Parshas Pinchas

Inspired by Likutei Halachos Yorah Deah, Hilchos Bris Mila, Halacha 5 / Likutei Moharan Torah 65

Sometimes there are big events in life that require massive amounts of detailed planning; like your child's wedding, making Aliyah, or planning a 2-day trip up north on Chol Hamoed with 6 kids. And then there are those major life-altering incidents that are suddenly thrust upon you with no advance warning, where you're running almost purely on adrenalin and instinct and your brain has difficulty keeping pace with your actions; like the heroic sergeant who rushes to defend his troops from an enemy attack, the vigilant citizen who thwarts a bulldozer-driving terrorist, or the emergency-room medic who frantically copes with a ward full of traumatized earthquake victims.

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In this latter group, there is clearly no room for what we would normally factor in to our actions:

1. Am I being Politically Correct?

2. How will I be viewed by others?

3. Will I be safe?

Rebbe Nachman discusses the concept of how by sincerely performing a דבר מבוהל/ vilder zach -Yiddish/ reckless act, a person can accomplish almost unbelievable feats and rise to extraordinary heights; like when King David took on the Goliath challenge and then "rocked his world".

Background: 

Phase 1: Rebbe Nachman teaches us in Torah 65, just as physiologically we need to squint in order to see objects that are at a distance, so too it is ingrained in human nature to squint or even shut our eyes totally when subjected to unbearable pain. Why? Because the only reason we feel any pain or suffering is due to our small-mindedness / short-sightedness. If we could "shut our eyes" to block out the present, expand our thinking and extend our vision to see the ultimate tachlis that exists at the end of time (a time when we will finally understand how everything that happens to us now is for our ultimate good), then we wouldn't feel any pain. This bitul-negating one's self is the key element in being able to draw a salvation into the present. 

Phase 2: A side-benefit of projecting oneself into "The Tachlis Zone" is that our souls dip into the the source-waters of Torah that are found there (סוף מעשה במחשבה תחלה). When we re-enter our current reality, we are still left with a residue of this Torah knowledge. Why do we need it? Because the suffering can reappear even more intensely than before; like a wounded adversary, who - feeling threatened - fights back even more ferociously.Often these attacks come via other people (the most potent of the Dark Side's agents) who will attempt to deride/discourage you. Since all suffering is ultimately "in your head", a person can win round 2 by comforting himself with new words of Torah that he brought back with him

Now let's tie this in to the Parsha - I contend that Pinchas fulfilled both of these eye-closings

Pinchas, the son of Elazar and grandson of Aharon HaKohain, was an enigma. Despite being born into such an illustrious family, for 38 years in the desert he was an "outsider", unable to work in the "family business", due to his (unfortunately) unique situation of already having being born after his father was anointed, which disqualified him from being classified and serving as a Kohain.

While Pinchas most certainly clung tightly to his priestly relatives - learning whatever he could soak up - he must have had an incredible and insatiable yearning to make his own mark and become a full-fledged active member of the clan

Almost 40 years pass and an incredible opportunity presents itself. Zimri, leader of the Tribe of Shimon commits a heinous crime of immorality with Kozbi princess of Moav, that was so bold and extreme, it practically "froze" Moshe Rabbenu and the Elders into inaction. Pinchas, the ever-close disciple, witnessed this disgraceful sin, respectfully verified his legal options and quickly took control of the situation. Disregarding personal safety, image", and "political correctness", stoked by his passion to defend Hashem's honor, he summarily killed Zimri and Kozbi and single-handedly, and rescued Bnei Yisroel from being decimated by a heavenly decree. That was the easy part. 

After killing Zimri & Kozbi - in an obviously miraculous way - Pinchas then had to contend with a much more dangerous adversary. Bnei Yisroel began talking behind his back (and to his face), taunting him and questioning the purity of his motives and the justification of his actions. Enduring their insults, not losing his temper and maintaining his faith, was the hard part and a bigger victory in Heaven's eyes. And was why Hashem then chose to openly come to his rescue and bestow His blessings upon  him.

(Closing eyes part 2)

[Kabala Note- The Zohar Hakadosh says, זעירין אינון דיכולין לאישתזבא - Few people are saved (against human enemies). When your מניעה- obstacle is your spouse, friend, neighbor etc. who try to prevent you from doing what you feel is right, it's very difficult to win. But hinted to in these words could be the key to success. זעירין אינון - You want to win? Make yourself small, מבטל yourself]

And what blessings did he get? The Kehuna, Shalom and something else. Why?

By his demonstrating total selflessness purely for the sake of Hashem, he personified the essence of the purpose and function of a kohain, whose main mission as intermediary is to make shalom between the Jews and their father in heaven (which by the way, he also did in "calming" down the anger of Hashem and getting Him to once again look favorably on His people) 

FREE CHOICE

In these following examples I want to bring out the point that true free-choice isn't just whether I choose to eat watermelon or cherries, or whether I choose to watch football or hockey - where no matter what I choose, the delta between what results from either choice is minimal. The ultimate exercise of my free choice is where after weighing my options and the possible consequences (even if this takes only a moment), I then freely choose a specific course of action, regardless of any perceived or actual, peer or other external pressure.

