This week’s parsha begins: “Hashem spoke to Moshe saying: Pinchas son of Elazar, son of Aharon the Kohen turned back My wrath from upon the Children of Yisrael, when he zealously avenged My vengeance among them, so I did not consume the Children of Yisrael in My vengeance.” (Bamidbar 25:10-11) Rashi wonders why the Torah needs to restate the genealogy of Pinchas, given that we know it already from what we read just three pesukim earlier, at the end of Parshas Balak.
Rashi explains: “Because the tribes were humiliating him, saying ‘Did you see this son of Puti whose mother’s father fattened calves for idolatry, yet he killed the prince of a tribe of Yisrael! This is why the Torah traces his ancestry to Aharon.” Murmurers and critics within Klal Yisroel chastised Pinchas for his “unmitigated chutzpah”. He dared to kill a prince of the Tribe of Shimon even though Pinchas himself descended from Yisro who at one time in his life was a priest of idolatry. Therefore, the Torah goes out of its way to reiterate that we should trace Pinchas’ lineage through his father’s side back to Aharon HaKohen (rather than through his mother’s side back to Yisro).
Rav Yisrael Grossman once wrote an article in the Yeshurun publication that adds a bit of a commentary to this Rashi. He writes that Rav Chaim Soloveitchik had a life-long inquisitive inquiry (chakirah) that he never resolved. The chakira was as follows: When a fellow gets up in shul and reads the Torah (leins) and he makes a mistake and everyone pounces on him – how do we interpret this scenario? Is it because we were all there at “Ma’amad Har Sinai” and we heard the Torah from the Almighty with perfect clarity, so we became hard-wired such that our spiritual DNA needs to hear Torah correctly and when we hear Torah misread it goes against every sinew of our spiritual essence? Is that why we (for example) protest loudly “No, you read the word without pronouncing the dot in the Hay at the end of the word!” Is that why we do it?
Alternatively, do we interpret this like a game of chicken? Got yah! Perhaps we simply do not like the Baal Koreh (He leins too fast or too slow or we do not like his trop, or we do not like his voice.) or we want to show how fast we are (at catching errors) or how smart we are or if we just like to “win”. None of the reasons in this second group of possibilities is good.
In short – is it because we can’t suffer hearing Torah read incorrectly (like a perfectionist musician who hears someone playing a violin off key) or is it because of hatred, jealousy, machlokes, or whatever other unseemly motive? Rav Yisrael Grossman writes – this too is what happened in the Torah’s narrative with Pinchas. Pinchas got up and killed Zimri. He was a zealot, fighting the “Battle of the L-rd”. However, the people were cynical. “Agh! This was not a case of ‘Battling for the L-rd’. This does not come from a good place. Pinchas is a murderer. He has these negative traits in his genes because his grandfather was an idolater. This was his opportunity to murder someone ostensibly for the ‘right reason'”.
The Ribbono Shel Olam responded, “I am able to read people’s hidden thoughts. I know the person who killed Zimri is Pinchas son of Elazar son of Aharon the Kohen. His zealotry was purely for My sake. The genes that were active in carrying out this act of zealotry are those of his grandfather Aharon who was a lover of peace and a pursuer of peace. Wanton murder is not in his DNA at all! We witnessed a function of his devotion and zealotry for Me.”
Rav Grossman buttresses his point with a Gemara (Yoma 23a): “Any Talmid Chochom who does not seek revenge and bear a grudge like a snake is not a Talmid Chochom.” This Gemara needs explanation, but the simple reading is that there are occasions when a Talmid Chochom needs to take revenge. We are not talking about petty matters. Rather, sometimes a person needs to be put in his place. There are occasions where even a Talmid Chochom needs to carry out acts of revenge.
It is noteworthy that the Gemara uses the simile “like a snake”. What does that represent? Why does it not say “Any Talmid Chochom that does not take revenge like a lion...?” Rav Grossman offers a beautiful insight. The Gemara (Eruchin 15b) says that all the animals went to the snake and argued with him as follows: “We understand why a lion kills – a lion kills to eat. We understand why a wolf kills – a wolf kills to eat. Virtually all rapacious animals kill to satisfy their hunger. However, what kind of pleasure do you, Mr. Snake, get out of biting someone?”
We see from this Gemara that a snake does not bite for his own pleasure. The snake is not doing it to fulfill its own need. That is what this Gemara means. Any Talmid Chochom who does not take revenge like a SNAKE, is not a true Talmid Chochom. When a Talmid Chochom takes revenge, it is NOT for his own pleasure. It must be LIKE A SNAKE, altruistic. Just as a snake does not derive pleasure or benefit when it attacks, so too the “revenge” of a Talmid Chochom must be one from which he derives no pleasure or benefit. A Talmid Chochom may only seek that kind of revenge.
This was the zealotry of Pinchas. It was not a result of bad character traits, but was strictly for the Sake of Heaven. (R’ Frand)
