Pinchas. What an enigmatic character. Enigmatic, in the sense that he defied definition. Enigmatic, meaning that there is more to know about him than what the Torah explicitly states. Much has been passed down, through tradition, from generation to generation regarding Pinchas. And yet still, so little is known about him. So little is known about his true character, the man that lived behind the spear. The man that existed before slaying Zimri. The man that lived according to his principles.
The first thing to note about Pinchas is his story, that short excerpt that appears briefly in the Torah, making his name known and remembered everafter. He took the spear in his hand, entered the tent of Zimri ben Salu, and slew him in the midst of his relation with Cuzbi bas Tzur. “And he took a spear in his hand” — these are the six words [of Shema Yisrael] (Zohar). Standing in the face of a young nation, a multitude born of chaos, half of whom feared G-d, while the other half seemed to have completely forgotten His Law, Pinchas was bound in his mind with the unity of G-d and feared nothing besides for Him. He took the spear in his hand and drove it through Zimri’s manhood, reaching straight to Cuzbi’s womb. Gruesome, for sure. Which makes one wonder: was Pinchas a bloodthirsty killer? Did he enjoy the opportunity to murder two individuals in the name of G-d and get away with it?
Chas v’Sholom to say so. “And the L-rd spoke to Moshe, saying: Pinchas will be anointed as a priest before me, for he has saved my People by avenging my vengeance, and I will give him my covenant of peace” (paraphrased). The parsha that is named Pinchas, that is, the portion of Torah that is symbolized by Pinchas’ spiritual soul-root — for we know that all the names of the parshiyos in Torah came about meticulously by the Creator Himself (Shaloh) — does not talk about his act of vengeance, but rather about his character. The abovementioned incident was recorded in last week’s portion — Balak — a treacherous and twisted man. It was an unfortunate reality that Pinchas had to do what he did, but what he did was the right thing — although it might seem lotherwise. But this week’s parsha talks about what G-d saw. “For man sees to the eye; and G-d sees the inner heart” (Samuel I, somewhere). What G-d saw was “his covenant of peace”. Pinchas did what he had to do to keep and maintain the peace, for the sake of the people, and for the sake of the continuity of creation.We are living in turbulent times, there is no doubt about that. I lean away from political rhetoric and reject violence. The lesson from Pinchas does not mean that we have the right to maim, injure, or kill, G-d forbid. We must trust in G-d that all will be well. We have been promised, that if we do what is right in G-d’s eyes, then we will only receive good from him. What’s important for us to take away here, is that sometimes we have to step up to the plate when no one else will. When all the people are confounded and confused, lost and insecure, we must take the stand and act on what is right. Even Moshe Rabbeinu himself was at a loss to the situation at hand. Pinchas had a flash of inspiration and his leader told him to run with it. We all have our Pinchas moments, moments when we know what is right to do, yet we are afraid to act out of fear of an uncertain backlash. Yet we can all take a spear in our hands — Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad. All outside conclusions will then dissipate, and only the truth will remain.
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