A terrible tragedy! Zimri, a nasi in klal Yisroel, took a Midyanite woman for himself! Nobody knew how to react, not even Moshe Rabeinu, and a plague broke out which was killing thousands. Who would save the day? Suddenly, Pinchos rose up and, remembering the halacha, defended Hashem's honor by slaying Zimri and Kuzbi. 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 to kill a nasi in Klal Yisroel? So 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 ka were mocking Pinchas who actually fulfilled a tremendous mitzva 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 halacha. 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 halacha, you should carry it out". And he did.
What does it mean that Pinchas saw? The gemora 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 all 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 mila. After he was called Avraham, he was able to rule over these five, too. The Ran says 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, since we can choose to move them or not to move them. We can choose to walk or not to walk, to hit or not to hit. A person can decide if he wants to use these body parts for good things or bad things. However, the eyes and the ears of a person are not within his control, because his eyes see automatically and his ears hear automatically. You can't choose to "turn off" the switch and stop seeing or hearing. 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. He would only hear and see things that are holy. For when a person has sufficient merit, he will only see and hear good.
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 image of that same fault inside of you. Therefore, a tzaddik who is pure would not see anything bad in his friend.
The Arugas Habosem says in Tehilim kapital 119 os 5 that Dovid Hamelech says many times that in order to awaken someone to do teshuva, Hashem orchestrates that he should see that very fault in his friend. By seeing his friend's sin, it's a message from Heaven that you yourself have to do teshuva on the same thing. Dovid Hamelech prays to Hashem, "If You want to inspire me to do teshuva, instead of me seeing a fault in my friend, allow me to have the inspiration straight from the Torah". “Haaver einai meirios shav "– remove my eyes from having to see something that is bad; rather, "b’drachecha chayeini" – it should be in the words of Torah, I should "happen to learn" that very inyan that I have to fix.
What we see from the Ran is that it’s possible for a tzaddik to be on a level that he has control over his eyes and ears, that he will not see anything bad in his fellow yid and only see righteousness. The Chofetz Chaim reached perfection in his shemiras halashon and he merited not to hear lashon hara. That's the madreiga we aim for, to reach such a high level of completion that we shouldn't see or hear anything bad at all. This was the madreiga of Avraham Avinu.
So here we find that a nasi married a gentile woman and the pasuk says that he did it "l'einei Moshe" – in front of the eyes of Moshe. So why didn't he do anything about it? It must be that Moshe Rabeinu, the greatest navi and ish Elokim, couldn't possibly see bad. Pinchas, too, reached this level where his eyes and ears would only see and hear holy things. But Pinchas DID see the sin since Hashem opened his eyes to see it. Hashem had a special mission for Pinchas, enabling him to defend Hashem's honor and reach greater heights. When Pinchas analyzed and wondered why Hashem was allowing his eyes to behold this terrible thing, he came to the conclusion that Hashem wanted him to be the one to stand up for the honor of Heaven and end the chillul Hashem. That's what Rashi means when he says that Pinchas saw and that led him to remember the halacha, speak to Moshe Rabeinu about it, and kill the sinners.
The pasuk goes on to say "vayikach romach b'yado" – he took a spear in his hand. The gematria of romach is also 248! This comes to show that Pinchas, too, had complete control over all 248 limbs, including his eyes. His eyes beheld this sin only to lead him to fulfill his mission in defending Hashem's honor. The shevatim didn't realize this and wondered why Pinchas saw the act altogether. So the pasuk clarifies his yichus, showing how perfectly great Pinchas was, and this "seeing" was orchestrated by Hashem alone in order to allow Pinchas further greatness.
We need siyata d’shmaya to attain control over our limbs. Of course, we must try our best to practice self-control over our eyes and ears, to help ourselves only see and hear the good. And of course, we must daven that Hashem should protect us from having to see bad.
(Adapted from my father shlita)
