Zealousness vs. Extremism

"Pinchas the son of Elazar the son of Aaron the priest has turned away my wrath from the Children of Israel in that he was very jealous for my sake among them." [Bamidbar 25.11]

In recent years, the margins of Israeli society have increased. Extremists on the left and on the right, from the religious and from the nonreligious have become even more extreme, while the centrist element - the silent majority - battles to keep the fringes from dictating the tone and lifestyle for society as a whole. In this week's portion we encounter a zealot of another kind, one whose actions earn him an eternal covenant with the Almighty.

We must call upon ourselves to examine his actions and derive the lessons that will guide us along the proper path.

Pinchas was unlike the extremist elements which we seek to isolate in society, and we must understand what made him different.

We learn of two distinguishing characteristics of Pinchas in our portion. First, the Torah describes Pinchas' lineage twice, both at the conclusion of Parshat Balak (Bamidbar 25.7): "And Pinchas the son of Elazar the son of Aaron saw and he rose from among the congregation...", and again in our portion: "Pinchas the son of Elazar the son of Aaron the priest has turned away my wrath..."

Why is it necessary to repeat the names of his father and grandfather? Second, in the designation the Almighty gives Pinchas, "... that he was very jealous for my sake among them" - what is the significance of the phrase "among them?"

It appears that the Torah comes to point out that in his zealousness for the Almighty, Pinchas relied on his father, Elazar, and on his grandfather, Aaron.

As Pinchas goes to do his deed, he is conscious of Elazar and Aaron and the doctrines on which he was raised.

Of Aaron our sages tell us "he loved peace and pursued peace, he loved all creations and brought them closer to Torah."

Out of these "loves" for which his grandfather stood and in which he instructed his children, Pinchas sought to stop the desecration of God's name by Zimri ben Saluh.

Pinchas' point of departure was also evident in the phrase, "and he rose from among the congregation." Pinchas was nor a separatist from the fringe of society, but rather he rose from the mainstream, what we term today the "center." His zealousness was not meant to fragment society, n or did he wage his battle from the outside. He fought as one for whom societal values and morality were of paramount importance.

This kind of zealousness, one that arises "from among the congregation" and is founded in and honors the legacy of one's ancestors, is the zealousness that earns a "covenant of eternal priesthood."