Bilam perverted his extraordinary once-in-a-Creation gift of prophecy by exercising his free will time and again, to go against Hashem's true wishes, despite repeatedly being shown heavenly hints - including an emotional debate with a "smart-ass" - to act differently. As a result he is THE all-time poster-boy of how NOT to use your free will. It cost him his life...and more.

 

Pinchas - had his eternal life turned around by accurately assessing the volatile situation he found himself in, and then simply ignoring all obstacles, putting his own self-preservation and reputation on the line and choosing a swift course of daring action that left an incredible and indelible mark on the pages of history, which included: 

* He was promoted to be a full-fledged kohen

* He was imbued with the souls of his uncles, Nadav and Avihu (who also had a burning passion to serve Hashem)

* He became an iconic kohen gadol, and merited having the majority of all kohanim gedolim come from his direct descendants

* He himself lived a very long life as Pinchas

* He morphed into Eliyahu HaNavi later in his life, and as such never died

Besides for his "street credit" taking a sharp upturn thanks to Hashem vouching for the justification and sincerity of his actions, he was also given the "covenant of peace"

הנני נותן לו בריתי שלום / There are plenty of standard explanations on those words. Here's a possibly less standard view.

THE symbol of the covenant we have with Hashem is the Torah. Just as Pinchas displayed his readiness to be present at a time when his presence was needed and just as Eliyahu is present at every bris to testify to the purity of each Jewish child, so too just about every Aron Kodesh in the world - that has more than one sefer Torah - has a sefer that is positioned to Parshat Pinchas. Why? Because our parsha is the most oft-read-from parsha in the entire Torah. Being THE symbol of peace-שלום which is represented by the closeness brought about by our sacrifices to Hashem on the Holidays, this parsha lists all the Holidays and their musaf sacrifices.

How often is it read? (11 Roshei Chodesh - 6 two-day + 5 one-day = 17 + Rosh Hashana = 2 + Yom Kippur =1 + Sukkot = 8 + Pessch = 7 + Shavuos = 1 == 36)

הנני נותן לו בריתי - I gave him/לו (is gematriya 36) בריתי-my Torah - 36 extra (musaf/additional) times to be read in my Torah

And that was my gift of Shalom/Peace/שלום ...שלום is  שָׁם ל"ו

The "extra" bonus of davka 36 is especially fitting, since 36 is twice חי = 18 = life, standing for the extra life Pinchas granted Bnei Yisroel by stopping the plague 

Bnos Tzlafchad

As Big Splash as these two Free Will choices were - from these two diversely different personalities - they were made by Big people, who might be expected to pull off Big things. Contrast this to the case of the five single* middle-aged** daughters of Tzlafchad.

*Chazal point out that despite a (normal) woman's innate desire to get married and raise a family, these 5 righteous women refused to just marry for the sake of marriage. They genuinely were waiting for Mr. Right-eous. As such they were blessed that when they did marry, even though normally a woman who hasn't had relations by the time she's 40, will never conceive, Hashem blessed them with ample children.

**The youngest was 40

The process of how Eretz Yisroel was to be divided up among those entering the land was taught to the people. Everybody would get a fair share and the whole proceeding would be determined by an impartial lottery. A win-win situation. Except... the family of Tzlafchad from the tribe of Menashe were all girls. And that seemed to preclude them from the generally understood "Men's Club" rules of inheritance. Their passionate love for Eretz Yisroel and desire to own a piece of it, would not let them go down without a  fight. So they brought their " תנה לנו אחוזה/ give us a portion" claim up through the court system, until they reached the Supreme Court and it's Chief Justice, Moshe Rabbenu - who heaven made forget the ruling - in order to give greater honor to these righteous women, who then received a direct ruling from Hashem Himself.

Now close your eyes and imagine the gumption it must have took for these 5 fatherless & brotherless "ordinary" sisters to appear before the venerable 119-year-old Moshe Rabbenu and plead their case. While they certainly had purest of intentions and acted with the highest respect, the track record of others who came out and went one-on-one against Moshe Rabbenu was pretty disastrous. In the entire Torah, look at the score of all those individuals who "faced off" against Moshe: Datan and Aviram. Korach, 10 of the Spies, Zimri. That's 0 for 14. [These 14 also THEY were in the right] And again while these women were "only" asking for a legal ruling, when dealing with THE tzadik, how fine a line is there between propriety and insolence. 

They correctly exercised their free will and the glorious results proved which side of the track they were on. New laws regarding inheritance were presented in the Torah in their merit and they had their names mentioned individually a few times - here and and parshas Masei - with heaps of praise lavished on them throughout the entire commentary spectrum.

In all these cases, the impact of these "free choices" is magnified considerably, if one considers what history would have looked like had these individuals simply chosen to act differently or not to act all

May we be able to focus on what's really important for Hashem's sake, exercise our Free Will appropriately and enjoy His eternal bounty