Parshat Pinchas 21 Tammuz 5777 /July 15, 2017 Daf Yomi: Bava Basra 171; Nach Yomi: Iyov 16 Shabbat Mevorchim Chodeh Av Weekly Dvar Torah A project of the NATIONAL COUNCIL OF YOUNG ISRAEL SPONSORED BY THE HENRY, BERTHA AND EDWARD ROTHMAN FOUNDATION ROCHESTER, NY,CLEVELAND, OHIO, CIRCLEVILLE, OHIO Difficult Mitzvos Rabbi Yitzchak Rabinowitz Associate Member, Young Israel Council of Rabbis “Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aaron the Kohen, turned back My anger from upon the Children of Israel when he zealously avenged Me among them. So I did not consume the Children of Israel in My vengeance. Therefore say: Behold! I give him my covenant of peace” [Bamidbar 25:11-12]. To fully appreciate what Pinchas did, we must consider the circumstance that surrounded him. In last week’s parsha [Balak 25:4], HaShem says to Moshe, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang them (the people that worshipped the idol Ba’al Peor) before HaShem against the sun.” Rashi explains that Moshe was to convene courts with these leaders and pass judgment and punish the sinners. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch comments that HaShem commanded the convening of these special courts because, according to conventional Jewish law, a court may only become involved if witnesses first warn a person against sinning and, if their warning is ignored, the witnesses themselves are to bring the sinner to the Beit Din. In this case, however, no one was getting involved! No one was trying to stop the idol worship from being performed. Therefore, HaShem instructed Moshe and the leaders to convene a special Beit Din/Court and to punish the sinners without the standard halachic procedures. As we know from last week’s parsha, the idol worship was accompanied and inspired by immoral behavior with the Moabite women. In the midst of all this, Zimri, the prince of the tribe of Shimon, takes a Midianite woman and outdoes the rest of the sinners by sinning with her in front of Moshe and the leaders. At this point, when Pinchas considered punishing Zimri, he must have looked all around him and realized that society would not support his actions. But Pinchas took a lesson from a halacha in Shulchan Aruch. In Hilchot Treifot, the Shulchan Aruch deals with the injuries that render an animal unfit to eat (see Yorah De’ah 58). To check a bird for a broken limb, it must either walk or swim. But swimming can determine that a bird is fit only if the bird is able to swim against the current. A lame animal can be carried along with the flow. Pinchas understood that to be spiritually sound, one must be ready to swim against the current of society. Pinchas wouldn’t allow the corruption, or the apathy, of the surrounding society to stop him. There is another point to consider. At this point, Pinchas held no special status within his people. On the other hand, Zimri was a nasi, the prince of the tribe of Shimon, which dictates that he had to have been a great person. Furthermore, many commentaries state that Zimri had sincere and even sublime intentions in what he did. How then did Pinchas justify to himself the decision to kill a leader of the Jewish people? The answer is that he first consulted with his rebbe. The Gemarah in Sanhedrin 82a states that, when Pinchas saw what Zimri was doing, he remembered a halacha, turned to Moshe, and said: “Did you not teach me that if one commits such an act with a gentile, a zealous one may slay him?” Even those who are willing to stand up for the honor of HaShem cannot take things into their own hands. They first must seek guidance from their rebbe. The Yalkut Me’am Loez asks an interesting question. How did Pinchas know how to use a spear? After all, he didn’t come from a family of warriors. From where did he gain the ability to use a spear so well that in one act he speared two people at the same time? The Yalkut answers that, once he began the mitzvah and was willing to sacrifice himself by performing it, Pinchas received Siyata Dishmaya, Divine assistance, to complete his task successfully. Pinchas had no experience using a spear, but he knew that he had to do this mitzvah, as difficult as it may have been. So he took the spear in hand trusting that HaShem would grant him the ability to accomplish the task. The Yalkut Me’am Loez concludes that this holds true for every mitzvah. Once a person begins a mitzvah, although it may be difficult, HaShem sends Siyata Dishmaya to bring it to success. Shabbat Shalom The Weekly Sidra "The Descendants Of The Heathen