» to rah

por tion

Can Violence
Be Justified?

Parshat Pinchas: Numbers 25:10-
30:1; I Kings 18:46-19:21.

S

Richardson

c
ntia
Po

il
Tra

Maple

Maple

14 Mile Rd.

Decker

Pontiac Trail

Benstein

Wixom

Glengarry Rd.

HURON
VALLEY-SINAI Commerce Rd.
HOSPITAL

Halsted

.
Sleeth Rd

Commerce

E. Commerce Rd.

Burns Rd.

everal years ago, while par-
lence to the back-
ticipating in a weekly parshah
ground, Pinchas
learning group, I was stunned
is rehabilitated and
to hear the instructor cite and defend a
brought back in sync with his
controversial present-day interpretation grandfather Aaron, the great “lover of
that presented the actions of Pinchas,
peace and pursuer of peace who respect-
the title character of this week’s Torah
ed all creatures and brought them closer
portion, as a model for present-
to the Torah.”
day Jewish behavior.
In a larger sense, the reha-
Pinchas, the grandson of
bilitation of Pinchas exempli-
Aaron and the eventual heir to
fies two broader pillars of the
the high priesthood, violently
rabbinic worldview. First and
impaled an Israelite heretic
foremost, our sages had deep
and his Midianite mistress who
reservations about violence
were engaged in illicit activ-
and shared the notion that
ity in front of Moses and the
violence is acceptable only as
Professor
Mishkan. Before I could take
a last resort. (They more or
issue with this defense of such Howard N.
less agreed in this respect with
Lupovitch
extreme behavior, the other
Isaac Asimov, who described
members of the class leapt in
violence as “the last refuge of
to object: Even if the behavior
the incompetent.”)
of Pinchas is justifiable in a biblical con-
Onkelos, a second-century commen-
text, surely it is not an archetype for any tator, referred to Pinchas as “Pinchas
current situation.
Kanai” or Pinchas the Zealot, a stinging
Faced with unanimous dissent and
indictment in light of the belief that the
outrage, the instructor backpedaled and blind hatred of the Zealots was a central
retracted.
element in the destruction of Jerusalem
One might say that this exchange
and the Temple.
reflects an age-old ambivalence about
To be sure, there was and is no deny-
the actions of Pinchas, an ambivalence
ing that the Bible is replete with violent
that is detectible even in the text of the
acts of holy war; Pinchas’ act is followed
Torah itself. Pinchas, after all, was not
almost immediately by a Divine call for
censured for his homicidal behavior,
holy war against the Midianites.
neither by God nor by Moses.
Yet Milhemet Mitzvah (the rabbinic
On the contrary, he is rewarded with
term for holy war) was steadily confined
brit shalom, a covenant of peace — an
to a few specific cases — defense of the
odd choice of words in light of the vio-
Land of Israel and war on the seven
lent nature of his actions — and a reaf-
Canaanite nations and Amalek; and
firmation of his family’s eternal priestly
even the latter was gradually re-under-
dynasty.
stood more metaphorically as a struggle
Indeed, the contrast between his
against evil than an actual instruction to
violent act and the reward of peace has
hunt down and kill descendants of this
reverberated across centuries of biblical
tribe.
interpretation. A central thread running
Second, the rabbis saw Pinchas’
through these commentaries is an insis- behavior as epitomizing extremism,
tence that Pinchas was not rewarded for which the rabbis repeatedly discouraged
his violent action per se, but rather in
in favor of moderation. Sforno expressed
spite of it.
this idea succinctly: God detests extrem-
Various commentators adduced other ism and prefers moderation.
reasons for this eternal reward, reasons
The upshot is that, while Pinchas’
that jibe with the notion of a covenant
violent act was not condemned in the
of peace, including: Pinchas is ennobled specific context of biblical narrative, it
and granted peace for having the cour-
may neither be celebrated nor defended
age to fight (Rabbi Obadiah Sforno, Italy, as a guide for subsequent behavior, least
16th century); or since he acted in the
of all today.
name of peace to assuage God’s wrath,
he was blessed with a peaceful demean- Dr. Howard N. Lupovitch is an associate professor
of history at Wayne State University and director of
or (Ha’omek Davar, 19th century).
The upshot is that, by moving the vio- WSU’s Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies.

Gran
d Riv
er Av
e.

12 Mile Rd.

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2104800

July 28 • 2016

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