Pinchas 5775: For Your Eyes Only

By Rabbi Joshua (visibly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

Parshas Pinchas begins with a mention of the reward given to Pinchas for his act of zealotry, as recorded at the end of Parshas Balak, of killing Zimri and Kozbi while they were engaged in illicit relations in full view of the nation. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 82a) records that when Pinchas saw them engaged in this act, he went to Moshe and said, “Didn't you teach us, when you descended from the mountain, that someone who has relations with a non-Jew, a zealot can kill him?” Moshe replied, “let the one who delivers the message be the agent to carry it out.”  Pinchas then grabbed his spear and killed the two. Several questions can be asked about this incident, but we will focus on two, as raised by Rabbi Avraham Korman in his compendium, HaParsha LeDoroseiha. First, why does the Torah mention that Pinchas saw what was happening, when it was done in full view of the nation, so that everyone saw it?  Second, why did Pinchas mention that Moshe gave over his teaching about zealots when he descended from the mountain? What relevance does that have to the teaching itself?  Rabbi Korman presents an explanation based on a passage in the Zohar, and the interested reader is referred to his work.  I wouldlike to suggest a different approach, based on an additional, related question, raised by Rabbi Moshe of Coucy, author of the SeMag, as cited by Rabbi Korman.

Rav Moshe of Coucy asks why there is an interruption in the story of Pinchas and Zimri, between Pinchas'  act of zealotry, which is recorded in Parshas Balak, and the reward given to Pinchas, which is recorded in Parshas Pinchas. He answers that, in considering the reward to be given to a zealot, it is necessary to step back for a moment to consider whether the act was done with only pure motivations, for only then does it merit reward. Perhaps this is why the Torah thus traces Pinchas' lineage back to Aharon, to indicate that he acted in the spirit of Aharon, who loved peace and pursued it. In this instance, peace could only be restored through an act of zealotry.

I would like to suggest, further, that the zealot himself needs to step back and make sure that the act he is about to perform is purely selflessly motivated. This is, in fact, what Moshe taught when he descended the mountain and saw the Jews worshiping the eigel. Even though God Himself already told him that the Jews were worshiping the eigel, he did not react immediately. Only after descending the mountain and seeing that worship with his own eyes, and considering the terrible profanation of God's name taking place, did he react and shatter the tablets. By referring to this fact, Pinchas was indicating that he had, indeed, searched his inner motivations, and was prepared to act solely to preserve God's honor and to preserve the essence of the nation as the carriers of God's name in the world.  He therefore merited the reward that the Torah records.