TORAH- FAX PINCHAS TORAH

DIALOGUE
PINC74ED
PINCHAS - Numbers 25:10
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*+ RA**I ED DA,IS
1. The beginni ng of today s parsha is a
conti nuati on of the story which ended ast !habbat
when Pinchas arose with a "eaous feeing to
protect #ods na$e and sew the prince of !hi$on
and the %idiani te wo$an with who$ he was
ca&orti ng. Pinchas is gi&en a reward and is
identi fi ed yet again as being the son of Ea"ar and
grandson of 'haron. %ost co$$entari es dea with
the fact that Pinchas was probab y not a (ohen
prior to this incident) but earned the (ehunah as a
resu t of his rising to protect #ods na$e. *thers
$aintai n that he had the (ohanic status but yet
was not inducted with his fathers generati on and
his grandfather. *thers dwe on the fact that in
this case) $eani ng that if we assu$e that Pinchas
was aready a (ohen) what brachah does he
recei &e at this +uncture, Is it enough of a reward to
understand that Pinchas earned it hi $sef and did
not recei &e the (ehunah as an inheri tance. There
is a disti ncti on between these two concepts) the
disti ncti on being that if you earned it instead of
inheri ti ng it) it is a greater $eri t for you. -.EDs
note/ I 0now that this is true of $any other
discip i nes. 1or e2a$p e if I thin0 of a no&e
e2panati on on a Torah $atter on $y own) it stays
with $e in greater depth and ength of ti $e than if
I were to ha&e read it in so$e other source.
3or0ing it out on your own has benefi ts to your
abiity to re$e$ber it and to pu$b its depth.4 This
is true of Pinchas abiity to ha&e earned his status
as a (ohen) and uti $ate y as the (ohen #ado) and
the ancestor of a other 5igh Priests in the future.
6. 'n interesti ng discussion foows the opinion
that Pinchas was aready a (ohen when he 0ied
7i$ri. It is recorded in the Ta$ud and codified in
the !huchan 'ruch 8*.C. 169/:;< that a (ohen who
0ied a hu$an being is not per$i t ted to duchen
and to bess the peope. Conse=uent y this $i ght
app y to Pinchas (ohen status) which $ight ha&e
been forfei ted by his act of 0iing. %aybe that is
the reward that he recei&ed in being recogni"ed as
a (ohen in this particu ar incident. This has had
ra$i ficati ons in discussions throughout >ewish
history and especia y in the $odern period. In his
.esponsa ?echa&eh Daat @ou$e 6) .esponsu$
14) .a& *&adiah ?osef discusses the aw of a
(ohen who ser&es in the Israei ar$y of today and
0is an ene$y. Is he per$i t ted to duchen e&en
though he has 0ied a hu$an being, .a& ?osef
goes through a engthy discussion and concudes
that we shou d honor such an indi &i dua and gi&e
hi$ a $a+or yasher koach 8a the power to you<
when we see hi $ for the ser&ice he rendered to his
peope and defini te y he woud be per$i t ted to
duchen and functi on as a (ohen in our day. 8.ED<
:. I$$ediate y after rewardi ng Pinchas 5ashe$
tes %oshe to attac0 the %idiani tes. This is a
directi &e not +ust because they were in&o &ed in
bringi ng the peope to sin in the idoatry of Peor)
but the Torah see$s to indicate a
constant threat e$anati ng fro$ %idian. They are
in the present tense) not +ust in the past) harassing
the >ewish peope 86;/19<. This wou d indicate that
attac0i ng %idian is not ony because of the past
sins against the >ewish peope but aso because of
the current and future possibii ty of attac0. They
are our ene$y and desire to infict e&i and pain
against Anei ?israe. This cear directi &e regardi ng
%idian paces a considerati on for future reati ons
with constant ene$i es of the >ewish peope. I
wou d thin0 that our current situati on with Iran fits
the bi. They ha&e harassed and incited e&i
against the >ewish peope in the past and conti nue
to do so in their support of 'rab terroris$ against
the !tate of Israe) and ha&e articu ated cear y
their intent to continue to fight and atte$pt to
annihi ate the >ewish state. If 5ashe$ wished
%oshe to attac0 %idian because they are a
constant and future threat to the >ewish peope
wou d this aso be a directi &e in the current state of
affairs with the >ewish peopes reati ons with Iran
and e&en with 5a$as, 8.ED<
4. 3hen the Torah gi&es us a census report in
Chapter 6B) it states that the sons of (orach did not
die. Chidren nor$a y absorb and inheri t a great
dea fro$ their parents. Csuay we obser&e that
the good character trai ts of the parents don t
auto$ati ca y e2tend to the chidren) but the
chidren see$ to =uic0 y absorb the bad character
trai ts. If the father is contenti ous and
argu$entati &e in his reati onshi p with others)
usua y the chidren foow in his wa0eD and in $any
instances) the chidren are not ony aongsi de the
father but in front of hi$ to ead the charge.
Contrary to this) the sons of (orach E$i racu ous yF
did not foow in their fathers footsteps. In the
ti $e of the rebei on that their father ed) the sons
fet peni tent and did not assist their father.
