Parashat Pinjas - English

Bemidvar -Nmmbers 25:10-30:1

Rabbi Mario Gurevich

Beth Israel Synagogue – Aruba

Almost forty years since the departure from Egypt.  The people have definitely changed.  They are no longer the freed slaves who clamored for food, moaned for water, and prayed to return to Egypt.  This generation, born in the wilderness, is hardened, strong, aware of their destiny and resolved to carry it out successfully.  But also prone to taste the temptations of freedom.  And this is the subject of the last lines of the previous parashah, where the charm of Moab’s daughters makes Hebrew males feel tempted to emulate their culture and heathen ways.  Which arouses Pinchas’ zeal, grandson of Aaron, who kills one of the couples in question, an act seemingly approved by God.

It is difficult to assess, or at least understand, the circumstances in which these events took place.  After all, Moses’ wife was a Midianite, and nobody ever made any objection in this regard.  And later on, Ruth, a woman from Moab, would give rise to the family stock and the dynasty of King David.

Therefore, the problem seems to be, instead of the exogamic union, rather the introduction of paganism in society, which needed above all unity of criteria so as to face the countless struggles ahead of them.

In our open and contemporary societies, it is necessary that the non Jewish member of the couple be received with love instead of rejection, that we add instead of subtract.  Pinchas’ zealous attitude has no place in our world, but the concern that caused it has.

Further on in the parashah, Moses, confronted with his imminent death, asks “the God of the spirits of all flesh” to appoint a successor, so that “the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd”.  God answers at once, ordering him to take Joshua, son of Nun, “a man in whom is spirit”, to that purpose.

Our sages and scholars have different opinions concerning this dialogue that summons the subject of spirits.  Moses requests that the new leader be receptive to “the spirits of all flesh”, that is, to all the people whom he will lead.

And by marking out Joshua as a man in whom is spirit (haven’t we all?), the Torah is telling us that leadership can lie in everyone’s hands.  Joshua was chosen due to his background and his virtues, but any other could have exercised it as well.

However, Moses’ concern is reasonable; he knows better than anyone that a people is not an indistinct mass but the sum of its members, and with this he leaves a powerful message to the generations of leaders of our people, regarding the need to listen to all and respect the differences.

Although Pinchas received God’s blessing, it would be Joshua, with his wisdom and tolerance, the one who would lead the people on this new chapter of their lives.

Shabbat Shalom.