Parsha Pinchas – Jewish Teachings: When Tolerance Becomes Dangerous - The Jewish View Of Courage And Responsibility

0:00 SPEAKER_00: A man is about to undergo surgery.

0:03 SPEAKER_00: Just as the anesthetic is about to be administered, he hears the surgeon speaking.

0:09 SPEAKER_00: Don't worry, Schmul.

0:10 SPEAKER_00: This is just a routine operation.

0:13 SPEAKER_00: There's absolutely nothing to worry about.

0:15 SPEAKER_00: The man looks over and says, Thanks, but my name isn't Schmuel.

0:19 SPEAKER_00: The surgeon says, I know, I'm Schmuel.

0:23 SPEAKER_00: Imagine you open the newspaper or your news app on your phone.

0:27 SPEAKER_00: The headline story explains that two people were committing a grave sin by having forbidden relations in a rather public way.

0:35 SPEAKER_00: A religious Jew, the news reports, took a spear and killed both the man and woman while in the act.

0:41 SPEAKER_00: How would the news report the religious Jew?

0:44 SPEAKER_00: What would we think?

0:46 SPEAKER_00: The newspapers would call the man a fanatic, an extremist.

0:50 SPEAKER_00: We would probably all be outrage, outraged, and agree that individuals cannot just take the law into their own hands.

0:57 SPEAKER_00: The man would quite rightly be facing a trial for murder.

1:01 SPEAKER_00: Yet not only is Pinchus not accused of murder, Hashem praises him for his actions.

1:07 SPEAKER_00: Hashem rewards Pinchus with the Brit Shalom, the covenant of peace and the Brit Kahuna, the covenant of eternal priesthood.

1:14 SPEAKER_00: How can this be?

1:15 SPEAKER_00: Judaism believes in due process.

1:18 SPEAKER_00: Judaism believes that courts decide guilt.

1:21 SPEAKER_00: Surely nobody is allowed to take the law into their own hands.

1:25 SPEAKER_00: So what are we supposed to learn?

1:27 SPEAKER_00: Does the Torah want us all to become Pinchus?

1:31 SPEAKER_00: I don't think the Torah is asking us whether we would have killed Zimri.

1:35 SPEAKER_00: I think it is asking a much more uncomfortable question.

1:39 SPEAKER_00: When everyone else stood by, why was Pinchus the only one willing to take responsibility?

1:47 SPEAKER_00: Let's understand the situation.

1:50 SPEAKER_00: This was not about one immoral couple.

1:52 SPEAKER_00: Bilam, having failed to curse Amishael, had suggested that instead Moab should try and lead B'na Israel astray.

2:00 SPEAKER_00: Consequently, the Moabite women had seduced the men of Bene Israel and lured many into worshipping Baal Peor, the god of Moab.

2:09 SPEAKER_00: Perhaps the most grievous offender was Zimri, a leader of the tribe of Shimon, who publicly sinned with Kosbi, a Midianite princess.

2:18 SPEAKER_00: The Gomorrah in Sanhedrin, 82 Ahmed Alaf, explains that Zimri took Kosbi to Moshe and asked if she was forbidden or permitted.

2:27 SPEAKER_00: He then says, If you say she's forbidden, who permitted your wife to you?

2:32 SPEAKER_00: Of course, Zipporah was Yitro's daughter, a Midianite.

2:36 SPEAKER_00: Zimri a Nazi of the tribe of Shimon was not simply going astray with a Midianite woman.

2:42 SPEAKER_00: He was challenging Moshe's authority, and in so doing was challenging the whole Jewish project and Torah itself.

2:50 SPEAKER_00: Zimri, as we so often see today, set up a moral equivalence between him and Moshe.

2:57 SPEAKER_00: Of course there is none.

2:59 SPEAKER_00: Moshe married before the Torah was given.

3:01 SPEAKER_00: Zipporah converted and was righteous, and there was no illicit relations outside wedlock.

3:07 SPEAKER_00: By focusing on the fact that Zippara had been a Midianite, he was trying to create a confusion and muddy the waters.

3:15 SPEAKER_00: Klali Ishrael were portraying their covenant with Hashem.

3:18 SPEAKER_00: Moshe's authority was being challenged.

3:20 SPEAKER_00: The spiritual state of Klali Ishrael was at stake.

3:24 SPEAKER_00: The nation was on the verge of some sort of moral collapse.

3:27 SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, a plague had broken out which was killing thousands.

3:30 SPEAKER_00: In the end we know twenty-four thousand people died.

3:34 SPEAKER_00: Ideally, of course, Zimri should have been brought to court, but this was akin to a wartime situation.

3:41 SPEAKER_00: The entire community was in danger.

3:43 SPEAKER_00: Pinchus had a simple choice do nothing and let more people die, or act extrajudicially and kill two key culprits who were challenging Moshe and Torah itself.

