ר"ע תיתד תונויצל ינויערה גוחה ,םולשו זוע
And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and Korah, at the death of the community, at the consuming by fire of the fifty and two hundred men: they became a signal-of-warning.
Said Rav Yehuda son of Rabbi Hiyya: From the day when the earth opened its mouth and received the blood of Abel, it never opened again, as is written, (Isaiah 24) "From the wing of the earth we hear singing: Glory to the righteous!" "From the wing of the earth" – not from 'the mouth of the earth'.
His brother Hizkiyah raised a difficulty. "And the earth opened its mouth!?" He replied: It opened for bad, for good it did not open.
(Bavli, Sanhedrin 37b)
The end of Parasat Balak and the beginning of this week's Parasha of Pinchas present a portrait of Pinchas; midway through parshat Pinchas, we meet Yehoshua. The image of Pinchas is seen in a thoroughly positive light, a zealot in the service of God. Thanks to his zealousness, Pinchas is awarded everlasting priesthood. Pinchas becomes the servant of God. Pinchas acted in a moment of crisis, and, according to Scripture, rescued the Israelite nation from God's anger and wrath. Pinchas's reaction was swift. He demonstrated superb leadership. In a moment of emergency he arose and took action. He detected the hesitation of the leadership, the confusion and helplessness of Moshe and Aharon, and in a split-second decision, acted with resolution. This would seem to make Pinchas the ideal candidate to succeed
Moshe, especially when we remember that Moshe's successor would have to wage war with the Canaanite nations and lead the Israelite nation into the Land of Israel. Who could be better suited than Pinchas?
Scripture designates Pinchas a "zealot" – and zealotry, i.e., radicalism and impulsiveness, is considered to be positive quality. Thanks to this quality, Pinchas is awarded everlasting priesthood. Second, the situation described by the Torah is one which demands individual decision. There is no time for consultation, nor is there any purpose in consultation, because the entire leadership is perplexed. The Torah extols Pinchas for his courage in deciding independently, and single-handedly executing his decision. Third, Pinchas is described as a leader by virtue of a single act, and this single act suffices to grant him eternal award by God.
Our Sages, however, tend to describe Pinchas in a less complimentary light; he does not become a natural leader even though his act should have placed him in the center of public consensus. Our Sages depict the masses gossiping about Pinchas, mocking him for his questionable ancestry. "For the tribes scorned him". The people, or at least the tribal heads and the political elite, revile Pinchas because of his grandfather's shady profession ("For the father of his mother fattened calves for idol worship.") and because of his unorthodox action ("And he killed a prince of a tribe of Israel", Rashi on verse 11, as per the Talmud in Sanhedrin and Sotah.). They questioned he wisdom of Pinchas's zealous behavior, connecting the killing with his shady ancestry. His critics thus hint that the source of the zealous behavior was the culture of idolatry. Therefore Pinchas is in need of divine rehabilitation. The censure of the Sages is veiled and indirect, but it cannot be ignored.
Our Sages express additional criticism when dealing with the reward which God gives Pinchas. In the Torah, the reward is seen in a positive light – priesthood and service of God in the Tabernacle and the Temple. But our Sages consider the major portion of the reward to be the establishment of peace. "Great is the peace which was awarded Pinchas, for the world can exist only through peace, and the entirety of Torah is peace . . . said Rabbi Shimon ben Halafta, the is no vessel containing blessing other than peace." (Midrash Rabba, 21:1) The establishment of peace is the opposite of killing, and pacification is an act which must satisfy both sides. The reaching of a compromise and the establishment of peace are not unilateral actions. Murder is a sharp irreversible decision, the uncompromising act of a moment which is characteristic of the zealot. The establishment of peace demands a totally different personality. The Sages' transferring of emphasis to the establishment of peace is very meaningful. They are actually saying that Pinchas had to undergo a process of re-education, transforming himself from a zealot to a man of peace. Pinchas's award, according to our Sages, was the receiving of an opportunity to change himself. In other words, the main aspect of the reward was not service to God, but the remolding of Pinchas's character.
