IN THE ROYAL THRONE ROOM
Imagine that you are in the royal throne room when a commoner enters and requests an audience with the king himself. The monarch in a very generous act grants the request. The peasant then asks for even more. He requests permission to step forward and whisper something highly confidential into the king’s ear. The monarch charitably grants even this appeal. The commoner steps forward, leans over, and with a resounding smack, slaps the king squarely in the face. The guards jump forth and grab him. Every person in the throne room is in utter shock and disbelief. The affront to the king is appalling. Such an act in the royal chambers to the king himself is an affront beyond description.
There is little question that this person has lost his lease on life. Likely, he would be killed on the spot.
Let’s take this same scenario but instead of a commoner, it is the king’s son who hits him. Now the affront is increased dramatically. Not only was such an act committed, but it was done by nobility, by someone respected in the kingdom, by someone who is expected to love and honor the king. The affront would now be outrageous.
To fully appreciate the gravity of what was happening in Zimri’s time, we need to add one more dimension. Imagine that at the time of the act, the entire royal family was gathered for an affair of state. All of the sons and daughters of the king together with their spouses, the king’s brothers, and their children are there. Included are the dukes and earls, the ministers and advisers — the entire assemblage representing all of those who love and support the king.
The king’s son stands up, walks to the throne and sharply smacks the king. Then he sits back down in his seat — and no one says anything. Not a single royal responds. No one protests. No one comes to defend the honor of the king. Now this situation has intensified exponentially. Not only is the affront itself dramatic, the marked silence of the king’s friends is even worse. How can you not speak up? How can you not defend the honor of the king?
This seems to be the answer to the question. When Zimri publicly committed this sin, it was a colossal affront to the honor of HASHEM. He was a nasi, one of the leaders of the generation. For such a man to commit this crime was horrific, but the silence of Bnei Yisroel was even worse. How is it that no one protested? Wasn’t there even one person loyal to HASHEM? Isn’t there even one individual who will defend the king’s honor? The chillul HASHEM was beyond description, and every person standing there was a part of it and made it even worse.
By Pinchas standing up and acting, not only was he defending the honor of HASHEM, he was taking off a powerful claim against the entire nation. Before Pinchas acted, every person there was a part of the silent majority, and by tacit agreement were part of the chillul HASHEM. Now that Pinchas stood up to defend the honor of HASHEM in front of them, they became inactive participants in that act as well, and so they were redeemed.
