Is the name Pinchas spelled with a Yud or not? It appears to be a common practice in many printed Chumashim and written forms that the name is spelled without the Yud.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe points out in the beginning of the Sicha (and in many other places) that optimally Pinchas should be spelled with a Yud. Even though the name of the Parshiyos in the Torah were not listed in Shash. Nevertheless, the names have been used in the common culture for over a thousand years and thus, has meaning and deep understanding.
SOURCES
Four places in the Zohar write Pinchas with a Yud (chelek 3, 57b, 213b, 220a, and 236b). Rashi on the Torah (Vayikra 23,8) states that as mentioned in Parshas Pinchas, spelling the name with the a Yud. Rambam in listing the Parshas of the Torah and of the Haftorah also writes Pinchas with a Yud. However, both texts have been subject to textual errors, this might not be a qualified source.
Bais Shmuel writes concerning name in a Get that Pinchas is to be written with a Yud since most people name a child after Pinchas the son of Eliezer. He does mention that most people write the name without a Yud due to ignorance or due to haste to write quickly. However, if the name in a Get is Pinchas without a Yud it is acceptable since many due write this way.
Minchas Shai writes: "Pinchas: They say in the Zohar here, as well as in parshat Acharei Mot that this Pinchas is with a small yud, and that it is of the alphabet of small letters. However, in all the sefarim and masorot, and in our alphabet of small letters, there is only found the yud of Tzur Yeladecha Teshi {from Haazinu}. It is further implied from the Zohar that only here is Pinchas written plene, with a yud. And the Rema za"l (רמ"ה) wrote vateled lo et Pinechas as plene with yud, and the entire Torah is like it, plene, end quote. And so it is found in all the sefarim. And the Masorot and the author of Or Torah go on at length to explain the Zohar, such that it would not be against our sefarim. And I don't know of things which are concealed from me."
In twenty-five placed in Tanach, the name Pinchas is written with a Yud. In only one place in referring to Pinchas the son of the Kohen Gadol Eli (out of three places that he is mentioned) the name is written without a Yud (Shmuel 1, 1,3). This one place in not referring to Pinchas the son of Eliezer, and that Pinchas had a major problem.
The title of the parsha is Pinchas. Pinchas is pronounced pi-ne-chas. That is, there is a sheva-na under the nun. This is because פינחס has a yud after the peh, which means that the chirik under the yud is a chirik maleh, which is a long vowel, and a sheva after an unstressed long vowel is a sheva na. However, the standard way of writing it in the Talmud Bavli is פנחס, without the yud. (This would connote a pronunciation of "Pinchas" without a sheva na.)
Composed in (1526 CE). Minchat Shai is a Masoretic commentary by Shlomo Yedidiah (Sh”Y) ben Abraham Norzi. It includes grammatical treatises on Tanakh, noting all variant readings scattered through Talmudic and Midrashic literature.
Although Pinchas is widely known for his zealous action, during his lifetime he amassed an impressive record of achievement.
- Psalm 136:30 sings the praises of Pinchas for standing up and “praying” to stop the plague that had struck Israel.
- When Israel was instructed to avenge the Midianites for their treachery (Numbers 31:6), Moses chose Pinchas to head the forces that defeated the Midianites.
- In Joshua 22, we are told that Pinchas was sent, along with 10 tribal leaders, to reason with the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of Menashe, after these tribes built a large altar for themselves on the east side of the Jordan. Through his diplomatic negotiations with the prodigal tribes, Pinchas elicited an apology from them, acknowledging that they had no intention of offering sacrifices on the illegal altar, but rather hoped that the altar would serve as an affirmation of their commitment to the tribes of Israel and the unity of the nation.
- The book of Judges (20:28) also records that it was Pinchas who, in his function as priest, consulted with the Urim and Tumim in the treacherous incident of the concubine of Gibeah.
Finally, some commentators in Divrei haHaYamim (I,9,20) “and Phinehas the son of Eleazar was ruler over them as in the past, the L-RD being with him” that Pinchas was alive during the first Bai haMikdash in charge of certain functions therein.
The Midrash Bereishit Rabbah 60:3 states that Pinchas lost his power of prophecy, because he failed to release Yephtah from his vow. Both Yephtah and Pinchas felt that it was beneath their dignity to be the first to approach the other to resolve the issue. As a result of their hubris, an innocent woman [Yephtah’s daughter] was to suffer unnecessarily.
The Arizal (Isaac Luria,1534-1572, considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah) taught that Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron who died for bringing an improper fire, had entered the body of Pinchas when he killed Zimri, the parallel being that all three acted without conferring with their elders. However, in contrast to the two sons of Aaron, Pinchas was not punished because he did the correct thing.
According to the Midrash, Pinchas was rewarded not only with the priesthood but also with a name change. The name Pinchas can be spelled two ways in Hebrew, with or without the letter Yud. As a reward for his holy deed, G-d inserted a Yud, the initial letter of His Divine name, into Pinchas’ name.
This Divine imprimatur allayed the concern of Pinchas’ critics that his action was motivated by cruelty. G-d added the Yud to underscore that Pinchas acted solely out of zealous devotion to the Torah’s laws that prohibited immoral and illicit liaisons.
The Zohar notes that with the letter Yud, the numerical value is 208 which is equal to the name Yitzchak. Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer (chapters 29 and 47) states that Pinchas is Eliyahu. As well we find the same in Tarbum Yonosan ben Uziel on Shmos 4,13 and 6:12,18 and in the Zohar in many places. The Gemaira (Bava Metziah 114b) relates a story about Eliyahu that is a Kohen and Rashi notes there that he is also Pinchas.
