Pinchas – Page 4 – Peninim on the Torah

פנחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן

Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen. (25:11)

The Torah traces Pinchas’ lineage to Aharon HaKohen. What about his maternal grandfather, Yisro? The Torah appears to gloss over his connection to Pinchas. Rashi explains that, as usual, people must find fault with the hero who saves the day. Otherwise, they might look bad, since, after all, why did they not take action? As usual, we put down the individual who acted decisively because it bothers us that he did – and we did not. They brought to our attention that Pinchas descended from Yisro, the Midyanite Priest, who fattened calves for avodah zarah, idol-worship. How could such a…

Home -> 5777 -> Pinchas

פנחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן השיב את חמתי מעל בני ישראל בקנאו את קנאתי בתוכם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Pinchas, 5777

Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen, turned back my wrath from upon Bnei Yisrael, when he zealously avenged My vengeance among them. (25:11)

Pinchas did not act in a vacuum. The entire nation witnessed his actions. What were they doing? Some were (of course) complaining and disparaging his lineage, claiming that his motives were impure. According to Targum Yonasan, the rest cried and recited Krias Shema. They cried, explains Chezkuni, because Moshe Rabbeinu had instructed them to kill the perpetrators who had sinned with the Midyanite women. It was a difficult order to carry out. Shevet Levi, who were once again empowered to be the righteous executioners, did not seem to have an issue (earlier) when the order came to kill the offenders…

Home -> 5777 -> Pinchas

ובני קרח לא מתו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Pinchas, 5777

And the sons of Korach did not die. (26:11)

The sons of Korach were (originally) in the thick of the dispute against Moshe Rabbeinu. Rashi explains that, at the very last moment, they repented. Regardless of how far one has drifted from Jewish observance, how distant he has strayed from traditional life and Torah values, he can return and be reinstated. People think that once they have rejected the Torah way it is impossible to come back. This is categorically incorrect. The Ponevezer Rav, zl, was about to leave on a journey to the United States. His revered Rebbe, the Chafetz Chaim, zl, was still alive. The Rav went…

Home -> 5776 -> Pinchas

פנחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן השיב את חמתי מעל בני ישראל בקנאו את קנאתי בתוכם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Pinchas, 5776

Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen turned back My wrath from upon Bnei Yisrael, when he zealously avenged My vengeance among them. (25:11)

Kinaah and kanaus, jealousy and zealousness, are two terms which share the same root word. Indeed, Rashi interprets kanaus, zealousness, as a jealous reaction, which results in vengeance. One becomes outraged when something which he feels is rightfully his has been taken from him. A jealous person feels slighted by someone who has that which he feels is rightfully his. A true zealot feels that when someone impugns Hashem, His Torah and mitzvos, he is infringing upon his religion. Such a person has a sense of kinship with Hashem and is grievously hurt by an action which undermines Hashem. The…

Home -> 5776 -> Pinchas

פנחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן השיב את חמתי מעל בני ישראל בקנאו את קנאתי בתוכם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Pinchas, 5776

Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen, turned back My wrath from upon Bnei Yisrael, when he zealously avenged My vengeance among them. (25:11)

It is not always about who one is or from whom one descends. It is about: how much one cares; how concerned he is; if he is willing to take responsibility – or remain indifferent – like everyone else around him. Ichpasius – concern, a feeling of responsibility – this is what Pinchas demonstrated, explains Horav Shimshon Pincus, zl. Klal Yisrael was there watching, most of them probably stunned beyond belief. How could this be happening to us? How could such an outrage occur in the holy camp? While they stood there questioning, Pinchas took action. Why? Because he cared….

Home -> 5776 -> Pinchas

תחת אשר קינא לאלוקיו ויכפר על בני ישראל

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Pinchas, 5776

Because he took vengeance for his G-d, and atoned for the Bnei Yisrael. (25:13)

In the Sefer Agra D’Pirka, Horav Tzvi Elimelech, zl, m’Dinov (popularly known as the Bnei Yissachar), quotes Horav Shlomo, zl, m’Karlin, who cites a Midrash (which is not extant): Hashem commanded Eliyahu HaNavi to come to Brissim, circumcision ceremonies. Eliyahu was not happy about this, expressing his concern due to his natural aversion to sin. (Eliyahu is Pinchas, who exacted vengeance for Hashem against Zimri.) How could one who is a kanai, zealot, come to the Bris in which the father is a non-practicing Jew? Hashem replied, “I will forgive him”. Eliyahu continued, “What if the guests are sinners?” Hashem…

Home -> 5776 -> Pinchas

ושם איש ישראל המכה אשר הכה את המדינית זמרי בן סלוא נשיא בית אב לשמעוני

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Pinchas, 5776

The name of the slain Yisraelite who was slain with the Midyanite woman was Zimri ben Salu, leader of a father’s house of the Shimonites. (25:14)

