07-17-2025 Parashaht Pinchas

This week’s parashah, Parashat Pinchas (Book of  Numbers 25:19-30:1), presents the reader with a myriad of moral and legal dilemmas. The parashah  is long and appears to cover three unrelated  subjects: the talking of two people’s lives by the high  priest Pinchas, the first documented fight for women  to have some economic rights (the “Daughters of  Zelophekhad”), and finally with the impending death  of Moses we deal with the role of time in our lives.  However, if we look closely, we see that all three  topics deal with issues of power.  

In the case of Pinchas, the issue is the power to take  life, in the case of the Daughters of Zelophekhad it is  the power for women to make independent  economic decisions, and in the final part dealing with  Moses’ learning about his death, we learn once  again about G-d’s power over even the strongest,  wisest and richest of us. 

This week we will concentrate on Pinchas’ actions,  and particularly with the difficult question of under  what circumstances is it permissible to take a person’s life? The parashah forces us to ask how  we distinguish between killing and murder, and is the  line between these two actions always clear?  

At the end of last week’s parashah, we learned that  Pinchas was so angry by what he perceived to be  sexual perversion that he killed Zimri and his foreign  lover, Kozbi. Pinchas acted on the belief that the  couple’s illicit sexual relations had caused a plague  that was decimating the Children of Israel. This  week’s parashah continues the narrative. Now we  learn that Pinchas’ actions pleased G-d, and G-d  blessed and rewarded Pinchas for his zealous actions.

Throughout Jewish history Pinchas’s actions have  been controversial. Some have seen Pinchas’  actions as an impulsive overreaction. Others have  argued that under the circumstances Pinchas had to  take decisive action. To complicate the matter, the  Biblical text makes no mention of any form of trial or  verdict. Can we view Pinchas’ actions as contrary to  the basic principles of Jewish law or are there times  when those enforcing the law must act decisively  and without hesitation? Traditionally, in matters of  capital punishment, rabbinic law is extremely strict in  requiring clear evidence and adherence to proper  judicial procedures. On the other hand, in questions  of public safety, Jewish law recognizes the need of  those who protect the public to take decisive actions,  including the use of deadly force. The text forces us  to ask if under the circumstances Pinchas’ actions  were reasonable? There is little doubt that some  people, and perhaps even those during Pinchas’ time, would not have condoned his actions. On the  other hand, there are those who would argue that  this week’s parashah serves as a moral justification  for those who must act immediately to save lives.  From their perspective, Pinchas’ quick action saved  many lives, and deserved both G-d’s praise and  rewards. 

The above questions are just some of the many  questions that this week’s parashah forces us to  consider. Although the issues raised by this week’s  parashah are numerous and can still be debated  today, what our analysis of the parashah  demonstrates is that the Biblical text is not Judaism,  but rather that Judaism is how the Jewish people  have chosen over the millennia to interpret the text.  It is also of note that in the Jewish tradition human  beings can disagree not only with each other’s  decisions but even with G-d’s. 

Can we infer from this week’s parashah that in life  no one has complete control, nor does anyone have  all the answers? Rather life is a series of  negotiations and uncertainties, and each generation  must struggle with these eternal questions and  discover its own answers. The same is true of our  own lives. Each of us then must ask ourselves what  the essential questions and challenges of our lives  are and how we determine our individual answers. What are your questions and answers?