For the zealous personality, this is an endless process. Our Sages express this in their claim that Pinchas never died. "Pinchas still exists." (Yalkut Shimoni 772). This idea finds additional expression in their identification of Pinchas with Elijah. "Said Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, Pinchas is Eliyahu. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, said to him, you brought peace between Israel and myself in this world, so in the future you will bring peace between myself and my sons, as is written, "Behold I send you Eliyahu the Prophet before the arrival of the day of the Lord . . . and He shall reconcile parents with children." (Yalkut Shimoni).
The basis for the Pinchas-Eliyahu identification is to be found in the Bible's description of Eliyahu. Eliyahu is depicted as a zealous prophet who says of himself "I am zealous for the Lord" (Kings I, 19:10) Eliyahu complains before God, "for the children of Israel has violated your covenant . . . and I alone have remained." (10-11) This is the spiritual mood on which zealousness thrives. A mood of loneliness and general collapse lead to active realization of the zealot's personality traits; he thinks that through one decisive action he can change the natural order and reorder society. Therefore our Sages described God's answer to Eliyahu's words as follows: "And he said, I was zealous – He [the Holy One] replied you are zealous for the world." (Yallkut Shimony, Kings I, 19).
Like Pinchas before him, Eliyahu never dies, but, in a whirlwind, ascends heavenward, there to undergo re-education. Eliyahu is forced to learn that the Jewish nation is not violating the covenant with God. This is the source for the claim that Eliyahu is the prophet of the covenant who is required to attend every circumcision in Israel. As with Pinchas before him, say our Sages,
Eliyahu must change his character, from a man of zealotry to a man of peace. The identification of Pinchas with Eliyahu stretches Pinchas's life from the period in the desert to the arrival of the Messiah. This is to say, the need for re-educating Pinchas and Eliyahu and re-molding their personalities is a ongoing objective. One can say that our Sages saw Eliyahu and Pinchas not only as living Biblical figures – they are also personality traits. Zealousness as a human attribute must disappear, to be replaced by a personality of peace.
Joshua's character is totally different from that of Pinchas. He is described in the Bible as Moshe's servant and attendant. His service is not a one-time-only act; it is an act which continues year after year. This and more . . . Pinchas's act aggrandized his personality, whereas Joshua's service of Moshe diminished his personality relative to that of Moshe. According to our Sages, Joshua attained leadership because he valued the opinion of every Jew, this in contrast to Pinchas and Eliyahu who considered themselves sole arbiters. The Sages describe the conversation between Moshe and God ("Let God, Lord of the spirits of all flesh, designate a man over the community . God said to Moshe: Take yourself Yehoshua son of Nun, a man in whom the spirit resides") as a dialogue in which Moshe sets forth a request that his successor be "a leader who will tolerate every man according to his view:" (Rashi, Numbers 27:17) God's reply is that Yehoshua will be a man "as you requested, who will be able to walk in the direction of every man." This will not be a supercilious leader but one who knows how to humble himself and listen to every opinion. Yehoshua served the community through dialogue and constant attention (not through a single act which creates a new situation) in the hope of drawing the nation after him. Yehoshua is described by our Sages not as one who tells everyone what he wants to hear, but as one who listens and converses. In this way, the leader becomes "sweet in associating with men" .i.e., sympathetic with their feelings. This is the source for the description of Yehoshua's image as a leader who fights alongside his compatriots, "he will not do as others do; they send forth their legions while they stay home." (Yalkut Shimoni, Bamidbar 27:17) In this too Yehoshua differs from Pinchas. The latter fought alone and did not know how to build a supporting camp.
Yehoshua's image is not one of a natural-born leader. Pinchas, with his trait of zealousness, is a leader from birth. Yehoshua was not bless with natural charisma . . . he had to receive ordination and radiation from Moshe as he ascended to the seat of leadership.