Who Do The Work Of Aharon" Rabbi Moshe Greebel Associate Member, Young Israel Council of Rabbis After the brave act of Pinchas immediately halted the plague upon the B’nai Yisroel, HaKadosh Baruch Hu rewarded him in the following manner: “Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aharon the Kohain, has turned My anger away from the B’nai Yisroel, while he was zealous for My sake among them, that I consumed not the B’nai Yisroel in My jealousy. Therefore say, behold, I give to him my covenant of Shalom.” (Bamidbar 25:11- 12) Now then, it was quite true that Pinchas was the grandson of Aharon through Aharon’s son Elazar, as the above underlined expression attests. And, as the Mishna in Pirkei Avos 1-12 learns: “Hillel used to say, ‘Be of the disciples of Aharon, loving peace and pursuing peace. Love his fellow creatures, and bring them nigh to the Torah.’” But, it is also true that Elazar married one of Yisro’s other daughters, as the Torah states: “And Elazar Aharon’s son took one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bore him Pinchas; these are the chiefs of the fathers of the L’vi’im according to their families.” (Sh’mos 6:25) Who is Putiel? Rashi, citing from Bava Basra 109b, states the following: “From the daughters of Putiel….. That is, from the seed of Yisro, who fattened calves for idolatry…..” The term ‘Putiel’ seems to be a derivative of ‘Pitum,’ or fattening. In any event, not only did Pinchas descend from Aharon, he also descended from Yisro, who at one time in his previous life fattened calves for idolatry in his role as the priest of Midyon. But, let us examine the Gemarah in Bava Basra a little closer: “….. Did not, however, the tribes sneer at him (Pinchas) and say, ‘Have you seen this Puti son? A youth whose mother's father (Yisro) crammed calves for idol worship should kill the head (Zimri) of a tribe in Yisroel….!’” Therefore, it would seem, that HaKadosh Baruch formally announcing that Pinchas was a descendent of Aharon was for the sake of shutting the sneering tribes up. But, in reality, even though the Torah stresses Pinchas’ direct genealogy to Aharon, the truth is, he was also the grandson of Yisro who fattened calves for idolatry. How then, does stressing Pinchas’ lineage to Aharon stop the other tribes from sneering at him? Fortunately, we have an answer to this question from the Binyan Ariel (Rav Shaul Ben Aryeh Lev Levenstein 1717- 1797 of blessed memory), who begins by citing the following Gemarah from Yoma 71b: “Our Rabbanim taught that it happened with a Kohain Gadol (high Kohain) that as he came forth from the Sanctuary, all the people followed him (out of respect), but when they saw Sh’maya and Avtalion (two great Torah scholars who were not born Jewish but converted), they forsook him and went after Sh’maya and Avtalion (in order to honor the scholars). Eventually Sh’maya and Avtalion visited him, to take their leave of the Kohain Gadol (the scholars extended honor to him). He said to them, ‘May the descendants of the heathen come in peace….!’” Briefly interrupting the flow, the Kohain Gadol who ‘lost face’ when the crowd stopped following him and began to follow the two scholars, found an opportunity to get back at the scholars who were now taking their leave of him. He referred to them as ‘descendants of the heathen.’ Let us return to the Gemarah: “….. They answered him, ‘May the descendants of the heathen, who do the work of Aharon (loving peace and pursuing peace), arrive in peace, but the descendant of Aharon, who does not do the work of Aharon, he shall not come in peace!’” The Kohain Gadol had no retort to the fact that the two scholars accused him of fomenting an argument, and not seeking solutions based on Shalom, as did his forbearer Aharon. And, the Binyan Ariel states firmly that only those who do ‘the work of Aharon’ are deserving of the reward of Shalom, which is the blessing of Aharon himself, as it states: “My covenant was with him (Pinchas) for life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear with which he feared Me, and was afraid before My name.” (Malachi 2:5) And, continues the Binyan Ariel, this is why it states, “Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aharon the Kohain.” For, even according to those who sneer at Pinchas by referring to him as ‘a descendant of the heathen’ and as ‘a Puti son,’ one way or the other, he ‘has turned My anger away from the B’nai Yisroel’ by doing the ‘work of Aharon’ (restoring peace), which certainly outweighs any genealogical ‘flaws’ he might have.