Bs”d
Parshas Pinchas (5776)
By Mordechai Dolinsky
Parshas Pinchas opens with the greatest praise and adoration for Pinchas; Klal Yisroel was in a position, lined up for destruction and the great act of kanous of Pinchas actually saved them. Rashi, to our shock, explains that the mentioning of his yichus in the pasuk as going back to Aharon was because of the ridicule and negativity towards him from Klal Yisroel. How can we understand this?
Rashi tells us that Shevet Shimon was complaining bitterly about the punishment inflicted upon them. How do we understand complaining about a punishment? It is for transgressors to repent and humble themselves.
We have to understand what was transpiring here was the intertwining of two aveiros—znus with Midianite women and the avoda zara of Peor, for which there was a simple level and a more intensive attachment to the avoda. The shevatim were sure that they would not be punished for avoda zara of Peor due to the circumstances that unfairly tempted them by the Mdianite women to do this kind of avoda. So they felt they were being punished for the indecent acts with the Midiante women and although what they did was against the Torah it didn’t warrant the death penalty (which they were right about) and so they felt they were terribly wronged. This is why Shevet Shimon complained outspokenly to Zimri, who felt that they were so embittered and outraged that it was necessary for them to see that their outcry was heard and felt and it called for making a very radical, extreme protest which he did in the form of openly living with Kozbi and thereby demonstrating the lack of stringency of the act. What happened as events turned out, Zimri despite his honorable intentions, was subjected to the law of kanaim pogim bo, which Pinchas carried out with mesiras nefesh. The truth was that the big kitrug of the taanah that Hashem had was for the avoda of baal peor, the avoda of tzimidus, their personal own attachment and involvement to the avoda. Why did it not occur to Bnei Yisroel that with this they were going against HKB”H, rebelling against the Will of Hashem, the ruler of Heaven and Earth.
When Pinchas did his act of kanaus the Shvatim could have furious at him since he was punishing the one that was taking up for their taanos and they might have even taken his life. The fact that they accepted him showed that they were willing to accept and consider that they were mistaken and there was justification in what he did and they were guilty of transgression through the tzimidus to peor. So it emerges that Hashem was on the verge of destroying Klal Yisroel since they didn’t consider they were doing wrong by the avoda of tzimidus and the act of kanaus of Pinchas against Zimri and Klal Yisroel accepting this took off the big taanah of Hashem and therefore he saved Klal Yisroel with his Kanaus. But still there was a bad feeling against Pinchas because he did attack Zimri who did so much to take up for them when they thought they were being wronged.
With this we have an understanding of what the taana was on Klal Yisroel;
why Klal Yisroel had taanos on Pinchas after he had saved them,
how could Zimri have done such a crude act in from of Moshe and Klal Yisroel and why he did it,
why Hashem wanted to destroy Klal Yisroel at this point, and how the kanous took off the anger of Hashem.
sending...
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