Parsha / Pinchas – Combination of Din & Chesed
Parsha / Pinchas – Combination of Din & Chesed
פינחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן ...
Why is Torah telling us again in this parsha about the yichus of Pinchas to Aharon Hakohen, if we all ready were told about it in the end of the previous parsha?
Rashi comments, in the beginning of parashat Pinchas, that the Torah is telling us that Pinchas is the grandson of Aharon ha kohen , because the tribes were complaining and accusing Pinchas, for killing Zimri, because he was a descendant of Putiel / Yitro the medianite priest... What does Rashi mean by this?
Maybe the following answers can be suggested …
In the mind of the people, Pinchas, because he was of the Midianite blood line, must have acted out of anger and personal jealousy, trying to defend the honor of Moshe and his family! Therefore his actions were not leshem shamaim -(pure motivation).
Rather killing Zimri was an unjustifiable act of bloodthirsty zealotry, and could be punished by death. Halacha only permits zealotry out of purest kavona (intentions )...le shem shamaim!
Now we can understand what Rashi is teaching us - Pinchas, being a descendent of Aharon Hakohen, who’s midda is ohev shalom ve rodef shalom, was able to combine and balance both sides of his yichus!
In other words . by combining midda of din – stemming from the side of his mother with the mida of chesed – stemming from the side of his father, Pinchas acquires the midda of shleimut and was able to perform his actions of vengeance, out of the most purest intentions, leshem shamaim for the sake of heaven...
That is also a reason why H-shem gave Pinchas a covenant of Peace- shalom !
-Yakov Weiman