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Torah Portion
When The Zealot Was A Peacemaker
Shabbat Pinchas:
Numbers 25 : 10-30: I;
Jeremiah 1:1-2:3.
T
his week's portion discusses
one of the most fascinating
episodes in the Torah, the
Zealot act of Pinchas in
smiting Zimri, the leader of the tribe
of Shimon.
The reward for this act is men-
tioned clearly in the Torah, "Therefore
I shall grant him My covenant of peace."
This brings to light a question. The
act of killing, as good as the inten-
tions may be, does not seem to
deserve a reward of "peace." What was
God's intention by rewarding Pinchas
with the gift of "peace" for a seeming-
ly contrary act?
Let us begin by taking a look into
the story that preceded the act of
Pinchas. The wicked prophet Balaam,
after failing at cursing the Jewish
nation, suggested a different method
for turning God away from them: cor-
rupt them with the daughters of your
realm, and you will provoke His
Yudi Mann is a rabbi at the Shul-
Chabad Lubavitch in West Bloomfield.
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calves for idolatrous sacrifices, and
wrath upon them.
now he goes and kills a prince in
Unfortunately, this time it worked;
Israel?' Therefore, God traced his line-
and Jews, especially those from the
age to Aaron." (Pinchas' maternal
tribe of Shimon, fell prey to adultery
grandfather was Jethro, who, prior to
and ultimately to idolatry.
his conversion to Judaism, was a
When tribunals were put in place
pagan priest).
to judge those who sinned, Zimri, the
Under normal circumstances when
leader of the tribe of Shimon, wanted
a crime is committed, it follows the
to legitimize the actions of his tribe by
judicial process of court and sentenc-
publicly taking one of the Midianite
ing. Typically, people will not com-
woman in front of the eyes of Moses
plain about the sentencing
and the entire nation.
because it is merely a matter
As to be expected, the
of the judge putting in place
people were stunned by this
what is written in the book.
audacious act. There is one
In this unique case, how-
law that gives the right for
ever, God had not handed a
"Zealots to smite him."
ruling in the Torah for this
Pinchas, remembering this,
type of scenario with Zimri.
stepped forward and killed
Therefore, the Jewish people
Zimri, ultimately bringing
questioned if Pinchas really
about God's forgiveness and
a zealot. Or was this merely
ending the plague God had
RABBI YUDI
a good avenue for him to
placed on the Jewish people.
MANN
express some previously
In referring to Pinchas,
Special
to the
ignored aggression? The
the Torah mentions his
Jewish News
Jewish people looked at his
ancestry leading back to
maternal grandfather and
Aaron. This having been
saw that his history of being a pious
mentioned before, what need is there
dedicated zealot was anything but
in God reminding us . of this again?
that. God, therefore, reminded them
Rashi writes, "Because the tribes of
that rather then focusing on Pinchas'
Israel were mocking him, saying,
maternal lineage, look at his paternal
`Have you seen this son of the fatten-
lineage. Pinchas was following in the
er, whose mother's father fattened
footsteps of his grandfather Aaron, a
dedicated selfless individual complete-
ly given over to God's wishes. In
short, a zealot.
We can now understand why
Pinchas was rewarded with "peace."
Though his act may have been any-
thing but peaceful, the essence and
ultimate result of his action was peace,
by bringing about God's forgiveness
and stopping the plague that ultimate-
ly would have wiped out most of the
Jewish nation. Only Pinchas was able
to do this because he hailed from a
family of peacemakers.
On the other hand, Zimri, though
his actions may have seemed peaceful
by legitimizing the actions of the rest
of the Jewish nation, was in reality
quite cruel. He withheld God's for-
giveness of the Jewish people and
caused the plague to continue. ❑
Conversations
How often do we express our
zealousness when it comes to
practicing our Judaism? Do we
always do the utmost we can to
bring about peace, whether in
the family or in the workplace?
.
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