WEAPONS OF COMPASSION
Pinchas
Restraint! It’s a word we hear a lot in the media lately, almost inevitably in reference to Israel. World leader after leader appears in our media screens urging Israel to act with utmost restraint; the United Nations, the E.U. and of course our closest friend Uncle Sam. As terrorist’s rockets fire indiscriminately into Israel’s civilian population centres, they ask for restraint. Israel’s self-defense and fight against evil is branded as aggression and escalation—all in the name of ‘peace’.
How ironic that this is taking place in the week of Parshas Pinchas, a Parsha which highlights that not every act of violence is negative and that the way to achieve peace is not always through pacifism.
The Torah praises Pinchas as a zealot who acted on behalf of Hashem and the protection of the Jewish people, saving them from the plague which befell them as a result of their sinning with the Bnos Moav. Pinchas was Divinely rewarded with Hashem’s covenant of peace בריתי שלום. The Torah’s praise and blessing of peace seems strange as being the reward for an act of ‘aggression’, the slaying of Zimri.
Pinchas’ maternal grandfather was Yisro who, prior to his conversion, used to fatten calves to slaughter for idolatry. His paternal grandfather was Aharon the Kohen Gadol. The Midrash describes how the tribes denigrated Pinchas and belittled his action; Instead of praising him for an act of holy zealousness, they attributed his killing to the bloody nature inherited from Yisro, and act of violence and aggression.
Yet in the Parsha, Pinchas’ lineage is traced to Aharon, not Yisro. Aharon was known as a man who ‘loved peace and pursued peace’. Hashem refuted the taunts of the tribes, showing that by nature Pinchas was peaceful like Aharon, and that killing Zimri was purely motivated by his zealousness for Hashem’s sake.
The Zohar teaches that a Kohen who takes a life becomes disqualified from service. The Temple service is one of love, connecting the Jewish people to Hashem. One who commits murder is so deeply affected by his actions that he can no longer bear this role of the Kehunah.
The blessing of peace given to Pinchas was to attest that killing Zimri was not a corruption of his peaceful nature. Therefore as the verse continues, he and his descendants earned the gift of being able to serve as Kohanim in the Beis Hamikdosh.
Pinchas slew Zimri with a spear (Romach). Reb Avraham of Radomsk points out that the word Romach rearranged can be read as Racheim - compassion. What may have appeared as anything but merciful, on a deeper level, constituted a great kindness; halting the plague which struck Bnei Yisroel, eradicating negativity and even bringing Zimri himself to Olam Habo.
Who is the greater pacifist, the one who loves life and therefore fights against those who glorify death? Or those who call for tolerance and restraint in the name of ‘peace’, only to allow the perpetrators of evil to grow stronger and encourage further terror? Which is the path to true peace?
From Pinchas we learn that the path to true peace is not always through promoting pacifism. Being tolerant to the point where we ignore evil, and even worse, reward and strengthen the perpetrators of evil, is the real corruption of our peace-loving ideals.
Obviously the Law of the Land applies and no individual can take the law into their own hands. But for a sovereign government and defense forces protecting its civilian population, the lesson of Pinchas rings true. Stand firm for truth and righteousness, to uphold the moral platform that peace can only be achieved vanquishing evil.
The outside world may perceive such a stance as a Romach and castigate and slander us for acting contrary to the interests and ideals of peace. The legacy of Pinchas teaches that despite the world’s opinion we must stand up to fight for what is right without shame or capitulation or deviating from the task at hand. When the cause is just, the Romach is really Racheim, the spear becomes a weapon of compassion.
Our sages teach that Pinchas is Eliyahu. May we merit the arrival of Eliyahu Hanovi to herald in the coming of Moshiach and a time when nation will not raise a sword against another nation, nor shall they learn war any more.
How ironic that this is taking place in the week of Parshas Pinchas, a Parsha which highlights that not every act of violence is negative and that the way to achieve peace is not always through pacifism.
The Torah praises Pinchas as a zealot who acted on behalf of Hashem and the protection of the Jewish people, saving them from the plague which befell them as a result of their sinning with the Bnos Moav. Pinchas was Divinely rewarded with Hashem’s covenant of peace בריתי שלום. The Torah’s praise and blessing of peace seems strange as being the reward for an act of ‘aggression’, the slaying of Zimri.
Pinchas’ maternal grandfather was Yisro who, prior to his conversion, used to fatten calves to slaughter for idolatry. His paternal grandfather was Aharon the Kohen Gadol. The Midrash describes how the tribes denigrated Pinchas and belittled his action; Instead of praising him for an act of holy zealousness, they attributed his killing to the bloody nature inherited from Yisro, and act of violence and aggression.
Yet in the Parsha, Pinchas’ lineage is traced to Aharon, not Yisro. Aharon was known as a man who ‘loved peace and pursued peace’. Hashem refuted the taunts of the tribes, showing that by nature Pinchas was peaceful like Aharon, and that killing Zimri was purely motivated by his zealousness for Hashem’s sake.
The Zohar teaches that a Kohen who takes a life becomes disqualified from service. The Temple service is one of love, connecting the Jewish people to Hashem. One who commits murder is so deeply affected by his actions that he can no longer bear this role of the Kehunah.
The blessing of peace given to Pinchas was to attest that killing Zimri was not a corruption of his peaceful nature. Therefore as the verse continues, he and his descendants earned the gift of being able to serve as Kohanim in the Beis Hamikdosh.
Pinchas slew Zimri with a spear (Romach). Reb Avraham of Radomsk points out that the word Romach rearranged can be read as Racheim - compassion. What may have appeared as anything but merciful, on a deeper level, constituted a great kindness; halting the plague which struck Bnei Yisroel, eradicating negativity and even bringing Zimri himself to Olam Habo.
Who is the greater pacifist, the one who loves life and therefore fights against those who glorify death? Or those who call for tolerance and restraint in the name of ‘peace’, only to allow the perpetrators of evil to grow stronger and encourage further terror? Which is the path to true peace?
From Pinchas we learn that the path to true peace is not always through promoting pacifism. Being tolerant to the point where we ignore evil, and even worse, reward and strengthen the perpetrators of evil, is the real corruption of our peace-loving ideals.
Obviously the Law of the Land applies and no individual can take the law into their own hands. But for a sovereign government and defense forces protecting its civilian population, the lesson of Pinchas rings true. Stand firm for truth and righteousness, to uphold the moral platform that peace can only be achieved vanquishing evil.
The outside world may perceive such a stance as a Romach and castigate and slander us for acting contrary to the interests and ideals of peace. The legacy of Pinchas teaches that despite the world’s opinion we must stand up to fight for what is right without shame or capitulation or deviating from the task at hand. When the cause is just, the Romach is really Racheim, the spear becomes a weapon of compassion.
Our sages teach that Pinchas is Eliyahu. May we merit the arrival of Eliyahu Hanovi to herald in the coming of Moshiach and a time when nation will not raise a sword against another nation, nor shall they learn war any more.