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The Short Vort- -“The Zealot” (7/2/10)
The Short Vort
Good Morning!
Today is Friday the 20th of Tammuz 5770 and July 2, 2010
Parshas Pinchas- Candle Lighting in Passaic NJ- 8:13 pm
The Zealot
Nowadays, Parshas Pinchas has become one of the favorite parshios of the year.
Pinchas was a zealot- a kanai.
Who doesn’t cheer for the zealot? To be considered a kanai in some circles is the greatest praise you can heap on a person.
I recall once overhearing a conversation between a group of young ‘zealots’ in Yerushalayim. I could not help but listen in rapt attention as they proudly attempted to outdo each other in their description of what they have done during the latest round of demonstrations in Yerushalayim.
One of the men announced that the usage of horses by the police has severely hampered his ability to protest because of the size and strength of the horse.
At that point, one of the young men announced that he has discovered a solution to the problem.
He then proudly described his method of neutralizing the police horse.
He sneaks up behind the rider and the horse and when no sees, in a quick and deft manner, he inserts a full clove of garlic as an enema into the horse. Once the enema takes effect, the horse responds quite uncontrollably and in one instance the horse convulsed so violently, the evil policeman was thrown off the horse and sustained serious injuries.
At the point all of young men agreed unanimously that this last act of civil (or not so civil) disobedience has certainly earned our friend the coveted title of being referred to as a true kanai!
The conferring of this designation by his peers of being a true kanai caused the young man to smile from ear to ear.
He had made it to the big leagues. He was now a true kanai.
Young men enjoy trading stories of great men and often their greatness is epitomized by their unwillingness to compromise or even slightly bend on even the most seemingly mundane of issues.
Stories abound of this Rosh Yeshiva and of this Rebbe who remained steadfast and obstinate in their resolve even in the face of tremendous opposition.
It is not often where one hears about an incident where for the sake of Shalom, a Rav or Rebbe decided to sacrifice their own personal stringency or chumrah.
Often the figure of Pinchas is held up as the archetypal standard which all strive to emulate.
Pinchas, who picked up the spear and killed the two sinners without due process and without delay, is the paradigm to which we all should aspire to be like.
Indeed, Pinchas was a kanai- a zealot. However, interestingly enough, his reward for his fanaticism was just the opposite!
Hashem says to Pinchas: Therefore, say, "I hereby give him My covenant of peace. (25:12).
The Netziv – Rabbi Naftoli Zvi Yehuda Berlin 1816-1893- observes that this reward of Pinchas for his act zealousness is somewhat surprising.
One would have assumed that the reward for Pinchas would have been that he would have been elevated to an even greater degree of zealousness!
However, as the Netziv observes, the middah- character trait -of being brazen and brash and of radicalism in general is not a positive Jewish trait.
Jewish people are peace loving- Oheiv Shalom and Rodef Shalom- they love peace and pursue peace.
It is true that sometimes we have to revert to extreme measures as in the case of Pinchas. However, they are the exception to the rule.
The norm should be that a person strives to be in a state of calmness and of Shalom.
For this reason, explains the Netziv, Pinchas, although he was correct in his singular act of zealousness, was rewarded that the middah of Shalom.
Zealousness would not remain a part of his personality resume; rather it would be relocated to where it should remain- in the deepest recesses of his personality; to be activated sparingly and only in the most necessary situations.
Pinchas may have been a kanai; however, he was most importantly, a man of Shalom.