two separate entities. The connection between them, the thin “vav” is very tenuous. Spiritually, this means that as a kahal, as a holy community, our congregation consists of many separate entities joined together for a common purpose. If we subsume our individual talents and experiences, the whole becomes diluted. The strength of our unity is our diversity. This is also what makes America so great. We are not ethnically homogeneous. The glory of being a multicultural society is not to meld together into a single melting pot, but to learn from each other and to celebrate our differences. As the mishnah states, “who is wise, one who learns from everyone!”

If our disagreements are for the sake of Heaven (as the Talmud reminds us, such were the debates between Hillel and Shammai), then this is not machlokes, but a sincere search for ways to better our kehillah. But if the arguments are filled with sinah chinan, baseless hatred, personal agendas, the seeking of personal honor, then the result will be division without the divine “ki tov”.

Recall that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed over one hundred and forty years ago: “a house divided against itself cannot stand”. When the founding fathers of this country were signing the Declaration of Independence, it was vital that there be unanimity amongst the delegates. Everyone was required to sign his name. It is reported that Benjamin Franklin said, “we must all hang together or most assuredly we shall all hang separately!”

Let us strive to complete the vav in verse 12 and put it back in “shalom”. Let us make shalom whole again by uniting together. Let us be like Pinchas, zealous for G-d with the purest of motives. And let us be like Pinchas zealous to for the kahal of Judaism and our synagogue; and not for our own personal gain or honor. This is the characteristic of all leaders who act for the benefit of the Jewish community on the local and national level. May we all be privileged to gain this knowledge and understanding.

