TORAH PORTION
The Story Of Pinchas:
Zeal and Commitment
RABBI IRWIN GRONER
Special to The Jewish News
Pinchas, the hero of this week's
sidrah, was singled out for praise
because ""he was zealous for his
God." An Israelite prince, Zimri,
had done a scandalous thing. The
people were encamped in the
territory of Moab, and through
associating with the women of
the land, were being seduced into
heathen worship and corruption.
Zimri openly and flagrantly
brought a Midianite woman into
his tent. This was more than a
private act of morality. It was a
public statement of license for
general participation in pagan
immorality. Pinchas, a priest,
Shabbat Pinchas
Numbers 25:10-30:1
Jeremiah 1:1-2:3
and therefore a man of peace, was
filled with righteous indignation.
He seized a spear and inflicted
the punishment of death upon the
offender and his partner, because
the Hebrew prince had commit-
ted an act that would have lead to
the extinction of the nation.
Modern man looks at this text
and sees it from a different
perspective. He is not ready to
applaud Pinchas, and is more in-
clined to criticize him. He sees
Pinchas and his violent act as
being in conflict with today's
moral standards. While modern
man may not look with appioba-
ton on the action of Pinchas, one
aspect of this story bears careful
attention, and that is the char-
acter of the priest. It is not so
much the act as the motivation of
Pinchas which evokes the praise
of the Bible. Pinchas was filled
with kinah or zeal. The word
`zeal' is derived from the Greek
term meaning 'to boil.' The zeal-
ous person is one who boils in-
wardly, who is filled with passion
for a cause. The opposite of zeal is
coldness, indifference and de-
tachment.
Like any other great force or
energy, zeal can be dangerous. Its
excess can be destructive,
generating a fanaticism that is
cruel, bitter and inhuman. The
history of religion is filled with
the tragic expression of fanati-
cism in oppression and in-
tolerance. The Mohammed perse-
cutions, the Inquisition, the
Crusades and the pogroms of
Eastern Europe are illustrations
of the horrors visited upon the
Jewish people and humanity in
the name of religious zeal. As we
consider recent events involving
the ultra-Orthodox and their op-
ponents in the Land of Israel, we
are dismayed and concerned by
the destruction and desecration
that has resulted from undisci-
plined emotion, uncontrolled
zeal.
But another contrasting truth
needs to be affirmed. Judaism in
Rabbi Groner is spiritual leader
of Cong. Shaarey Zedek.
North America does not suffer
from an excess- of religious pas-
sion as much as it does from the
deficiency thereof. The danger we
encounter in our time is that of
the uncommitted heart. Many
lives lack conviction, and many
people exhibit detachment and
indifference. It is hard to find
those for whom religion repre-
sents an inward fire or ecstacy,
an expression of hitlahavut, of
enthusiasm or enkindlement.
Consider this typical Jew who is
really a composite of many indi-
viduals. He is not a partisan of
any ideology. He is 'a-religious,'
since he is not affiliated with a
synagogue or temple, nor does he
contribute in any significant way
to the organized Jewish commu-
nity. He has cultivated a
polytheism in which he is open to
all gods because he refuses to be
loyal to any one. He lives beyond
the passion of negation or affir-
mation. If we asked him, "Are
you religious?" he would answer,
"No." "Are you an atheist?," he
would say, "No." Additional in-
quiry with regard to his position
on moral and spiritual issues
would elicit the same response.
His consistent "no" expresseS
an attitude of distance and non-
involvement. This Jew has made
of such detachment a way of life,
because it enables him to func-
tion without any commitment to
those values, beliefs, or ideals
which could make demands upon
him.
This Jew represents the
greatest challenge of our time —
to the synagogue, to the commu-
nity, to the Jewish people.
If religion means anything, it
means total commitment. Au-
thentic religion is more than ob-
ligation, duty, and formal rules.
It is experienced as enthusiasm
and moral passion. To be a part of
Jewish life means to make com-
mitments, for community and
commitment are inseparable.
That is why the zeal of Pinchas is
always remembered by the
Jewish people.
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