Pinchas | Israel's Slip-up with Ba'al Pe'or

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In memory of Rabbi Moshe ben Avraham Shraga Furst z”l, 
niftar 17 Tammuz 5771. Dedicated by his family.
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Dedicated by the Wise and Etshalom families 
in memory of Rabbi Aaron M. Wise, 
whose yahrzeit is 21 Tammuz. Yehi zikhro barukh.
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In memory of my beloved parents 
Adia Bat Avraham, Alice Stone, z"l, 
whose yahrzeit was 2 Tammuz,
and Yaakov ben Yitzchak, Fred Stone, z”l, 
whose yahrzeit is on 25 Tammuz. 
Ellen & Stanley Stone, their children and grandchildren, 
Jacob & Chaya, Micah, Addie, and Ruby; Zack & Yael, Allie, Isaac, Nate; 
Ezra & Talia, Shai, Ami, Lielle; Yoni & Cayley, Azi, Kovie; 
Eliana & Marc, Adina, Emmy, Shira, Yisrael Meir, Simcha Zelig; 
Gabi & Talia, Adriana
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Introduction: The Terrible Sin

Our parasha opens with God's response to Pinchas' action:

And the Lord spoke to Moshe, saying: Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aharon the priest, has turned My wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was very jealous for My sake among them, so that I consumed not the children of Israel in My jealousy. (Devarim 25:10-11)

The great praise heaped here upon Pinchas is that he was jealous for God and turned away His wrath, which had been aroused in response to the behavior of the people of Israel. This account indicates that Israel's sin was serious enough that, if not for Pinchas, the people might have been destroyed, God forbid. Similarly harsh wording is also found later in the Torah, in Parashat Va-Etchanan, in the description of the sin:

You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did in Ba'al Pe'or; for all the men that followed Ba'al Pe'or, the Lord your God has destroyed them from among you. (Devarim 4:2-3)

What is the meaning of the extreme consequences here? Why is such harsh language used? Harav Amital ztz"l used to say that when it comes to Ba'al Pe'or, there are two very clear sides – either you are on the side of God, or you are on the side of Ba'al Pe'or. There is no middle ground. According to this explanation, one can begin to understand the great severity that the Torah attaches to this event. And yet, we must explain why it is precisely in relation to this sin that there is such a clear dichotomy; why, precisely here, there is no continuum, no middle point. And following that, we must understand why Pinchas' deed was so great, that thanks to it he received such a grand reward and a “covenant of peace” with God.

Encountering Gentiles in the Land of Israel

To answer these questions, we must go back a step – to the context of Parashat Pinchas. In Parashat Pinchas, the people of Israel end their forty-year journey in the wilderness, camp across the Jordan from the Promised Land, and wait to enter. The final preparations are all made in our parasha: a new census is taken and the Israelites are all counted, the tribal territories are divided up, and Yehoshua bin Nun is appointed as Moshe's successor, the leader who will bring the Israelites into the Land of Israel.

But the Israelites do not immediately enter the land; a series of orations awaits them, to be delivered by Moshe. These last words of Moshe comprise the entire book of Devarim. To briefly summarize the messages in the book of Devarim, we can say as follows: The people of Israel are about to enter the Land of Israel and meet the Canaanites – and they must be careful not to be drawn after them and their idolatrous practices.

It stands to reason that the messages of the book of Devarim provide a key to understanding the sin of Ba'al Pe'or that precedes it. In that context, the people of Israel meet another people for the first time since they left Egypt. It is true that not so long ago there was a degree of interaction with Edom, when they sought passage through their territory, but the connection there was only between the leaders – not between the people of each nation. They also recently waged a war against Sichon, the king of the Amorites, but it was clear from the beginning that this "meeting" would be war-oriented, and indeed, the Israelites took possession of all their cities. In contrast, here comes the great test: the people of Israel meet a foreign nation, and the big question is how they will react. Will Israel remain faithful to God and His Torah, or will they, God forbid, falter? To our great misfortune, this encounter ends in a serious failure: the men of Israel begin engaging in forbidden relations with the daughters of Moav, and also begin to worship their god, Ba'al Pe'or.

