Pinchas, son of Elazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned My wrath away from the Children of Israel, while he was zealous for My sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in My jealousy.” (Numbers 25:11)

We are extremely sensitive to expressions of jealousy, zealotry and fanaticism. Any form of religious, national or ideological fanaticism may lead to violence and bloodshed throughout the world, including at home. The intense fervor of the fanatic convinces him that his religion or his faith holds sway over the only absolute truth expressing the will of the true God. It therefore provides him with the justification to kill anyone who should doubt his absolute truth or justice. This type of fanaticism caused many outstanding leaders such as Gedalia ben Achikam, Mahatma Gandhi, Anwar Sadar and Yitzhak Rabin to lose their lives. This type of fanaticism also led to the deaths of thousands of innocent citizens: Israeli sportsmen at the Olympic Games in Munich, businessmen who worked in the World Trade Center in New York, Moslem worshippers in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, travelers on the London underground – all because fanaticism distorts the sight of the fanatic to the extent that killing becomes a means unto itself. ‘Let me kill heretics even if I, too, should die in the process, together with the greatest number of other human beings. My sheer willingness to kill myself and to kill thousands of people who refuse to accept my truth will prove to God and to the world that I am correct!’

However, even in a permissive, broadminded society, it should be emphasized that some basic absolute values exist that cannot be compromised. It is vital to understand that certain circumstances demand the use of violence in order to prevent violence on an even greater scale, such as when killing in self-defense is permissible “if someone comes to kill you, kill him first”

However, this rule is not always fitting: While Pinchas’ answer turned away God’s wrath through bloodshed, Rivka allayed the danger to Jacob by submission and capitulation. When Rivka heard that Esau was conspiring to kill Jacob, she didn’t say to Jacob ‘if he comes to kill you, kill him first’. Instead, she sent Jacob, her beloved son, to a distant land “until thy brother’s anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him” (Genesis 27:45).

Jealousy is a basic human instinct. It is particularly prevalent in marriage. The husband is mistrustful of his wife and in his jealous rage may explode violently towards her and towards any other man whom he sees as endangering his monopoly over his wife, that exclusivity that is defined in religious terms as marriage. The Bible is consistent in its comparison of the jealousy in man-woman relationships to the jealousy in the relationship between God and the Children of Israel. The God of Israel is a jealous God unlike the gods of other nations who are more ‘tolerant’ and ‘pluralistic’. As long as they receive the honor and gifts for which they deem themselves worthy, they do not really care that other deities also receive their own gifts.

The God of Israel does not merely vehemently oppose allowing any other gods to hold sway with him. He also resists even lesser gods. He is not willing to allow any form of graven images. In the story of Zimri and Pinchas, there is almost complete overlapping between ‘Kin-ah’ -jealousy in the sexual sense and ‘kanaut’ -zealotry in the theological sense. The daughters of Midian enticed the Israelite men to idolatry by means of sexual temptation.

There is a paradox in the link between jealousy and peace. Pinchas, the priest, makes peace between the God of Israel and the People of Israel by his jealousy. Therefore God promises him a “Covenant of Peace”. What does a “Covenant of Peace” mean? Can it be interpreted that you surely did the right thing at the crucial moment, but from now on you will never need to take up arms again nor to spill the blood of your Israelite brother or of any foreign women, in order to appease my jealousy. We see the same paradox in the prophecy of Isaiah “For unto us a child is born the Prince of Peace…… The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:6).

The link between jealousy and the priesthood is also reflected in the role of the priest in the chapter on Sota (Numbers 5: 3-11). The priest discharges his duty towards marital reconciliation: He writes a scroll in ink and then erases his writing (including the Lord’s name). He then gives the bitter waters, which had been used erasing the scroll, to the woman to drink in order to prove clearly to the jealous husband that his distrust was completely baseless. The Midrash teaches us that by the use of this ceremony, the Lord, Blessed Be His Name, ostensibly declares his preferences: My name that is written in the Holy Scriptures will be obliterated by the water in order to create marital reconciliation between a husband and his wife. (This appears in various versions in the Talmud)

It was Aaron who, “for the sake of peace and righteousness”, the prevention of bloodshed, cooperated with the populace and fashioned the forbidden material manifestation: The Golden Calf. It was Moses, the jealous one, who mobilized his supporters from the tribe of Levi and ordered them to kill their own people and their own families who were involved in the rites of the Golden Calf even after he destroyed the Ten Commandments. However, later the roles are switched. It is now Aaron’s grandson who becomes the jealous one, and Moses, who apparently has aged and became more moderate and more tolerant after 39 years of wandering in the desert, who remains passive in the face of the deeds of Zimri. The words of praise for Pinchas at the beginning of the chapter which is named after him, are meant indirectly to prepare Moses for the day of his death. Pinchas carries out the deed that forty years previously Moses would have carried out himself.

When should one curb fanaticism by taking ‘preventive violence’? When is the very act of fanaticism itself the correct way to restore peace between man and his neighbor and between the nation and God? The internal conflict and struggle on this subject can be seen throughout the Bible from Moses to Pinchas and from Pinchas to Elijah the Prophet. …. Elijah relinquishes his role as prophet and leaves the society of man to be purified in the desert, because of the bloodshed that he carried out in a burst of jealousy. And from Elijah the Prophet to the Sicarii who drew their double-edged swords and so on to the peace-loving moderates making their compromises and concessions unto this very day.

Inspired by my revered teacher and rabbi, Prof. Ze’ev Falk of blessed memory.

Recent Articles by Rabbi Gil Nativ

• Vaethannan, Shabbat and Tu B'av: Celebrating Renewal, Creation and Human Rights - August 14th, 2008
• Miqqez: Recognition & Rejection - December 7th, 2007
• Pinehas: Fanaticism and peace between man and his neighbor and between the nation and God. - July 13th, 2006
• Behar: From Slavery to Freedom - April 28th, 2006
• Gil Nativ - April 28th, 2006
• Shabbat HaGadol: Peace begins at home - April 6th, 2006
• Beha'alotekha: Critical mass and individual responsibility - June 16th, 2005

Categories: Bemidbar / Numbers, Pinehas
Tags: Bo, compromise, conciliation, ease, Emor, fen, human rights, ISM, order, palestinians, peace, reconciliation, rest, righteousness, settlers, truth