Kevin Bemel ·
When It’s Okay to Be a Fanatic
Parsha Nugget Pinchas – Numbers 25:10-30:1
While visiting a squadron ready room (where the pilots hang out), someone made a remark that could have been considered harassing. Not wanting to be oversensitive, I said nothing. Only after consulting with a couple people whose opinions I value was it apparent I should have followed Pinchas’s example in parshas Pinchas:
Pinchas, son of Elazar, son of Aaron the Priest, turned back my wrath from on the Children of Israel . . .
(Numbers/Bamidbar 25:11)
This week’s parsha discusses Pinchas’s reward for his zealousness, the censuses taken prior to the Israelites entering the Land, the petition of Zelophehad’s daughters, the laws of inheritance, the appointment of Joshua as Moses’s successor, and the offerings that were brought daily, on the Sabbath and on holidays.
You may be uncomfortable with the fanatic way Pinchas takes the law into his own hands. The Talmud, in Sanhendrin 82a, explains that in the face of Zimri’s public display of fornication, Moses was so shocked for a moment that he did not react. Pinchas politely reminded Moses that he had taught when someone acts as Zimri does a zealot may execute him. Moses tells him that since he remembered the principle he should be the one to implement it. So, the sentence having been pronounced, Pinchas executes punishment, stopping the plague that had killed thousands.
In the face of such depravity, how could Moses have forgotten the remedy? Evidently, G-d caused Moses’s absentmindedness so that Pinchas would have his opportunity.
But what if Pinchas had not acted? After all, the leaders of the people: Moses, Aaron, and the princes of the tribes (some of whom may have been participating in the Midianite debauchery) did nothing. Surely if these great personages were not acting, Pinchas would be blameless for standing by too. Keep in mind he was Aaron's grandson, in Yiddish he was a pisher, roughly translated as a young squirt. If he had been overawed into silence, like the rest of those who did not act, history would neither hold him accountable nor laud him.
But fortunately for the Jewish people he did act, thereby saving thousands of lives.
The lesson is clear.
If you can sustain a life you must act.
Even if leadership seems immobilized or the eminent people of the place seem paralyzed you may not remain idle. Perhaps G-d ordained this situation to be your moment of greatness.
In the story of Purim, Mordechai reminds Esther of this very idea. Understandably afraid that by intervening with King Achashveirosh she is committing suicide, Esther is reluctant to get involved. Mordechai tells her that if she does not act, redemption of the Jewish people will come from another source and her opportunity for spiritual greatness will be lost. To her credit, Esther, also a pisher, courageously overcame her fear and foiled Haman’s plot.
When in that ready room I should have carpe diem. The Creator gave me the opportunity to exercise my initiative and perhaps change the outlook of some sailors. To unlock your potential for greatness you must:
Carpe Diem - Seize the Day.
When have you seized the opportunity to make a difference? How did it work out?
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Every year beginning on Simchas Torah, the cycle of reading the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, ends and begins again. Each Sabbath a portion known as a sedra or parsha is read. Its name comes from the first significant word or two with which this weekly reading begins.
Do you have a question about the Old Testament? Ask it here and I will answer it in a future Parsha Nugget!