The following is a further explanation adapted from the work Even Shlomo [by Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Ehrenreich, a Hungarian rabbinic leader, murdered in the Holocaust]. The numerical value of Pinchas’ name with the added letter Yud (208) is the same as that of the Patriarch Yitzchak, who personified the Divine attribute of Gevurah-severity and judgment. Pinchas’ violent act required him to channel Yitzchak’s trait of Gevurah. Pinchas, however, was a grandson of Aaron, who more than any other Biblical figure personified the attribute of Chesed-kindness. When Pinchas killed Zimri and Cozbi, he demonstrated his ability to override his Chesed-personality and nature in the pursuit of G-d’s will. Pinchas was not motivated by his own nature but by his obsession with responding to the Divine calling.
This explains why G-d inserted a letter of His own name, the first initial of the Tetragrammaton. This name combines the words was [past], is [present] and will be[future], referring to the aspect of the Divine that transcends time and nature. In order for Pinchas to do what he did required that he be connected to that aspect of the Divine that transcends nature.
פ י נ ח ס
פ = פלא נס
פינחס = 208 = יצחק
(ברכות סב:) הרואה פינחס בחלום פלא נעשה לו
נחס ינעשו לו לפששה נסים (סנהדרין פב:) א"ר יוחנן
אחד שהיה לו לזמרי לפרוש ולא פירש
ואחד שהיה לו לדבר ולא דבר
ואחד שכוון בזכרותו של איש ובנקבותה של אשה
ואחד שלא נשמטו מן הרומח
ואחד שבא מלאך והגביה את המשקוף
ואחד שבא מלאך והשחית בעם
- Zimri didn't separate from Kosbi when Pinchas came. Had he done that Pinchas would not have been permitted to kill Zimri.
- Zimri did not scream out to the people around the tent for help.
- Pinchas was able to spear them in way that caught them in the act so that no one would say Pinchas acted to settle on old score.
- Kosbi and Zimri remained in place on the spear for all of Bnei Yisroel to see.
- A Malach raised the door post so that Pinchas can walk out with the spear upright so they would remain in place.
- A Malach came to start a plague in order to occupy the people of Shevet Shimon so they wouldn't have the frame of mind to go after Pinchas and kill him.
(ספרי פרשת בלק) כיו ן שנכנס עשה לו המקום נסים ששה
- נס ראשון שדרכן לפרוש זה מזה ודבקן המלאך זה בזה
- נס שני שסתם פיהם המלאך ולא היו יכולים לדבר
- נס שלישי שכיון הרומח לתוך זכרות שלו ולתוך נקבות שלה והיו הכל רואים את זכרות שלו בקיבה שלה בשביל החקרנים שלא יהו אומרים לא היתה שם טומאה אף הוא נכנס לעשות צרכיו
- נס רביעי שלא נשמטו מן הרומח אלא עמדו במקומם
- נס חמישי שהגביה המלאך פתח שקוף כדי שיראו על כתיפו
- נס ששי שהיה המלאך מחבל לפניו ויוצא כיון שיצא וראה פינחס את המלאך שהיה מחבל יותר מדאי השליכן לארץ ועמד ופלל שנאמר ויעמוד פינחס ויפלל ותעצר המגפה ותחשב לו לצדקה (תילים ק"ז)
ועוד ששה נסים אחרים נעשה לו
- שביעי שנארך חנית של רומח עד שנכנס בשני גולמים ויצא למעלה
- נס שמיני שנתחזק זרועו של פינחס
- תשיעי שלא נשבר הרומח
- עשירי שלא ירד מדמם על פינחס שלא יטמא
- אחד עשר שדרך העליון (להמית) [להיות] התחתון על הרומח ונעשה נס ונהפך זמרי על כזבי בשעת מעשה וחייבום מיתה
- באו שבטו של שמעון אצל שבטו של לוי [ואמרו] וכי בן בתו של פוטי היה מבקש לעקור שבט אחד מישראל (וכי אין אנו יודעים בן מי הוא) כיון שראה המקום שהכל מזלזלים בו התחיל מייחסו בשבח שנאמר פינחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן השיב את חמתי מעל בני ישראל [וכי אין אנו יודעים בן מי הוא אלא כיון שראה המקום שהכל מזלזלים בו התחיל מיחסו] כהן בן כהן קנאי בן קנאי משיב חימה בן משיב חימה (השיב את חמתי מעל בני ישראל):
פינחס נתן לו את בריתי שלום (כו, יב) אמר הנני לכן (כהנים גדולים - (100) בנים מפינחס (גמט' של "לכן"- 100 )כהנים 18( בית ראשון מכניסת א"י לחרבן
- אבישוע
- בקי
- עזי
- זרחיה
- מריות
- אמריה
- אחיטוב
- צדוק
- שלום
- אחימעץ
- עזריה
- יוחנן
- עזריה
- אמריה
- אחיטוב
- צדוק
- חלקיה
- עזריה
)כהנים 2( בגלות בבל
- שריה (גלה בגלות יכניה)
- יהוצדק (גלה בגלות צדקיהו)
בבית שני (80 כהנים) בכלל:
- שמעון הצדיק (40 שנים)
- יוחנן (80 שנים)
- ישמעל בן פאבי (10 שנים)
- אלעזר בן חרסום (11 שנים)
