“Pinchas… turned back My wrath… and I did not destroy the Children of Israel” (Bamidbar 25:11)

From the difficulties that people face in making decisions, I find that it is not usually a question of doing the right or wrong thing. Rather the question is “what is the right thing” or “what is the wrong thing”. Even more difficult than this is when both options are actually right, which one to choose.

These questions fill our minds all the time. Whether it is a question of which guests to invite for Shabbos, or which relatives’ wedding  you should go to their at the expense of a different relative. In areas of spirituality, there is a saying of Chazal which will generally give us a way to make the decision properly. For instance, this week someone came to me to ask about possibly changing the place where he learns. After discussing it with him, it became clear to me that he would rather be learning in a different place, even though he is satisfied where he is. On this Chazal state “A person should learn where his heart desires” and therefore I told him that he should switch his place of learning.

There is a fascinating story which I would like to share. Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein (1885-1974), was a famous mashgiach in the Mir Yeshiva. At some point he was offered a position to become the mashgiach in Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, which Reb Chatzkel accepted. The Rosh Yeshiva of the Mir Yeshiva came to him with a complaint and said, “The Mir Yeshiva did so much for you, and helped you out so many times through your life, you owe a debt of gratitude to the Mir Yeshiva. Therefore, you should stay here.” To this Reb Chatzkel responded, “As great as my responsibility for hakaras hatov to the Mir Yeshiva is, my obligation to Hashem is even greater. And being that I could affect more students in Ponevezh, my obligation of hakaras hatov goes to Hashem first, which means I need to go to Ponevezh Yeshiva as opposed to staying in the Mir.”

In this week’s parsha we have a difficulty that all the commentators are busy with. Pinchas acts as a zealot and kills a prince of the the tribe of Shimon and a Princess of the nation of Moab. There are those who complain to Pinchas, “Gadol hashalom” – why did you take the law into your own hands and kill these people?” The Aruch LaNer (Yacov Ettlinger 1798-1871) in his Sefer on Chumash called Minchas Oni, answers this question based on the previously mentioned principle. As great as the aspect of shalom between men is, our responsibility to do what Hashem wants is even greater. Therefore, Pinchas had to ignore the aspect of shalom and become a zealot for the sake of Hashem.

The problem with this principle is that most of the time people who have an axe to grind act as if they are a zealot in the name of Hashem. In order for a person to be a zealot, it must be that the inspiration and desire have nothing to do with anything personal at all. This may be the meaning of a saying of Chazal in this week’s parsha, where they say, “Klal Yisrael complained to Pinchas: Your grandfather fattened cows for idolatry and now you killed a prince?”  To this Hashem answered that Pinchas descends from Aharon the Kohen.

There is a saying that many times a BT (baal teshuva) is “frumer” than an FFB (frum from birth). The explanation of this is that the BT is trying to prove himself. This is what klal Yisrael was accusing Pinchas of. “Being that your grandfather was involved in idolatry, you feel it is your job to go the extra mile and kill these blasphemous people.” To this Hashem responded that Pinchas’ zealotry was born out of his attribute of peace, the foremost trait of Aharon Hakohein.

I would conclude with explaining the word “shalom according to Rav Yaakov Kamenetzsky (1891-1986). It means living together in harmony. It does not mean “not fighting”. Therefore, sometimes we have no choice but to eradicate a certain amount of evil in order that we can live in harmony with the remainder of the people. So too, the act of zealotry of Pinchas, actually brought peace by stopping the plague.

May we merit to be in situations that are clear to us as to what is the right thing to do is. We should go ahead and act in the right way. By doing so, we should bring peace between us and Hashem and also between us and our fellow man.