Parashat Pinchas

Parashat Pinchas

Tammuz 24, 5772 ~ July 14, 2012

by Dan Cohen

Parsha Pinchas: Riffing on Chessed and Gevurah – Kindness & Strength 

What does it mean to balance kindness and strength?   

  

Let’s look at the facts from this week’s parsha (with a helpful dose of last week’s) courtesy of Chabad.org.

1.    Last week's reading concluded with Moabite and Midianite women seducing Jewish men and enticing them to idol worship. 

2.    At that point, Phinehas (Pinchas – Aaron’s grandson) unilaterally executed a Jewish leader along with the Midianite princess with whom he was cohabiting. 

3.    This week's reading opens with G‑d praising Phinehas, and rewarding his bravery by granting priesthood to him and his descendants.

Commentary at the same site continues saying that many Jews, particularly from the tribe of Shimon, were enticed by the Midianite women who descended upon the Israelite camp in the Shittim valley, and were even induced to serve Baal Peor, the pagan god of their consorts. 

When tribunals were set up by Moses to try and punish the idolaters, Zimri, the leader of Shimon, sought to legitimize his tribe's sins by publicly taking a Midianite woman into his tent, before the eyes of Moses and the eyes of the entire community of Israel.

The Prince’s repudiation reminded me of the moment in the Monty Python movie where the hapless guard says “Stop…or I shall yell stop again….”

When the tribunals failed, Pinchas took unilateral action against the leader and killed him and his woman.  But who told him to do it?  Was he authorized?  Is he a zealot or a murderer?

In most of the drashot I saw, Pinchas is the hero.  But what makes him a hero?  Who decides what is zealotry, and what is murder? I liked this explanation posted at meaningfullife.com.

“The true zealot is an utterly selfless individual -- one who is concerned only about the relationship between G-d and His people, with no thought for his own feelings on the matter. The moment his personal prejudices and inclinations are involved, he ceases to be a zealot.”

Pinchas took a very unpopular action but he did so for the highest calling.  He killed a Prince.  He killed a prince who was flouting the law and G-d.  The prince did so with the support of many in his tribe (among others).  Pinchas killed a prince that mocked communal law and Moshe.

So what do we do with this?  How do we make sense of this?

Scholar Adina Roth writing for the American Jewish World Service weekly drash presented this idea. 

“In Jewish mystical thought, there are said to be two polar expressions of G-d’s relationship to the world: chessed—loving-kindness, and gevurah—strength and boundaries. When we emulate G-d’s quality of chessed, we forge open relationships and give of ourselves. In contrast, when we emulate gevurah, we set boundaries, turn away from the influence of others and strengthen our convictions. While many of us see loving-kindness as the optimal trait in social justice work, Parashat Pinchas can teach us a crucial lesson about the importance of setting boundaries in effecting social change.” 

It seems like in of our daily struggles, maybe there is some guidance in asking what are the expectations and boundaries at play?  But it may also make sense to ask what acts of kindness might be open to us if we take them?

I just learned of a story of an IDF general, a secular guy, who oversaw all 71 checkpoints in Judea and Samaria.  I was told that he’d never studied Torah but recently participated in a special program to expose secular Israelis, especially society’s leadership, to Torah study in a non-judgmental way called Kolot.  While the study program is remarkable, what is even more remarkable was what the General did after. 

Not long after participating in the program, he installed water coolers at all checkpoints to offer a cold drink to those waiting in the hot sun.  His idea being that his soldiers should have a rifle in one hand (Gevurah), but kindness (Chessed) in the other.  What an amazing message to send about strength, generosity and responsibility.

G-d’s laws bind us together as a people and humanity.  Moshe knew that and ordered a public tribunal of the wayward Prince – a kinder approach to things.  Pinchas knew that and took unilateral action – perhaps enforcing the outer boundaries of the law. Maybe the guidance from this week is that all Hashem is asking of us is to balance kindness and strength when we relate to each other.