Rashi comments, “In a place where the Torah traces the ancestry of a tzaddik, righteous one, for praise, it gives the ancestry of the rasha, evil one, for disparagement”. In the previous parsha, when the Torah describes the immoral outrage committed by Zimri, the perpetrator is not identified by name. It is mentioned here only by way of contrasting with Pinchas’ ancestry. Pinchas’ ancestry is introduced to his credit, in order to underscore that he upheld the tradition of his grandfather, Aharon HaKohen. Zimri’s lineage is recorded to his disparagement, as if to imply that, although he was a leader…

Home -> 5776 -> Pinchas

ויסמך את ידיו עליו ויצוהו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Pinchas, 5776

He leaned his hands upon him and commanded him. (27:23)

Rashi notes that, when Hashem instructed Moshe Rabbeinu to transfer his authority to Yehoshua by means of semichah, “leaning of hands”, the Almighty said, yadcha, “your hand” in the singular, implying one hand. Moshe, however, applied both hands, generously, like a vessel which is full and brimming over and filled him with his wisdom to become the nation’s next leader. Horav Avraham Pam, zl, (cited by Rabbi Sholom Smith in a Vort from Rav Pam) explains that when we bless someone by placing both hands on his head, it is an indication that it is executed with love. It is…

Home -> 5775 -> Pinchas

פינחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן השיב את את חמתי מעל בני ישראל... לכן אמור הנני נותן לו את בריתי שלום

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Pinchas, 5775

Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen, turned back My wrath from upon Bnei Yisrael… Therefore, say: “Behold! I give him My covenant of peace.” (25:11,12)

Concerning Pinchas’ right to reward, Chazal express themselves strongly: B’din hu she’yitol s’charo; “It is by right (halachically axiomatic) that he (Pinchas) should take his reward.” Such an act of zealousness on behalf of Hashem warrants an exemplary reward. Far from belittling Pinchas’ right to reward, it seems inconsistent with the halachic maxim, S’char mitzvah b’hai alma leka, “The reward for mitzvah performance is not rendered in this world.” Simply, this is a physical world, a world of the mundane; mitzvos are spiritual in nature, given to us by Hashem for the purpose of our spiritual advancement and as a…

Home -> 5775 -> Pinchas

יפקד ד' אלקי הרוחות לכל בשר איש על העדה. אשר יצא לפניהם ואשר יבא לפניהם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Pinchas, 5775

“May Hashem, G-d of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the assembly, who shall go out before them and come in before them.” (27:16,17)

Moshe Rabbeinu asked Hashem to appoint his successor, hoping that his own son would be the one to succeed him as the nation’s leader. Hashem had other plans: “Yehoshua, who has never departed from the (your) tent, deserves to be granted leadership over the nation.” As Shlomo Ha’melech says (Mishlei 27:18) Notzer t’einah yochal piryah, “He who watches over the fig tree should eat its fruit.” Rashi, who cites the above Chazal, indicates that Yehoshua was selected as a result of his devotion to the ohalah shel Torah, incredible diligence in not leaving the tent of Torah. Lo yamush mitoch…

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Back to Home -> Pinchas ->

פנחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן

Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen. (25:11)

פנחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן השיב את חמתי מעל בני ישראל בקנאו את קנאתי בתוכם

Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen, turned back my wrath from upon Bnei Yisrael, when he zealously avenged My vengeance among them. (25:11)

ובני קרח לא מתו

And the sons of Korach did not die. (26:11)

פנחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן השיב את חמתי מעל בני ישראל בקנאו את קנאתי בתוכם

Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen turned back My wrath from upon Bnei Yisrael, when he zealously avenged My vengeance among them. (25:11)

פנחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן השיב את חמתי מעל בני ישראל בקנאו את קנאתי בתוכם

Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen, turned back My wrath from upon Bnei Yisrael, when he zealously avenged My vengeance among them. (25:11)

תחת אשר קינא לאלוקיו ויכפר על בני ישראל

Because he took vengeance for his G-d, and atoned for the Bnei Yisrael. (25:13)

ושם איש ישראל המכה אשר הכה את המדינית זמרי בן סלוא נשיא בית אב לשמעוני

The name of the slain Yisraelite who was slain with the Midyanite woman was Zimri ben Salu, leader of a father’s house of the Shimonites. (25:14)

ויסמך את ידיו עליו ויצוהו

He leaned his hands upon him and commanded him. (27:23)

פינחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן השיב את את חמתי מעל בני ישראל... לכן אמור הנני נותן לו את בריתי שלום

Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen, turned back My wrath from upon Bnei Yisrael… Therefore, say: “Behold! I give him My covenant of peace.” (25:11,12)

יפקד ד' אלקי הרוחות לכל בשר איש על העדה. אשר יצא לפניהם ואשר יבא לפניהם

“May Hashem, G-d of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the assembly, who shall go out before them and come in before them.” (27:16,17)

YEARS

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

You have Successfully Subscribed!