Parshat Pinchas

 

The Lord spoke to Moses, Saying, “Pinchas, son of Eleazar son of Aaron the Kohen, has turned back My wrath from the Israelites by displaying among them his passion for Me, so that I did not wipe out the Israelite people in My passion.  Say therefore, ‘I grant him My pact of friendship.’

 

 

 

Elijah (after this incident) is then disqualified from being a prophet to Israel.  God tells him:  Israel cannot withstand your zealotry.  You were zealous at Shittim (a clear reference to Pinchas, who according to the Aggada, is Elijah) and now you were zealous at Mount Carmel.  You spilled blood there and you spilled blood here, in your zeal for the God of Hosts.  That is a noble deed, but Israel cannot survive such zeal.  Therefore, Elijah must find another person to be a prophet over Israel, and that is Elisha.

Yeshayahu Leibowitz 20th Century

 

 

 

Angels, although they represent opposing forces and are diverse in their mission and purpose, are still able to exist in peace with one another…The angel of death, however, represents the ultimate force of negation, deprivation and loss which results from opposing, conflicting forces.  In other words, the angel of death is the only angel who cannot coexist in peace with the other angels on High.  Pinchas, who is the personification of peace, possesses the antidote to death and consequently merits longevity, as well as the opinion of one Sage the Pinchas and Elijah are the same person which would mean that he still lives and exists.

Sforno (16th Century)

 

 

 

 

Moses being the court personified was not allowed to do what Pinchas could do spontaneously.  Perhaps this is the reason that Elijah who had personally killed 400 priests of the Ba’al on Mount Carmel, having chosen to act like his predecessor Pinchas rather than like Moses and Aaron, did not reap the reward given to Pinchas.  He had to flee for his life, endure extreme discomfort until he asked God to let him die…God made him come to the spot where Moses at the time of the sin of the golden calf had not acted like Elijah, because his position as law giver and teacher was similar to the position of Elijah in the latter’s generation…Elijah’s repeated statement to God, “I have been motivated by jealousy on Your behalf…Elijah had wound up an outcast at Mount Sinai, persecuted, unappreciated…

Akedat Yitzchak (15th Century)

 

 

The main concern in the mind of Moses as he prepares to depart from this world is not his own family or private affairs.  What occupies his mind most of all is his people…He presses for the appointment (of his successor)to take place now…because he does see a person who shows the qualities of a “natural” successor.  This is Pinchas, who has just demonstrated a quality of leadership unmatched in courage and ingenuity by taking action in killing offenders and “turning the wrath of God” from his people…Yet, it is precisely this which frightens Moses,, the experienced and trained leader.  He likes Pinchas and no doubt approves of his valiant act, but at the same time he cannot see how this zealot, who in a moment of crisis decided to take the law into his own hands, can become the permanent leader of his people…the true leader is not a single minded fanatic, but a person able to tolerate all views.  “A man over the congregation,” one who is above petty party politics.

Pinchas Peli (20th Century)