Phinehas - Weekly Torah Portion

Last wee we happily read, “How pleasant are your tents, Jacob, / Your dwelling places, Israel! / Like valleys that stretch out, / Like gardens beside a river, / Like aloes planted by the Lord, / Like cedars beside the waters.” It was sad to note that that reading from the Torah did not finish with that. Rather, “While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to commit infidelity with the daughters of Moab.For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel became followers of Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry with Israel.” Rage is what happened next, “When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, and he went after the man of Israel into the inner room of the tent and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman, through the abdomen. So the plague on the sons of Israel was brought to a halt. But those who died from the plague were twenty-four thousand in number.”

This week’s reading from the Torah begins in reference to that which we have read last week. “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has averted My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I am giving him My covenant of peace; and it shall be for him and for his descendants after him, a covenant of a permanent priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’’” Laster on we read about the daughter of Zelophehad who approach Moses and complain of a legal situation that they argue is completely unfair, “Our father died in the wilderness, yet he was not among the group of those who gathered together against the Lord, in the group of Korah; but he died in his own sin, and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be withdrawn from among his family simply because he had no son? Give us property among our father’s brothers.” Moses does not have an answer, the law is well-known, and therefore he requests and receives an advice, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘The daughters of Zelophehad are right about their statements. You shall certainly give them hereditary property among their father’s brothers, and you shall transfer the inheritance of their father to them. Further, you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter. And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his nearest relative in his own family, and he shall take possession of it; and it shall be a statutory ordinance to the sons of Israel, just as the Lord has commanded Moses.’’”

Two cases are presented to us, that of Zelophehad daughters and that of the high-priest Phinehas the son of Eleazar. One of zeal and passion, the other of injustice and pursuit of justice in the face of discrimination. Seemingly the two are unrelated. In fact, I think they are closely connected. It seems to represent the willingness, and the leading by example willingness to take charge of situations, make deductions, and then change realities. When checking the case of Phinehas one can well understand the Godly concern of such eruption of uncontrolled Zeal with its resulting consequence. The high-priest takes upon himself the responsibilities of God. He does it led by his faith but his action is unwanted and should not become an example of leadership. It is therefore that he is offered the covenant of peace, a kind of punishment to someone who cannot control their zeal well-enough. No longer may he perform his duties with uncontrolled bursts of anger, rather, he needs to be able to contain, relax, and reduce tensions peacefully.

The case of the Zelophehad daughters is also an interesting one. Moses could have easily refrained of any action on this case. On the face of things, he has no reason to pursue the change of the law. However, his internal compass suggests differently, he feels that there is a systemic failure here that needs resolution and guidance from the highest authority. He sends the decision making upwards in hope for a change, a confirmation of his instinct that something went wrong here. The Supreme Court of the State of Israel was confronted with a similar situation and released its verdict of nine of the Supreme Court Justices earlier this week. In this case, the rabbinic high court refused to equally divide common property between a couple in a divorce case. The rabbinical rationale was the argument of the husband that the wife had been cheating on him. In a six to three majority decision the court reversed the lower court’s decision noting that the rabbinical courts are bound by the civil laws on this matter and may not decide based on the Halachic Hebrew Law.

When dealing with issues of law it is an excellent opportunity to congratulate MK rabbi Gilad Kariv on his appointment as the chair of the Knesset committee handling constitution, law and justice. The is a new era for the Israel Reform Movement where a senior member of its rabbinical core, professional leader, is appointed by the Knesset to this high-rank position. Some of the haredi MKs cursed and insulted him, one even comparing us to pigs. More than anything else, this behavior teaches more about them than about us in general and MK rabbi Kariv in particular. They who eloquently complain for any imaginary and real insults made towards haredi Jews may well refrain from behaving that way when others are concerned. We should not take this to heart, rather, we ought to continue our drive towards the promotion of the idea of a pluralistic Israel where all streams of Judaism are equally accepted. There is no one better suited to do so than MK rabbi Kariv.

Taking responsibility rather than pushing it over towards others is the essence of the Israel Reform Movement major struggles of the past decade. We have to change, we have to fight, we must succeed together. It is therefore that I can tell you, proudly, the that IMPJ succeeded in its crowd fund-raising campaign that ran the last two weeks and exceed the target goal. It was made possible also by your support, and thank you for that. You can still donate and ask others to do that too using the JGIVE platform that was opened for this event.

Shabbat Shalom and wishes for Good Health.

Reuven Marko, 2 July 2021, 22 Tamuz, 5781