TORAH & TRADITIONS

D'var Torah

Pinchas 5768

Peace.

The word brings to mind the colourful shirts and the colourful language of the anti-war protestors. Although over 40 years have passed since then, the world still dreams of peace.

Most imagine peace as the absence of strife, but from a Jewish perspective they are wrong.

In this week’s Sidra, a zealot named Pinchas puts an end to a horrific plague that killed 24,000 Israelites.

To reward Pinchas for his profoundly heroic act, God declares that he will become a Cohen.

Despite the fact that he was not a Cohen by birth, Pinchas represented the ideals of the Priesthood to such an extent that he became one through his actions! 

 What did Pinchas do? What action warranted his becoming a member of the brotherhood of peace and service of God? 

He slaughtered two people! But how in the world could killing two people make someone a peacemaker? 

The Cohen Gadol's mission was to unify the people of Israel. 

The Hebrew word for peace, shalom, contains the letters shin, lamed, and mem. These letters also form the root for the Hebrew word for Shalem, “complete”.

The Jewish concept of peace means the presence of a unified, complete state of humanity; and one that is directed towards God.

Now we can look at Pinchas and understand why God declared his fervent righteousness to be peacekeeping.

Pinchas acted at a time when the Jewish people were awash with immorality and were spiritually disconnected.

The men of Israel engaged in forbidden relationships with Midianite women.

One man, Zimri, took the woman he was with and publicised their relationship in front of Moses, the entire camp and the Tabernacle.

While the elders of the Jewish people wept in horror that a member of God's holy nation would stoop to such immorality, Pinchas took action and slaughtered the couple.  

Following their death, the plague ceased. Instead of being grateful to Pinchas for stopping the plague, the Jewish people were furious with him.

Yet once the Jews realized that Pinchas’ motives were pure, they recognised the errors of their ways and returned, as a unified nation, to the service of God.

As a result, Pinchas brought peace to the Jews and therefore became a true Cohen in the tradition of Aaron.

Today, the concept of zealousness is just as misunderstood as is the concept of peace.

Zeal, passion, and fiery commitment to one’s ideals often leave a person at odds with the morally ambiguous, frequently fluctuating western world.

But it is the iron will as exhibited by Pinchas that gave him the ability to break through the moral haziness of his nation and restore order.

We often fear to be different, and are worried what the world will think about our desire to live up to those lofty ideals set forth by God.

The principle is that we should not be afraid.

May we find the passionate spirit within ourselves to carry out the will of God in this world, and may our actions bring peace to the Jewish people, inspiring us to turn our hearts as one towards heaven.

Shabbat Shalom from Chazan David and Stephanie Hilton