Idolatry

The sin with Ba'al Pe'or in the plains of Moav is a singular transgression and the most serious one committed up to that point. Throughout the journey in the wilderness, complaints had been directed toward God, but the people never worshiped idols – not even in the sin of the golden calf.[1] This is a significant difference, since this time a challenge is raised not against a specific act, but against the entire framework. This was a rebellion against God. To illustrate this point: one can go to the school principal and complain about his conduct, and when the complaint is not justified, it will be perceived as negative; but when the principal is not even seen as the authoritative and responsible figure – the situation is much worse.

Let us move on from the severity of the sin to the greatness of Pinchas, who was "jealous" for God. The term "jealousy" is typically found in the context of idol worship. For example, in the Ten Commandments: "For you shall bow down to no other god; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" (Shemot 34:14). Jealousy expresses a claim to exclusivity. The service of God is exclusive; the moment a person worships idols, God forbid, he no longer serves God. There is no middle ground. It is not for nothing that the Torah also uses this term regarding a sota, a woman suspected of adultery – because the relationship between a husband and wife is an exclusive relationship, and a woman may not seclude herself with another man.

Pinchas was "jealous" for God, and thus turned His wrath away from the people of Israel, by turning Israel away from the sin of idolatry. By virtue of this action, he merited a covenant of peace with God.

Return to Me

Before concluding, and to deepen our understanding of the meaning of Pinchas' jealousy, let us turn to the book of Yirmeyahu. At the beginning, we encounter a parable that describes the people of Israel as a married woman who has relations with another man:

If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and [attaches] to another man, may he return to her again? Will that land not be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; and would you yet return to Me? says the Lord. (Yirmeyahu 3:1)

When the people practice idolatry, it can be understood as a fundamental betrayal of G-d, but it is also possible to see it as a breakdown that happened in error. If it is not a deep betrayal, but a small deviation from the path, the reaction will be different; all that is required in that case is a small push back in the right direction.

At the time of the sin of the spies, the people of Israel encountered a new punishment that was used not infrequently – plague. This is a severe punishment, but localized. Each time a plague broke out, the people had strayed from the proper path: in the sin involving the spies, those who spoke ill about the Land of Israel died in a plague; in the sin of Korach and his company, the chief complainers were swallowed up by the ground, but the rest of the people who were drawn after them died in a plague; and so also in the sin of the bronze serpent, when the people complained in a moment of weakness. The plague here is a clear indication that God understands that the people are not fundamentally betraying Him, but are suffering a moment of weakness.

Moshe, however, thinks there is a betrayal of God taking place, so he begins to set up tribunals to determine who is guilty and who is not, and to execute those who must be executed. Pinchas sees what Moshe is doing, and in order to show him that there is no essential betrayal of God here, but only a minor stumbling that can be corrected with a little shove in the right direction, he breaks out in his jealousy and kills Zimri and Kozbi. The people are indeed shocked, they understand the severity of their actions, and they immediately repent.

The people did a very serious thing when they worshipped idols. The greatness of Pinchas was that he understood that they did not truly seek to betray God, but "only" stumbled in a moment of weakness. Not only did Pinchas prove to Moshe that this was the case, but he also restored the people to the right path. This was the greatness of Pinchas.

[This sicha was delivered by Harav Mosheh Lichtenstein on Shabbat Parashat Pinchas 5782.]

[1] This is the understanding of most of the commentators, who explain that the sin of the golden calf did not involve idol worship, but rather improper service of God, or an attempt to replace Moshe. In addition, in contrast to the sin of Ba'al Pe'or, which was committed intentionally, the sin of the golden calf stemmed from a great panic that gave rise to significant pressure, and so essentially it was committed unintentionally.