According to our Sages, Yehoshua did not earn his leadership by virtue of his bravery and not thanks to his leading the armed force which fought against Amelek. It was not Yehoshua's martial ability which conferred authority, even though the main mission awaiting him is to bring the Children of Israel into the land and wage war against the Canaanites. Were these to be the indispensable traits for a leader, no one would have been more suitable than Pinchas. Diametric characteristics qualified Yehoshua to succeed Moshe: training in the service of the prophet which is to be translated into training in the service of the nation; appreciation and consideration for the publicum he serves. The charisma of the leader was not inherent, it was not manifest upon the battlefield when he was young commander. It was conferred upon him by his predecessor and from God as he was appointed to leadership.
It is interesting to note that leadership was not granted Yehoshua because he, along with Caleb son of Yefune, stood on his own in the quarrel with the ten spies. This incident is not cited by our Sages as being relevant to Moshe's inheritance. In his refusal to accept the position of the spies, Yehoshua 'violated' the accepted criterion for leadership . . . he did not take his companions' views into consideration. In this case, Yehoshua's behavior closely resembled that of Pinchas. Therefore, despite the importance of the spy incident, Yehoshua's stand against the majority did not grant him Moshe's mantle. Considering the capabilities required of a leader, Yehoshua's behavior in the spy incident is irregular.
Dr. Menachem Klein, member of the editorial board of "Shabbat Shalom", teaches in the Department of Political Science in Bar-Ilan University. Translation by Kadish Goldberg
"Before I created you in the womb, I selected you; before you were born,
I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet concerning the nations."
(Jeremiah, 1:5)
The Holy One said to Jeremiah: Go and prophesy concerning Israel." He replied to the Holy One: "I don't how to speak, for I am still a boy," Because he did not want to prophesy severe prophecies upon them, until He said to him: "Before I created you in the womb' I selected you; before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet concerning the nations." Immediately he accepted the mantle of prophecy, and he thought that he was to prophesy only concerning the nations. Once he accepted the mission, the Holy One told him to take the cup of the wine of wrath, etc. (25:16). Jeremiah immediately took it, as is written, "So I took the cup from the hand of the Lord," assuming that he was to serve the drink only to nations, and so said the Holy One, God and learn from general practice – Who is served the drink? Is it not he who sits at the head? See who sits at the head of all nations to be served? It is Jerusalem who sits at the head of all the nations. This is allegorically comparable to the sotah who enters the azzara to drink the sotah waters, and the priest sees that she is his mother, immediately he is ashamed and turns around, crying out and weeping over his mother, so with Jeremiah when the Holy said to him "Give the drink to Jerusalem" he cried out and wept, saying to Him: " Master of the Universe, did you not say to me "I appointed you a prophet concerning the nations." -- now I must prophesy first to my own people? "You have enticed me, O Lord, and I was enticed; You overpowered me and you prevailed." (20:7)
Said the Holy one: You have already accepted, and you cannot go back. Immediately he took the cup from His hand, and drank it all, even gnawing its shards, as is written, "You shall drink it and drain it, and gnaw its shards." (Ezekial 23;34). Once Jeremiah saw that the fate of Jerusalem was sealed, he immediately cried out, and began to lament "Alas! Lonely sits the city."
At that time the Holy One said to him: Why do you stand? Immediately he answered: "Thus said the Lord of Hosts: Listen! Summon the dirge-singers, let them come . . . Let them quickly start a wailing for us, that our eyes may run with tears." This is to tell you that whenever Israel suffers, The Holy One shares their suffering, as is written; "In all their troubles, He was troubled." (Isaiah 63:9) (Midrash Zutta Eicha, Chapter 1)
|
|
|
| |
| Home |
The Movement Objectives and Principles You can Help! |
What's New Activities and Current Events |
Articles and Position Papers Peace Judaism and Israel |
|
|
|
|
Weekly Parsha (Hebrew) Weekly Parsha (English) |
Search Our Site | Links To Peace Movements |
Contact Us
OZ veSHALOM - NETIVOT SHALOM
P.O. Box 4433, Jerusalem, 91043 Israel
Tel: 02-5664218, for Shabbat Shalom only call 053-920206
ozshalom@netvision.net.il
©
Copyright 1997-2003 by Oz Veshalom. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.