What Zimri was doing in public was so reprehensible and so unbelievably outrageous, that everyone was crying and were paralyzed without any idea how to react, until Pinchos rose to the occasion and killed Zimri and Cozbi together. Rabeinu B'chayei points out how Pinchos risked his life, and wasn't impressed by the fact that he was killing a Nasi B’yisroel and a princess, and in front of all the Z'keinim (elders) and Sanhedrin.
He wasn't impressed by the Kavod of the Nasi and Kavod of a princess since in his world all that counted was Kavod Shamayim. (Rabeinu B'chayei). He was concerned about a major Bizayon to Klal Yisroel when they had Z’nus with gentile women and worshipped fake idols. In these Parshiyos we have two stories where the whole Klal Yisroel were crying. First, by the Meraglim (וַיִּבְכּוּ הָעָם בַלַיְלָה הַהוּא) and now by the Ma'aseh of Zimri (וְהֵמָה בֹכִּים).
And we have the three greatest successes in Klal Yisroel of Dor HaMidbar not being Nis'pael from all the crying. We have Kalev and Yehoshua who did the opposite of crying, and they said: כִּּי לַחְמֵנוּ הֵם we will eat them like bread, and: טוֹבָה הָאָרֶץ מְאֹד מְאֹד the land is very, very good. When an entire nation is busy crying; they are full of Simcha and positivism. It's not easy to be positive when the entire frum world around you is totally negative with bitter tears.
And Pinchos is a positive man of action, who steps up against the whole Klal Yisroel. While they cry, he does! All these three were positive in thought and action, and risked their lives by going against a whole nation! They were all rewarded with Arichus Yamim (longevity) and leadership, and all kinds of lasting greatness.
By the way, all three had difficulties and "baggage" behind them that they had to overcome. So don't think that we don't have a chance to become like them. Chazal tells us about the great difficulty that Yehoshua had, and he was far from a born Talmid Chochom. He sounds worse than his friends, who called him a: ילסִּ ְּּ כּ fool. And Pinchos was criticized since he was a descendant of a person who fattened cows for Avoda Zara (i.e., Yisro). (Rashi). And Kalev had a: רוּחַ אַחֶרֶת which means a bad tendency, and he had to daven by Kivrei Avos to be saved from: עַ צַ ת מְרַגְלִּים the evil plan of the Meraglim. (Ohr HaChaim). I would like to point out that they were “extreme positive” against all the crying going on in their surroundings.
The story of Shmuel HaNavi starts off with a sad situation of Chana who had no children, and her Tzara (co-wife), Penina, used to torment her and tease her about this, in order to get her to daven. (Gemara). Why didn't Chana daven on her own? Shouldn't such a Tzadekes (who was also a Nevi'a. Gemara) storm the heavens for children, like Rochel & Leah and Avraham & Sara, and Yitzchok & Rivka; all didn't need coaxing to accomplish this most important Mitzva.
We can suggest that their Zeide, Korach was a great Adam Gadol with Ruach HaKodesh who ended up in Gehinom because of his ambitions and dissatisfaction in Avodas Hashem. Elkana used to go to Shiloh: לְהִּשְתַחֲוֹת וְלִּזְבֹחַ לַ ה' ש"א א ג to bow down and bring a Korban to Hashem. Isn't: הִּ שְ תַ חַ וָאָה “bowing” a small part of bringing a Korban? It seems as though the main thing by Elkana was: הִּ שְ תַ חַ וָאָה the bowing, which means thankfulness.
