Unto these the

possession thereof be divided between many and few.

(Numbers 26:53-56)

To many thou shalt give the more inheritance

To a tribe with a large population, a larger portion was

given, and though the portions were not equal, for everything was according to

the size of the tribe, they distributed the portions solely by lot, and the lot

was according to the holy spirit, as is explained in Baba Batra (118): "Elazar the Priest wore

the Urim and Thumim, and he said according to the holy spirit whether a certain

tribe received a certain area, and the tribes wrote twelve slips of paper, and

the twelve territories were written on slips of paper, and they were scrambled

in an urn, and the prince put his hand in it and took out two slips of paper,

one with the name of the tribe and one with the explicit boundaries of the

territory, and the lot itself, and he would shout out: "I received by lot

a certain boundary for a certain tribe," as it is said, "according to

lot," and the land was not divided according to their being one territory

superior to another, but an inferior beit kor [a unit of land

measurement] was held to be equal to a good beit seah [a unit of land

measurement six times larger than a beit kor], everything according to

the payment.

(Rashi,

Numbers, 26:54).

Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot – the matter of the lot is

because of the good land and the bad land, someone who came to his good land

according to the lot he had, and someone who came to bad land according to the

lot, they would raise money, and the one who had good land would pay money to

the one who had bad land.

(Rabenu Bahya,

Numbers 26:25)

The enigma of

pinhas

Mordechai Beck

We are first introduced to Pinhas at

his birth:

Elazar, son of Aaron, took to wife a daughter of Putiel , and she bore

him a son – Pinhas (Exodus 6:25).

Even here, at the very outset of his narrative, there is the stirring of

controversy. On the one hand, his genealogy ties Pinhas into the tribe of Levy

and more specifically to the family of Aaron the high priest. One could ask for

no more… On the other hand the connection to a daughter of Putiel raises

issues which the Israelites would later use against him.

In the tradition, Putiel is another

name for Jethro the Midianite priest and father-in-law of Moses. This, too,

would seem to be a 'kosher' source from which a son of Aaron could take a

bride. But the sobriquet Putiel carries with it threatening overtones, linking

this side of the family to idolatry. When as a young adult, Pinhas kills Zimri

and Cozbi, his detractors mock him – as a man whose forefathers "greased

the wheels of the carriages carrying idols and who now has the effrontery to

kill a prince of Israel."(Sota 43a and quoted

by Rashi on Numbers 25).

How therefore was it possible for such a noble, holy person as Elazar to have

taken the risk of marrying into such a questionable family?

According to the mystical Rozei

Olam it is the sitra achra or Sama'el who persuades Elazar to take

the anonymous daughter of Putiel (Jethro) as a wife, from which union comes

Pinhas. The same Sama'el, persuaded Aaron's other sons, Nadav and Avihu, not to

marry Israelite women since no one was worthy of them. These two brothers were

sufficiently persuaded by these specious arguments that they arrogantly turned

down offers of marriage and thus fell into the trap that Sama'el had set them,

lacking persuasive wives they lost their lives bringing their strange fire to

the ark of the Lord. According to this reading, Pinhas is thus a tool used by

God to revenge Himself on the subtle Sama'el, thus giving the whole story a far

more cosmic resonance as a battle between good and evil.

To return to Pinhas's main

narrative, the parsha that is named after him, and upon which his

controversial fame rests. It is obvious even here that the issue of genealogy

is crucial to his identity. Within a few verses, he is introduced twice in the

same format – "Pinhas, son of Elazar, son of Aaron the Priest." (Numbers 25: 7 and

11). To which the

Pesikta adds the, maybe obvious, comment: "A righteous person, son of a

righteous person, who is also the son of a righteous person." His

connection to the tribe of Levi is not mentioned, and this may also be of

significance, but neither, too, is his nameless mother.

The incident that projects Pinhas

into the limelight appears as a totally spontaneous act by a young and fiery man

in protest against what he sees as totally unbecoming behaviour on behalf of

some of the Children of Israel. They are in Shittim in the desert when they

"begin whoring with the daughters of (nearby) Moab."