Conse=uent y this part wou d tru y be oo0ed upon
as a $irace. 8?a0ut !ofer on 6B/1G) 11<

;. The daughters of T"eafchad approached
%oshe to re=uest a triba porti on for the$ as they
shoud recei&e it because their father was eigi b e
to recei&e and the father has died ea&ing no sons)
ony daughters. In actua i ty the Torah has aready
stated that the triba porti ons were gi&en out &ia
the di&i ne orace and specifica y by na$e. If
5ashe$ decreed a fa$i y portion by na$e) then
the daughters of T"eafchad woud ha&e been
$enti oned prior to this) perhaps e&en as part of the
pre&i ous census 8see 6B/::<. 3hy woud this
=uestion be perpe2i ng %oshe when it see$s to be
cear y stated in the Torah,
B. %oshe re=uests 5ashe$ to announce his
successor as the eader of the >ewish peope. It is
not possibe that 5ashe$ woud ha&e forgotten
about this situation as %oshe was destined to
depart as soon as the &ictory o&er %idian woud be
acco$p ished. The (ot"0er .ebbe points out that
%oshes concern was that now there are two &iabe
candi dates for his position. *ne is ?ehoshua who
has been his trusted discipe and assistant.
?ehoshua was in&o &ed in $any areas of
eadershi p) incudi ng eading the war against
'$ae0 when the >ewish peope ca$e out of Egypt.
Aut a new star has risen with Pinchas status as a
$e$ber of the eite fa$i y as a possibe candi date
for the eadershi p roe that %oshe has) be it actua
0ingshi p or +ust $ii tary) egisati &e) and poitica
eader. %oshe wanted 5ashe$ to appoi nt the new
eader now e&en before his own death because he
did not want the peope to thin0 that Pinchas was a
&iabe candi date. ' eader shoud not be
co$pusi &e and act out of a "eaous character trai t.
Conse=uent y %oshe prayed to 5ashe$ to appoi nt
the eader who woud be toerant of each
indi &i dua s concerns 8see .ashi on 67/1B<. %oshe
wanted 5ashe$ to appoi nt a eader who wou d be
the eader for each indi &i dua $e$ber of the >ewish
nation) a person who woud try to treat e&erybody
e=ua y with great co$passion and dedication to
5ashe$ s aw.
7. Idoatry see$s e2tre$e y forei gn to us and
strange to concei &e that inte i gent peope wou d
e&er worshi p wood and stone i$ages. The
.a$ba$) a$ong others) atte$pts to create a
ogica bac0ground to idoatrous beiefs. There was
awareness of a supernatura force that was
contro i ng the word. This force was in&isi b e) but
sy$bo i ca y the $oon and sun were oo0ed upon
as agents of the !upre$e Aeing. Peope wou d bow
to the $oon as a way of paying ho$age to the
!upre$e Aeing that it represented. In the course
of ti $e peope forgot the force behind the sy$bo)
and it was a natura e&outi on that ed to the
worshi p of the $oon. Therefore one woud
understand the the$ati c nature of .osh Chodesh
where we offer sacrifices when the $oon
reappears) and these sacrifices are specifica y
abeed as a EsinH offering unto 5ashe$F 869/1;<.
Perhaps these sacrificia rituas that too0 pace on
a the reigi ous hoidays were for the purpose to
$a0e sure that we wou d be focusing on the
!upre$e Aeing instead of 5is sy$bo ic
representati on in our physica wor d. 8.ED<
HAFTORAH
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.ERE/IAH
' three of the seected haftorot for the Three
3ee0s ha&e the purpose of bringi ng to our $inds
the understandi ng of the e2ie) the 0now edge of
the causes of its occurrence and its durati on. The
nationa custo$ of i$posing a character of
$ourni ng on these wee0s is not to co$$e$orate
the e&ents of the past) but to bring ho$e to us the
shortco$i ngs and sins of e&ery conte$porary age
of the e2ie. >ust as the (ohan ser&es as a priest to
the peope of Israe) so was the roe of the >ewish
peope to ser&e as the priesthood of the hu$an
race. #od appoi nts Anei ?israe to this tas0 +ust as
5e appoints the prophet to ser&e e&en before his
birth. _ ''_ _ _ _ : _ : To be
a prophet unto the nations did I ordain you, is a
state$ent $ade not ony to the prophet >ere$iah
but aso to a of Israe. 85irsch.<
SHA**AT HALACHAH
%u0t"eh _ _ _ / Coins) and to0ens which
are used in pace of coins) are $u0t"eh.
Ne&erthe ess) one $ay $o&e a coin which is
attached for orna$enta purposes to be a nec0ace
or 0ey ring. *wing to the fact that it is per$anent y
fi2ed in position) it is no onger regarded as a coin
and ceases to be $u0t"eh. The i$portant factor
for considerati on is whether or not the coin
conti nues to be used as such. This is true as we of
a penny paced in penny oafers.
There is a dispute a$ong the Pos0i$
concerni ng whether or not one shou d refrain fro$
reciti ng Shehechi yanu duri ng the Three 3ee0s
[Bein Hametzari m] / the !huchan 'ruch 8*.C.
;;1/17< rues that it is better not to recite it -wi th
certai n e2cepti ons4) whie the Ta" and @ina #aon
=uestion whether this is an e2cessi&e stringency
(Chumra . The %ishnah Aerurah 8I9< wri tes that it
is not necessary to be stringent on !habbat during
the Three 3ee0s.
IDENTIFICATION
(*T7(E. .EAAE H %enache$ %ende of (ot"0
81797H 19;I< was an origi na eader of the
chassidic $o&e$ent) since his e$phasis on
study ca$e coser to that of the @ina #aon
than to other chassidi $. 5e stressed the
desire for truth and not e$otion.