Pearls of Wisdom from the Parshah
Pinchas son of Elazar son of Aharon Hakohen removed My wrath from Yisrael by acting out My vengeance in their midst, so I did not destroy Yisrael in My vengeance. Therefore say, “I am hereby giving him My covenant of peace.” (Bemidbar 22:11-12)
We know that pritzus is hateful to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. When the Jewish people acted improperly with the Moabite women, this brought a lot of Divine anger on them. Hashem was very upset with them and a rift developed between Hashem and His beloved people.
The tribe of Shimon was particularly guilty of this sin, and if the tribe of Shimon would have perished in this moment of Heaven’s anger, an entire tribe would be missing, and the entire Jewish people would be irreparably maimed forever, because the Jewish people must comprise no less than twelve tribes.
This shows how great the zechus of Pinchas is. By striking down Zimri and Kozbi bas Tzur, and thus acting out Hashem’s vengeance, he made peace between Hashem and the Jewish people, and restored their close relationship of love to how it was before. Midah k’neged midah, he received the blessing of shalom. Thus he merited eternal kehunah, which entails offering korbanos that are pleasing to Hashem, by which Hashem is pleased with His people Yisrael and bestows on them blessing and peace.
He also received the gift of peace for himself personally, as he attained unlimited longevity. Pinchas lives forever. Chazal say that Pinchas is Eliyahu, who never died.
How is this connected to the gift of peace?
The Seforno explains that all physical sickness and damage is a result of imbalance. The body is composed of various contrasting forces. If one of these forces is not in proper balance, when one of them is too strong or too weak, and they don’t balance each other out like they are supposed to, the body falls ill and stops functioning properly or altogether.
Pinchas, who was blessed with peace, thus enjoyed a perfect balance of all the forces within his body, so he lives forever.
This teaches us the great reward of pursuing peace and detesting controversy. Peace is a great segulah for physical health. And controversy brings sickness and troubles.
This is especially true in our age, in which cancer is a major health issue. Cancer is when certain cells in the body grow and multiply in a disorderly and imbalanced manner and invade areas that don’t belong to them. This is quite similar to controversy between people.
When the scourge of machlokes breaks out in the home, the neighborhood, the city and the country, even tzaddikim who live their whole lives in peace can suffer harm, like in the time of Pinchas, when not just the sinners were in danger, but the whole people.
But if a person keeps his mouth closed when there is friction between people, and avoids getting into a fight, and surely if he restores the peace between those around him, he is bringing life and physical and emotional health to everyone, and will merit the blessing of shalom forever.
