Rabbi's Message for Shabbat Pinchas, July 10-11 5780

Dear Members and Friends of Kehilat Shalom Calgary,
This week’s Torah portion, Pinchas, presents two contrasting models of heroism: that of Pinchas, and that of B’not Tzlofchad (daughters of Zelophehad).
In a recent conversation, a Kehilat Shalom member shared with me their belief that there were few Jewish heroes that they could look up to. They pointed to modern Zionist leaders such as Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin as among the very few who stood up successfully for Jewish strength, nationhood and survival. However, the majority of Jewish leaders throughout Diaspora history, this member suggested, were no heroes, as they accepted and accommodated a political reality in which Jews were repeatedly disempowered, oppressed, expelled, and all too often, massacred.
Proponents of Jewish history will recognize in this argument the familiar tropes of the Socialist and Revisionist branches of the Zionist movement. Revisionist thinkers such as Abba Achimeir, Y. L. Levin, and Vladimir Jabotinsky suggested that there was little for Jews to learn from Diaspora experiences and leaders, as they were all compromised by the absence of Jewish statehood. “The Revisionists contended that beyond the persecutions and the hardships that the Jews had endured over the centuries, the Diaspora had caused a deep psychological schism in the Jewish soul...Only a return to monist [single-minded] nationalism could cure the ruptured Jewish soul.” (1) Writing in 1933, essayist Dov Chomsky claimed in Madrich Beitar, “The term ‘The People of the Book’ is the result of the dangerous and weakening belief that... Jews were scattered all over the world in order to advance humanity and spread the humanistic teachings of the prophets. It is the result of the distortion of nationalism and the nullification of the historical subject, the rights of the nation.”(2)
According to this view, there is little true heroism to be sought among the Talmudic Sages, rabbinic commentators, medieval “olim”, communal leaders such as Ibn Gabriel or other great Diaspora Jews, as they were all compromised by their adherence to religious ideals uncoupled from political or military power. Early socialist Zionist leader Max Nordau explicitly made the link between heroism and Jewish military power, in saying, “For the first time since Bar-Kochba [2nd century CE revolutionary Jewish military leader] does there exist among the Jews an inclination to show themselves, and to show the world how much vitality they still possess.” Heroism, within this construct, depends upon national, political, and military might.
Pinchas, the vigilante
In this week’s Torah reading, Pinchas – the grandson of Aharon the High Priest (and Moses’ brother) – is rewarded by Hashem for his act of vigilante justice. Following the failure of Balaam to curse the Jewish nation successfully, the Israelites were subverted in a different way: through lust. (The Midrash explains that this action had been organized by Balaam as an alternative way to undermine the Jews). Moabite and Midianite women were brought into the Israelite camp as prostitutes, and Jewish men lusted after and slept with them – and followed them into performing rituals and sacrifices to worship the pagan deity Ba’al Pe’or. A Jewish chieftain, Zimri ben Salu, brought Kozbi bat Tzur, the daughter of an enemy Midianite, in front of the Ohel Moed (Tent of Meeting) and flaunted her sexually. In a moment of immediate vengeance, Pinchas grabbed a spear and impaled the couple, killing them instantly.
Hashem not only exonerates Pinchas for the act of killing, but praises him. G-d delivers a message via Moses: “Phinehas, son of Elazar, son of Aaron the Kohen, has turned my wrath away from the people of Israel by avenging vengeance for me…therefore let it be known that I grant him a covenant of peace” (Bamidbar 25:11-12). Pinchas’s decisive action led to the ceasing of a plague that had killed twenty-four thousand Israelites. Given such divine reward, it seems that it must be righteous fo Jews to take fierce, heroic action.
Not so fast. According to the Sages, Pinchas’s actions were considered a dangerous and unacceptable model to follow. According to the Jerusalem Talmud (Sanhedrin 9:7), “Pinchas acted against the will of the wise men. Rabbi Yuda…said: They desired to excommunicate him. If not for the divine spirit that sprung upon him and said: ‘And he shall have it, and his descendants after him, the covenant of priesthood everlasting’…” Pinchas’s act was an extrajudicial killing, i.e., done outside of any justice system. Moses had in fact commanded the Judges of Israel to enact (capital) justice against those who had strayed after the foreign women and foreign god. Pinchas took justice into his own hands. Such revolutionary action, when widespread, threatens stability and social order, with societal justice left up to the arbitrary choices of individuals. It is therefore understood that Pinchas’s act would have merited severe condemnation, even excommunication, had he not exceptionally been granted G-d’s absolution.