This angers God who tells Moses to

command the judges of Israel

to kill the leaders of the people who are perpetrating such unholy acts. Yet

before this command is acted upon, an anonymous Israelite man jumps in front of

Moses' eyes with a Midianite princess by his side – taunting Israel's leader

(according to the rabbis) since he himself had taken Zipporah the Midianite as

a wife. Confusion breaks out, even Moses is at a loss to know how to act. If he

responds with force he will be accused of hypocrisy. In the confusion that

follows Pinhas steps forward and takes charge of the situation – slaughtering

the man and woman – Zimri and Kozbi with one fell blow – sticking his spear

through their sexual parts as they engage in the act of copulation, thus

emphasising theatrically the nature of their misbehaviour. To underline the

extremity of the act, the sages add the little detail that the two performed

the sex act no less than 224 times on the same day. Pinhas waited till they

were weak from their exertions (sic.) before plunging his spear into them, by which time they were like

watery eggs. (TB. Sanhedrin 82).

It is now clearer why the superscription for Pinhas appears as it does –

emphasising his 'good' side (Elazar, Aaron) and downplaying the fact that his

mother, too, is a Midianite!)

One kabbalistic source observes that

Zimri and Kozbi were actually destined for each other since the days of

creation. Moses knew this and therefore refrained from acting; Pinhas, younger

and less knowledgeable, was unaware of this and was therefore unrestrained in

his response. A similar argument is brought forth in relation to David and

Batsheva where the Talmud explicitly states that they were destined for each

other (TB

Sanhedrin 104?) But

neither of these sources seem to weight up the moral implication of their claim

– suggesting that the players had no choice in their actions, a morally dubious

not to say unacceptable position to take.

It may well be argued that Pinhas'

real concern was the impact of Zimri's actions on the masses. He was, after all,

a tribal prince, and the impassioned love- making was carried out by a public

figure in public. The juxtaposition with the outbreak of the plague

suggests how easy it had been to influence the 'masses.'

The mystical Asarah Mamorot

links the 24,000 Israelites that die as a result of Zimri's flagrant sexual

antics to the same number of Shechemites who had been killed following the rape

of Dinah (Gen

34). Though where he

gets these numbers for the slaughtered men of Shechem is unclear. Indeed the

same source claims that the souls of Zimri and Kozbi are the reincarnation of

those of Dinah and Shechem ben Hamor . What is easier to accept is a sense of

poetic justice at work here in that the perpetrators of the massacre at Shechem

are none other than Levy and Simeon. The two major figures involved in the

events at Shitim/Ba'al Peor are respectively Pinhas – a Levite, and Zimri a

prince of the tribe of Simeon. The theological 'message' would seem fairly

transparent – whereas Pinhas had learnt the lesson of his ancestors, his

contemporary, Zimri, had not.

Again the mystical literature

supplies its own reading of these texts. It is Sama'el – the wicked spirit –

who goes to Bila'am and persuades him to entice the men of Israel with the daughters of Moab

"since non-Jewish maidens were permitted to them." The argument

proffered here is that these non-Jewish women from Moab and Midian were not part of

the Canaanite culture. They were thus exempt from the ethnic cleansing that the

Israelites were obliged to carry out in the promised land. ('Gali Raziah'

quoted in Yalkut Reuveni on Pinhas). Interestingly, and as if is by way of

contrast, soon after the Pinchas episode, the parsha the Torah relates the

story of the daughters of Zlofchod. These righteous young ladies challenge the

halachic norms of their day in order to legitimise their ownership of family

property inside the Holy Land, despite the

fact that they are 'only' females. Breaking the norms here, however, is done

without violence, but with the wisdom and foresight that is apparently lacking

in the men of Israel

who go whoring after foreign women in an orgy of sexual profligacy

Regarding reactions to Pinhas'

murderous deed there is a deep ambivalence not just in the rabbinic

commentaries, but even in the Torah itself. God's munificence towards this

double murderer – by giving him a double blessing, of everlasting priesthood

and peace – could be seen as a last resort defence. Yet tellingly in the same

Parsha, named after our hero, the successor of Moses is named. Pinhas, the

fiery moralist and champion of God's just ways, is passed over for the more

settled Joshua, Moses' faithful servant for 40 years. So, despite lavishing two

gifts on the unrepentant Pinhas, when it comes to appointing him to a public

position, he is awarded a religious rather than a political position. This is

underlined by the inclusion at the end of the parsha of a long list of

sacrifices that the priests are to undertake in the course of the religious

calendar. If Pinhas is still hot headed and passionate, better let him take out

his aggression on dumb animals. Fanaticism, even in the service of a high

spiritual ideal, is no way to conduct the business of everyday living.

