Divrei Torah for the Shabbos Table
A terrible tragedy! Zimri, a nasi in Klal Yisrael, took a Midyanite woman for himself! Nobody knew how to react, not even Moshe Rabbeinu, and a plague broke out which was killing thousands. Who would save the day? Suddenly, Pinchas rose up and, remembering the halachah, defended Hashem's honor by slaying Zimri and Kozbi. When mentioning the episode, the Torah calls Pinchas “Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen”. Why do we have to mention his lineage? Don't we already know that Pinchas was the son of Elazar and the grandson of Aharon HaKohen?
Rashi answers that the other shevatim were mocking Pinchas, saying that he was a descendant of Yisro who fattened calves for avoda zara. So, who does he think he is killing a nasi in Klal Yisrael? To counter this complaint, the pasuk says that Pinchas was a descendant of Aharon HaKohen.
The meforshim ask: How do we understand that the shivtei koh were mocking Pinchas who actually fulfilled a tremendous mitzvah that each one of the shevatim should have fulfilled themselves! He saved them all! So how can they have complaints against Pinchas?
At the end of Parshas Balak the pasuk says, “Vayar Pinchas” – Pinchas saw and he took a spear. What did he see? Says Rashi, he saw what was going on, that Zimri sinned with a Midyanite woman, and he remembered the halachah. He told Moshe Rabeinu, “I learned from you that if a Yid marries a gentile woman, then kano'im, zealots, kill him”. Moshe Rabeinu replied – “since you remembered the halachah, you should carry it out”. And he did.
What does it mean that Pinchas saw? The Gemara says in Nedorim 32, “Says Rav Ami, it says Avram without a heh and then Avraham with a heh. From here we learn that in the beginning when his name was only Avram, Hashem gave him dominion over 243 limbs. At the end he ruled over all 248 limbs.” We know that a person has 248 aivorim. Avrom is gematria 243 and Avraham is gematria 248. Which 5 were added? 2 eyes, 2 ears and the milah. After he was called Avraham, he was able to rule over these five, too. The Ran explains that originally, Hashem gave permission to Avraham Avinu to rule over those limbs that a person has control over, like the hands and feet. A person has the ability to hold himself back from sinning with these body parts... However, the eyes and ears of a person are not within his control, because his eyes see automatically and his ears hear automatically. However, when “Avram” became “Avraham”, Hashem gave him dominion over the eyes and the ears, that he will not see or hear things that are inappropriate.
The Meor Einayim (Rav Nachum m’Chernoble) in Parshas Chukas writes in the name of the Ba’al Shem Tov that a complete tzaddik who has no “ra” within himself would also not see any “ra” in somebody else. On the other hand, if a person sees a fault in a friend, it means that he himself has a piece of that bad within him. In other words, any fault which you find in somebody else is a mirror.