The patience of the 5 daughters
Later in the parsha, we view an entirely different type of heroism: that of B’not Tzlofchad. Tzlofchad, a descendant of Menashe, had died, leaving behind his five daughers Machlah, Noah, Khoglah, Milkah and Tirtzah, and no sons. According to Torah law up till that time, when a man died, his inheritance could only be passed on to male heirs. The daughters of Tzlofchad claimed that this law was unfair – as it prevented them from being able to carry on their family name and heritage.
They petitioned their case all the way to Moshe Rabeinu, who in turn presented their case to Hashem. G-d answered the matter plainly: “Ken B’not Tzlofchad dovrot” – the daughters of Tzlofchad are correct. The Halacha was refined so that the estate of a man who died without sons could be inherited by his daughters, as long as they married within their tribe (so that land could remain within their tribal territory). As a result of the five sisters’ action, not only was the law itself improved, but the justice system itself was reinforced: the Israelites saw that they had collective power to bring about a more just society, in an ordered, sacred manner.
The heroism of B’not Tzofchad was characterized by their determination and clarity of purpose. Their courage was similar to that of people involved in landmark court cases in modern society. Such petitioners require persistence to convince others, beyond doubt, that their position is valid, in order to ensure that justice is enacted fairly for them and all others in similar circumstances. This is not the heroism of a momentary act. It requires many years of dedicated action along with concerted efforts by many others.
So which heroes are better?
In Pirkei Avot – the Mishnah tractate of ethical teachings – we learn the maxim from Ben Zoma:איזהו גבור? הכובש את יצרו" “ – “Who is a hero? The one who can subdue their (evil) inclination.” A person’s yetzer (inclination) embodies their animal nature – gratification of one’s needs, and pursuit of power for its own end.
Pinchas’s militant heroism can be appropriate for a time of immediate danger or threat. Powerful action, when harnessed for good, can bring about rapid change – in Pinchas’s case, it subdued destructive chaos among the Jewish people. Decisive action is warranted in other instances as well: countries that enacted rapid protective measures against COVID-19 have fared far better in this pandemic than others which have proceeded less assertively.
Yet impulsive, violent, dramatic action cannot serve as a general example for societal behaviour: such is the stuff of the yetzer. Chaotically implemented justice leads to a world where "might is right". It does not form the basis for an enduring civil society.
The heroism of B’not Tzlofchad, by contrast, is less dramatic but more enduring. Rather than military might, they employed the forcefulness of their convictions. Their heroism was a longer, more gradual one with a lasting impact: centuries later, the territory in Israel where their descendants lived continued to be named for these very women.
Jewish history demonstrates that forceful political and military power, in and of itself, is no assurance of Jewish strength. The same Bar Kochba cited as a hero by Max Nordau brought about tremendous suffering for the Jewish people. The revolution which Bar Kochba led against the Romans (and supported by leaders such as Rabbi Akiva) was soundly defeated, no less than were the Jewish zealots of Masada in the previous century. In the wake of Bar-Kochba’s rebellion, half a million Jews were slain, hundreds of cities and villages were razed to the ground, and Romans imposed oppressive rule thereafter upon the survivors. The heroism of Judah Maccabee eventually led to rulership by a tyrannical, amoral kingdom by his descendants; this is why Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of Lights ratherr than that of military victory. It is no wonder that Judaism traditionally regards military and political power with suspicion.
To be sure, the Zionist cause did exemplify extraordinary leadership and heroism. Such heroism was not due to exceptional heroism unseen in any time in the Diaspora. In fact, the Zionist cause itself was fuelled by the incredible success Jewish leaders sustained in cultivating a meaningful existence for Jews throughout the centuries. Had we not had leaders who inculcated not only the history of a homeland, but also the purpose of Jewish peoplehood (inspired by Torah and Hashem), there would have been no meaningful survival of the Jewish nation, let alone unity behind a shared vision of statehood.
May we seek out heroes in our lives who inspire us not only with their power and determination, but also with the goodness of their hearts.
Shabbat shalom!
(1) Kaplan, Eran. (2005). The Jewish Radical Right : Revisionist Zionism and Its Ideological Legacy. University of Wisconsin Press, 2005, p. 35.
(2) Ibid., p. 34.
_________________
Rabbi Leonard Cohen
Kehilat Shalom, Calgary
(403) 850-0106
leonardecohen@gmail.com