Parashat Pinchas
„One must refine the attribute of zeal when it approaches the border of holiness... so that it not be the zeal of a man against his fellow, which brings rot to the bones, but rather the zeal of God, which grants its possessor a covenant of peace.”From Shemonah Kevatzim VIII, 39
At the beginning of the portion, Rashi brings the Midrash that the tribes disparaged Pinchas, saying, 'Look at this son of Puti, whose mother's father fattened calves for idolatry, and he killed a prince of a tribe in Israel.' The deed of Pinchas is a matter of dispute; he halted with violence the licentiousness that had spread in Israel and took a radical step, and in its wake the plague was stopped. In the Midrash it is explained that the Holy One, blessed be He, grants Pinchas His covenant of peace, to show that his deed was pure and out of pure motives, and even from a place of peace and not of war: through his harsh and zealous act he saved lives! But from the affirmation we can also learn the negative, about the complexity of zealotry and the need for it to be entirely from a pure motive.
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From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.