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Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Pinchas
The name of this week’s protagonist, Pinchas, is quite fascinating, for it contains within it another well-known name: Noach. What is the connection between the two?
Both Pinchas and Noach were righteous men. Both, in effect, saved the nation through their noble actions; Noach by building an Ark that preserved all of humanity, & Pinchas by stopping a devastating plague that had already killed 24,000 (some say ten times that many) people. Both faced hostile mobs: Those who sought to forcibly prevent Noach from boarding the ark; & those who wanted to lynch
Pinchas for having killed Zimri, an Israelite prince.
Both also received unparalleled rewards: Noach & his wife Na’ama would be the progenitors of all future human beings; and every Kohen Gadol to subsequently serve in the Bet HaMikdash would descend from Pinchas alone.
But for all these similarities, there was one major difference in their personalities: Noach was a reluctant hero who, like Moshe Rabbeinu - whose life was also saved by a tayva, a (miniature) ark! – did not seek glory or rush to action. He took a full 120 years to build that ark, perhaps hoping that, in time, the skies would stay cloudless and his mission would be aborted.
But Pinchas was quite the opposite. He was a man of action, who took matters – not to mention a spear! – into his own hands, who immediately rushed into the breach when the situation called for it. He even bypassed his own mentors, Moshe and Aharon, who hesitated when Zimri staged his perverse version of the "Cozbi Show."
The Torah notes Pinchas’s alacrity when it says, "B’kano et kinati….v’lo chiliti et Bnei Yisrael b’kinati." The same word, "Kina," is used 3 times in the pasuk. Now, we usually translate "kina" as "jealous," but Chazal change just 1 letter & say it means "zealous." The difference?
When the object of your desire is yourself, it is jealousy, a negative trait. But when you act to defend Hashem’s honor, it is zealousness, or z’rizut, an admirable quality.
Pinchas, in effect, was a tikun for his ancestor Noach. His quick, instinctive reaction, praised by G-d, assured that both men earned the highest reward and title possible: An eternal Shem Tov.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
