Parashat Pinchas 5770
Wrestling with the Challenges of Diversity
Vince McMahon could not have written a better story line for this week’s Torah reading regarding Pinchas the Priest as a “piercer” of men and women alike. I wonder if Pinchas had been around for our generation to witness, would he have measured up to the likes of WWE champion Shaemus, who has no shame, or former champions, Massachusetts-born John Cena (a fan favorite) and Randy Orton, who is a third-generation wrestler with a mean reputation.
Pinchas, who is most noted for his dexterity with a spear, spearheaded single-handedly a campaign to rid the community of Israel of any foreign influences introduced by the prophet Bilaam, who brought women from Midian into the ranks in order to weaken the men with their charms, after failing to weaken them with a curse in his previous mission. Much like Monday Night Raw on prime-time television, Bilaam returns to the scene to reclaim his reputation as the Hit Man for Hire that his manager King Balak hypes him to be. As Rabbi Arthur Segal concludes in his d’var torah for this week, “We read how Bilaam, not to be outgunned by God, convinces Balak to take one last stab at the Jews.”
As we all know, according to the Torah, God rewards Pinchas, the grandson of the deceased High Priest Aaron, for his act of zealotry. He is given a promotion in the company and given the new title of High Priest along with the championship belt tied to his tunic and his tzitzit! Thus we begin a new story line in the competition for survival of the fittest. There will not be a new world order established with the Midianites at the helm. To ensure that the Israelite community retains the title, a new general is sought to lead them into battle. Moses, who is aging rapidly, and losing control of the troops as well as the tribes at an alarming rate, calls upon a young Joshua to be his successor.
What I have just described in modern language and imagery demonstrates some of the difficulties that the sages and interpreters of the Bible have revealed in conjunction with Pinchas and his form of vigilante justice.
Judaism prides itself on its civility towards others, especially when human rights are involved. No man, or woman, is to be condemned to death without witnesses and a trial. Unfortunately, this did not happen in the scene that opens our Torah reading for this week. Pinchas acted without due process – and is not punished for his actions. We are forced to ask, “Why is he not reprimanded? Does the silence of those in leadership positions turn a blind eye to what he did, knowing something had to be done despite it being done so in such an improper manner? But is this not the way of the world in which live?”
One sage apologizes for the new High Priest, proclaiming that on the day that Moses taught torts to the new recruits, Pinchas was sick. He did not know that two witnesses were necessary before carrying out justice. Therefore, we shall give him some slack on this minor mistake! Only afterwards will he be held accountable for the material that he missed on that day that he was absent!
Here’s looking at the law…with Neal Chayet. According to the mystics, the Hebrew word for “spear” (“romach”) has the numerical value of 248, which is the number of positive mitzvoth in the Torah. One can only conclude from this close association that what Pinchas did was a positive thing in the eyes of God whose justice is usually blind. However, in the eyes of the people, they did not know quite yet that what they did was wrong, because it had not yet been told to the young men of the community not to have a physical relationship with the native women because it will weaken them as a military unit.
Even though Pinchas was indeed aware of the law, he was in his legal responsibility to demonstrate the state’s disapproval of such actions by making an example of Zimri the Israelite and his cohort, the Midianite princess, Cozbi. Pinchas did what God wished He could do Himself when Israel acted with infidelity, lusting after other gods! As for the sages, it wasn’t Pinchas who missed class on the day that Moses taught the laws concerning Israel’s relations with foreign women, it was Zimri who was absent! The moral of the story, we should miss classes of instruction spear-ingly in the future…
In the time of the Bible, the punishment for having a physical relationship with a heathen was not as Pinchas had executed. Rather, we are told elsewhere that such a sin was to be met with “karet,” which is God’s way of delivering “death” through “excision.” To be “cut off” from the blessings of society certainly brought fear into the hearts of the most bold, knowing that one’s spiritual life was in jeopardy. However, “karet” is not something that man can do to one another in the same way that the leper is quarantined in a different place. “Karet” is between the sinner and his God. The problem that we face in modern society is that “karet” no longer causes such fear in a pluralistic society. I wonder if there is indeed a place for what the sages declare “God’s jealousy” when an Israelite loves an outsider to the faith.
Let’s face it, Moses married a Midianite woman named Tziporah. What are we to make of this in relation to what transpired back then? If Moses had commanded that all of the Moabite women be treated in the same way as the Midianite maidens, then what would have become of Ruth, who is the maternal founder of the kingship of Israel through David? We recall how Miriam was admonished by God for spearing her brother with her words of criticism. The Torah teaches us that we must always be mindful of the things that we say and how they have the ability to be more deadly than the sharpest spear that pierces the body. Most wounds to the body can be healed. There may be a scar as a reminder, but recovery is possible. Most wounds to the soul of an individual, however, are less likely to be healed given the difficulties in taking back the things we say once they are evoked.
As I look at our synagogue and others like it across the nation, there is no room for such improper behavior that was exhibited by Pinchas, despite his motives. Spearing others with a tongue lashing – calling others names, criticizing their actions or inactions – is what pushes people away from considering a religious life. We need to address the fact that people feel fractured enough by their time constraints. Synagogues need to become spiritual centers where individuals can feel comfortable with their fragility, and not be afraid of being “speared” because of their inabilities – inability to pray, inability to understand, inability to participate wholeheartedly. God tells Adam that we are connected to one another. Our responsibility to those who are different is to welcome them into our midst and to embrace them. It is no longer acceptable behavior to criticize those who marry out of the faith. Their children are Jewish, and we need to support that decision to raise them in the Jewish faith. Like the spokes of a wheel in which there is a common center, each branch has equal access to what lies in the middle.
Rabbi Arthur Segal makes note of what happened to Newsweek correspondent Tom Ross in his article dated July 17, 2000. After 60 years of writing, he decided to change his name back from Ross to Rosenberg. In testimony to his revelation, Mr. Rosenberg made the following statement: “Every time I step into a temple, I’m reminded that Judaism has survived for 4,000 years. It survived because it is a positive religion. My parents, your grandparents, changed their name out of fear. I’m changing it back out of pride. I chose the name Tikvah because it means hope.” The Hope of Israel rests with a loving, open compassionate way of being and not with hateful, exclusive, malevolent bigotry disguised as religious zealotry.
Isaiah teaches us to throw down our swords and to make them back into plough shears once again. May this Shabbat be the beginning to our search for others to join our community, and to embrace the diversity that we are building, as we seek to fashion a place where all will feel welcome.
