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Parashat Pinchas
7/6/11
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
The episode which made Pinchas famous actually takes place at the end of last week’s Torah portion. In that Parasha, Pinchas stabs an Israelite man and a Midianite woman as they are about to have sexual relations as part of idolatrous worship of the Moabite/Midianite god, Ba’al. Just prior to this incident, God had instructed Moses to impale all of the ringleaders involved with an outbreak of idolatrous whoring with Moabite/Midianite women. (The terms “Moabite” and “Midianite,” while referring to two different nations, seem to be interchangeable in this Torah portion. It may be related to the Moabites having conquered the Midianites at some point.)
Our Parasha opens with God making a pact with Pinchas that involves him and his descendants inheriting the priesthood for all time. God seems to be rewarding Pinchas for his “impassioned action for his God.” The word in Hebrew translated here as passion is “kin’ah.”
The next chapter of the Parasha involves yet another census, this one taken after the forty years of wandering are over. None of those counted except for Joshua and Caleb had been part of the original generation that left Egypt. After the census, God explains how the land is going to be apportioned to each tribe. What follows is the interesting case of the daughters of Zelopechad, who do not have any male relatives who might receive their deceased father’s portion of land. God creates a new law, saying that when there is no male relative, the land can be transferred to daughters. We learn later that the daughters must marry within their clan so that the land will stay in the clan.
At the end of this section about land apportionment, Moses asks God to identify a successor for him, and we have a simple but moving scene in which Moses lays his hands upon Joshua and commissions him to lead the people into the Land.
The last two chapters of this Parasha deal with daily sacrifices and festival sacrifices.
The two themes that stand out for me this year are that of passion and continuity. The impassioned Pinchas will take over the high priesthood from Aaron, who died in a previous Parasha. Joshua, who is described as having a unique “ruach,” or spirit, takes over for Moses.
We see both of these themes in the haftarah as well. The haftarah, about Elijah the prophet, also uses this term “kin’a” to describe Elijah’s passionate devotion to God. He too slaughters idol worshippers – in his case, prophets of Baal. Elijah flees and finds himself in the depths of despair. God appears to him and empowers him to continue as a prophet and to take on a successor – Elisha. Passion and continuity: Elijah, the impassioned prophet, rediscovers his passion upon finding a person to carry out his work.
Many questions this week…
What is the Torah telling us about the connection between passion and leadership? How does God view that connection? What is the “shadow” side of passionate leadership, and are there healthy ways to direct/redirect passion? What role does or should passion play in a community’s search or in God’s search for succession in leadership?
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