There is one final aspect of Pinhas'

biography which is ingrained in the tradition's literature. Accordingly Pinhas

is to be identified with Elijah the prophet. Sources for this startling claim

is to be found in a wide variety of texts from the earliest midrashic work –

Pirkei De Rabbi Elizer (chap 47) later, more mystical works (Pesikta; Kanfei Yonah part 2 :31; Eseret

Ma'amorim, Recanati (Vayesehv), and regular midrash such as Midrash

Tanhuma; the Maggid. etc.)

What is the source of this

connection? Both are cohanim , both waged a war against God's enemies in public

and with no thought for their own safety (in Midrashic texts, for example, the

whole tribe of Simeon gang up on Pinchas but he lies his way out of their

hands). For the more kabbalistic oriented texts, Elijah is no less than the

transmigration of Pinhas' soul.

Nevertheless the sages remain

generally deeply puzzled by the violence – even if God gives Pinhas his

blessing. Is it for this reason that they attach Pinhas's biography to that of

Elijah who is (among other things) the harbinger of the Messiah. Only when this

apocalyptical event occurs will it be possible to resolve – if this is the

right word – the seemingly impossible contradictions thrown up by our

protagonist. Until that time the tensions between idealism and morality on the

one hand, and violence and destruction on the other – must remain an

indissoluble mix.

It might be, too, that this parsha

is generally read at the beginning of the Three Weeks from 17^th

Tammuz to 9^th of Av, when according to the Talmud Jewish violence,

too, brings about the disaster of the destruction of the Temples (Gittin 66 and

passim). It is a wise

leader who is able to discern which problems may be solved in this world and

which are better left to the Higher Powers.

Mordechai Beck is a

Jerusalem based

artist and writer.

Say, therefore, i will grant him my pact of peace.

(bamidbar 25: 11)

 My Pact of Peace – Reward or

Safeguard Against Psychological Damage?

As reward for pacifying God's wrath and anger, He blessed

him with the quality of peacefulness, i.e., that he not be strict or upset.

This was necessary because the act committed by Pinhas, of killing

someone, naturally leaves a strong emotional impression, but since it was

performed for the sake of Heaven, he received the blessing that he always be

calm and peaceful, and that this matter [of having killed] should not affect

his heart.

(Ha-Amek Davar 25:12)

The act of killing a human being in the name of religious

zeal can make a person indifferent to killing. That is

why Pinhas required a special blessing from God, so that his zealous

deed performed for the sake of Heaven would not change him into a wicked

person. The boundary between shedding blood for the sake of Heaven and

blood-shed for the satisfaction of human drives can become blurred… Both

Pinhas andEliyahu acted out of devotion to God, and not out of the hatred of

sinners. A person who is zealous for God because he hates sinners does not

genuinely serve God; rather he is motivated by his drives and urges and a quest

for self-satisfaction. There is no service of God in that – rather it is a case

of self-deception.

(Y.

Leibowitz:

Sheva Shanim Shel Sihot al

Parashat Ha-Shavua, pg. 730)

The regular burnt offering

instituted at mount sinai – an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the lord.

 (B'midbar 28:2-6)

Pleasing odor, nachat ruach, the will of the lord

"A pleasing odor" – Nachat ruach (Nachat Ruach can be

translated as 'satisfaction', 'gratification', 'tranquillity', 'serene spirit',

'pleasure') – pleasure

– for me, for I spoke and my will was executed.

(Rashi, Bemidbar 28:8)

"Then Noach built an

offered burnt offerings on the altar. The Lord smelled the reyach nichoach [pleasing odor] , and the Lord said to

living being, as I have done.

(Bereishit 8:20-21)

'Reyach nichoach' does not mean "pleasant

odor" but rather: the satisfaction of the request and aspirations of the

other.

(Rabbi S. R. Hirsch, Bereishit 8:21)

"What need have I of all

Sabbath, proclaiming of solemnities, assemblies with iniquity, I cannot abide."

(Isaiah 1:11-13)

"What need have I of all

your sacrifices" – Said Rabbi Elazar: Prayer is

superior to all offerings, for it is written "What need have I of all

your sacrifices" and it

is written, "And when you

lift up your hands… Though you pray at length, I will not listen." Said Rabbi Yochanan: Any cohen who has killed someone

shall not lift his arms [to

bless], as is written,

"Your hands are stained with blood."

(Yalkut

Shimoni, Isaiah

247:387)

Five events occurred to our

ancestors on the 17^th of

Tammuz and five on the 9^th of

Ab – on the 17^th of

Tammuz the tablets were

smashed and the regular tammid offering was cancelled and the city was invaded and

Apostomos burnt the Torah and stood an idol in the sanctuary.

(Mishna, Taanit

4:1)

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