	Oceanside Jewish Center Weekly Parsha By Jonathan Wolf
	Parshat Pinhas Numbers 25:10 - 30:1 At the end of the last parsha, we read how the women of Moab were seducing the Israelite men. A plague is ravaging the people with no hope of stopping the punishment from G-d. Pinchas, the son of Elazer (the Kohen Gadol), witnesses a sexual encounter between an Israelite man named Zimri, and a Moabite woman. Pinchas kills both of them and the plague immediately stops. In this parsha, we read that G-d rewards Pinchas for his zeal in defending the honor of G-d. He is told that the Priesthood (kehunah) will forever come from his seed. A new war with the Midianites was near, and G-d commands Moses to take a new census of the people. This information is needed not only for the formation of an army, but also for the allocation of the land after the conquest of Canaan. The total number of men, over age twenty is 607,730. Land size was proportional to the population of the tribe and its geographical location would be chosen by lottery. The Leviim were to be counted separately. Zelophchad, a member of tribe of Menasheh, died leaving five daughters but no sons. A question arose about whether the daughters could inherit their father’s estate. The case was brought before Moses who in turn asked God for guidance. The final decision was that if a father died leaving no sons as heirs, his surviving daughters can inherit his property. If he died leaving no children, his estate would pass to his brothers, or to the next of kin. Finally, G-d tells Moshe that it is almost time for him to die. He commands Moses to climb the mountain of Aravim where he can view all of the promised land. Moses asks G-d to appoint a successor and G-d chooses Yehoshua Ben Nun. Unlike Moses, who was guided by G-d, Joshua would be guided by the Kohen Gadol, Elazer. When the people do enter Canaan, their duties regarding the sacrifices and offerings were to be continued. The Torah states that for his action in slaying Zimri and the Moabite woman: “Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aaron the Priest, has turned away My wrath from the Children of Israel, in that he was very jealous for My sake among them, so that I consumed not the Children of Israel in My jealousy. Wherefore say: Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace; and it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him, a covenant of everlasting priesthood; because he was jealous for his G-d.” There are two questions that we can think about based on these opening verses. First, why was Pinchas rewarded for his act of killing? Second, why is the reward a “covenant of peace” in the form of the hereditary priesthood? Wasn’t that distinction given to Aaron in a previous parsha? Let’s discuss the second question first. Rashi states, that the designation of Pinchas as the son of Elazar, the High Priest, and the grandson of Aaron, is to highlight his lineage as a descendant of Aaron. Even still, the Torah’s language conferred the priesthood on Aaron and his sons and hence not necessarily his grandsons and later descendants. Thus with this act, G-d states for all time the descendants of Pinchas, and hence Aaron, will have the hereditary title of kohen. The first question, about rewarding Pinchas, is more complex. The Torah is quite explicit in stating that the very act of violence committed by Pinchas stops the plague, which had killed 24,000 people. And yet, the reward is a “covenant of peace”. One can only wonder what the rest of the leaders of Israel, including Moses, were doing to stop the morality plague striking the people. This situation is somewhat reminiscent of the Hasmonean revolt against the Syrian Greeks during the story of Chanukkah. Mattathias and his sons were kohanim who lead the bloody revolt that cleansed the Temple and brought about the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days. The “Macabees” were Priests who took action against the moral plague of Hellenistic assimilation and the desecration of the Holy Temple by installing idols and defiling the Holy Ark. How can a covenant of peace be connected with violence when we pray in the daily service “may we be disciples of Aaron the kohen, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving our fellow creatures and drawing them near to the Torah”. If you look at verse twelve, you will see that the word “shalom” is written with a shortened “vav” so that it looks like a “yud”. We can then read the verse as though it said, “behold, I give unto him My covenant ‘shel yam’…” , My covenant of the sea. What would be the covenant of the sea? At the red sea, according to the Midrash, the sea did not immediately part. Nevertheless, the Children of Israel walked into the sea until the water was up to their necks and then the sea parted. This demonstrated their willingness to take an active part in their salvation. Once the people demonstrated a willingness to participate with G-d, G-d saved them by causing the sea to part. Thus, the covenant of the sea, refers to the covenant made between G-d and Jewish people at the shores of the sea when Moses sang “az yashir Moshe, u’venai Yisrael”… Pinchas realized that the plague devastating the people was caused by their own immorality and only by direct action of the people could the plague be stopped. This indeed was an act of peace for as we know in modern times, peace comes through strength and not weakness. Another meaning for the covenant of the sea reminds us that the Torah is often referred to as a “sea”. Thus, the covenant of the sea means the covenant of the Torah. In ancient Israel, the kohen was the repository of Torah knowledge. The kohen was supposed to be a teacher, knowledgeable in all areas of the Torah. The Kohen Gadol was responsible for the secrets of the Aron HaKodesh, for the korbanos, the parah adumah, as well as the mystical atonement ritual on Yom Kippur. We can also associate the word “yam” (yud-mem) with the number fifty. The covenant shel yud-mem or the covenant of the fifty refers to the fifty levels of righteous to which the people were elevated at the time of the Mattan Torah on Mt. Sinai. At that time, G-d made a covenant with the people to be their G-d for all time. A final interpretation, given by the sages is that the vav in “shalom” is divided to remind us that true peace is never achieved unless it is for the purest of motives. Pinchas single handedly stopped the plague. He could have declared himself the new leader after Moses. Instead, he asked for no reward but to serve G-d. The Torah states that he was “jealous for his G-d”. His dynasty in peace shall endure. Recall, however, that after the victory over Antiochus in 168 BCE, the Hasmoneans installed themselves as rulers in Israel instead of a descendant of King David. The kingdom was not to survive long since the Romans soon took over and destroyed the second Temple in 70 CE. The Sages state that the reason for the destruction of the Second Temple was “sinah chinan”, baseless hatred and loshen hara (evil speech and gossip). In the book of Bereshis, we read that on when G-d separated the light and the darkness, he pronounced it “ki tov” (it was good). However, on the second day, when G-d divided the waters to create the dry land, the phrase “ki tov is missing”. The sages point out, that the division of light and darkness was a divinely ordained for the benefit of mankind. The light represented righteousness and darkness represented the evil forces of the yetzer hara. This divine light is not the same light that was created for the Sun, Moon, and stars, but according to the Zohar, a spiritual light, set aside for the righteous. Light and darkness are thus not physical, but spiritual entities. The division of the waters, while divinely ordained, produced a separation of material substances, which lead to machlokes or controversy. The “vav” is a connector and a separator. It joins together individual entities into one grouping (me and my shadow). However, this act of connecting is also an act of separating. The phrase “me and my shadow”, distinguishes two separate entities. The connection between them, the thin “vav” is very tenuous. Spiritually, this means that as a kahal, as a holy community, our congregation consists of many separate entities joined together for a common purpose. If we subsume our individual talents and experiences, the whole becomes diluted. The strength of our unity is our diversity. This is also what makes America so great. We are not ethnically homogeneous. The glory of being a multicultural society is not to meld together into a single melting pot, but to learn from each other and to celebrate our differences. As the mishnah states, “who is wise, one who learns from everyone!” If our disagreements are for the sake of Heaven (as the Talmud reminds us, such were the debates between Hillel and Shammai), then this is not machlokes, but a sincere search for ways to better our kehillah. But if the arguments are filled with sinah chinan, baseless hatred, personal agendas, the seeking of personal honor, then the result will be division without the divine “ki tov”. Recall that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed over one hundred and forty years ago: “a house divided against itself cannot stand”. When the founding fathers of this country were signing the Declaration of Independence, it was vital that there be unanimity amongst the delegates. Everyone was required to sign his name. It is reported that Benjamin Franklin said, “we must all hang together or most assuredly we shall all hang separately!” Let us strive to complete the vav in verse 12 and put it back in “shalom”. Let us make shalom whole again by uniting together. Let us be like Pinchas, zealous for G-d with the purest of motives. And let us be like Pinchas zealous to for the kahal of Judaism and our synagogue; and not for our own personal gain or honor. This is the characteristic of all leaders who act for the benefit of the Jewish community on the local and national level. May we all be privileged to gain this knowledge and understanding.