Shabbat Pinchas

Thursday, 13 July 2006

Pinchas

I’ve always been attracted to the ‘bad boys’; the ones that display a little radical, impetuous and nearly criminal behaviour. But there is always a danger in falling for such lads, you end up in more pain than you bargained for. All bad boy traits turn out to be rooted in something rather sinister and perverse; something your mother saw from the start, but takes you a little longer to perceive. Would my mother have liked Pinchas, coz I am sure I’d have fallen for him.

At the end of Parashat Balak, Zimri, head of the tribe of Shimon takes a Midianite woman into the chamber and presumably they begin to partake in sexual acts. This was done in front of all the Israelites and Moshe. Pinchas sees this, stands up from among the crowd and follows them into the chamber with a spear in hand, and then kills them both. As we move into this week’s parasha. Moshe is told that Pinchas will be given a brit shalom, a covenant of peace. The brit shalom, the promise, is given to Pinchas in reward for his meritorious act.

Pinchas is in the Levi line and follows in the Levi tradition of serving and protecting (‘lishmor’) God. In fact, it is the passion for serving and protecting that leads him to kill Zimri and Cozbi. Understanding that the acts of harlotry have caused the plague among them, Pinchas is incensed by what he sees. He has no choice but to get involved, to kill them both.

It doesn’t seem very priestly to kill, to have blood on ones hands. But Levi’s always have. Levi the original, along with his brother Shimon, slay all the males of Shechem, in revenge for the rape of their sister Dena. The act of harlotry was too much for Shimon and Levi. And so here in the book of Bemidbar, Pinchas kills in order to protect the people from the plague inflicted in response to the harlotry. However, while Shimon had stood up against harlotry, Zimli was hastily taking part.

Levi and Shimon are two brothers of like-mindedness — hot, impetuous, and revengeful; both have blood on their hands. The traditions of the two tribes go in different directions. Murderers and idolaters have blood on their hands but so do doctors, mohelim (circumcisers), or a shochet (ritual slaughterer). There is the possibility for such acts to be a mitzvah (commanded act) or an avirah (sin). This is why Pinchas gets the brit shalom, and Zimri the painful end of a spear. Zealous acts in the name of a higher purpose have the potential for greatness, but also have the potential for devastating consequences. Knowing the difference is a tricky business.

So to other men and women out there looking for a little rebellion in your partner — listen to your mum, and make sure it’s a Pinchas not a Zimri. Shabbat Shalom