3:56 SPEAKER_00: His actions stopped the plague and therefore save many lives.

4:01 SPEAKER_00: Everyone else saw the same crisis.

4:03 SPEAKER_00: Pinchus's uniqueness was not that he recognized the danger, but he accepted responsibility for it.

4:11 SPEAKER_00: In this context it would be easy to hell Pinchus a hero, but the sages do not.

4:17 SPEAKER_00: Judaism does not approve of zealotry.

4:20 SPEAKER_00: The Gomorrah in Sanhedrin 82 Ahmed Allah pulls all sorts of limitations on the action Pinchus took.

4:28 SPEAKER_00: Had Zimri seen Pinchus and killed him first, Zimri would be innocent because he would be acting in self-defense.

4:35 SPEAKER_00: Pinchus was only allowed to do what he did because Zimri and Cosby were actively engaging in their immoral act.

4:41 SPEAKER_00: Had he done what he did once they were separated, he would be guilty of the crime of murder.

4:47 SPEAKER_00: Moreover, the Gomorrah says that had Pinchas asked the Halacha to Moshe or any of the Sanhedrin, whether what he was about to do was permitted, he would not have been told that it was.

4:59 SPEAKER_00: This is the rare instance of a rule called Halacha Vain Morin Ken, a law that is not taught.

5:06 SPEAKER_00: The Gomorrah in Sanhedrin in Tamid Ursalmi goes further and actually states that they wanted to excommunicate Pinchas, and the only reason they did not is because Hashem intervened, rewarding Pinchus with the Brit Shalom and Brit kahuna.

5:20 SPEAKER_00: One of the reasons that our sages are so unenthusiastic about zealotry is it requires a zealot to act unilaterally based on their own judgment.

5:30 SPEAKER_00: They must have no ulterior motives other than to stand for Hashem.

5:35 SPEAKER_00: Most people do not have such good judgment.

5:38 SPEAKER_00: They'd also have been put in a very high spiritual level to know there are no other motivations except the purity of standing up for Hashem.

5:48 SPEAKER_00: For example, the Mishnah in Brachot states that a Khattan is exempt from Shema on the night of his marriage because he is preoccupied with consummating the marriage and will not be able to doven with Khavanah.

6:00 SPEAKER_00: Tosfot writes that since nowadays we don't have Kavana anyway, a Khattan is obligated in Kriyat Shema.

6:07 SPEAKER_00: The same would apply to a zealot.

6:09 SPEAKER_00: We are not able to reach the level of purity of motive to be able to carry this out today.

6:16 SPEAKER_00: If this is true, then we are left with an obvious question.

6:20 SPEAKER_00: If Judaism is so reluctant to endorse zealotry, what exactly was Hashem rewarding?

6:27 SPEAKER_00: Given all the concern about zealotry, the question is why did Hashem praise Pinchus?

6:34 SPEAKER_00: Pinchus' act was one of Masirat Nefesh, self-sacrifice for the sake of Hashem and Khalishrael.

6:42 SPEAKER_00: He was risking his life and reputation with no idea how it would turn out.

6:48 SPEAKER_00: Pinchus risked his life.

6:50 SPEAKER_00: If Zimri had killed Pinnchus, he would not have been charged with murder, because it would be considered an act of self-defense.

6:58 SPEAKER_00: Moreover, if Zimri and Cosby had separated just before Pinnchus killed them, he would have been charged with murder.

7:05 SPEAKER_00: Pinchus also risked his reputation.

7:08 SPEAKER_00: We are told in the Gomorrah in Sanhedrin 82 Ahmed Bet that the public said his own father, Alazah, married the daughter of an idol worshipper, and that Yitro his grandfather sacrificed to idols.

7:20 SPEAKER_00: They were making out that he was a hypocrite.

7:23 SPEAKER_00: How could someone with such flawed lineage kill Zimre and Nasir but Nae Yisrael?

7:29 SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, the sages wanted to excommunicate Pinchus because he could not prove his motives were pure.

7:35 SPEAKER_00: He was saved because Hashem rewarded him.

7:38 SPEAKER_00: Of course, he did not know that would happen when he took the risk and carried out the act.

7:43 SPEAKER_00: Hashem, of course, was not rewarding violence.

7:47 SPEAKER_00: Pinchus at enormous personal risk put his life and reputation on the line and took responsibility.

7:55 SPEAKER_00: Klali Shuel had betrayed its government with Hashem.

7:58 SPEAKER_00: Moshe's authority and Torah were under threat, as was the very moral fabric of society.

8:04 SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, people were dying all the time in the plague.

8:08 SPEAKER_00: No one acted.

8:09 SPEAKER_00: No one accepted responsibility.

8:12 SPEAKER_00: Everyone could see the crisis, but everyone waited for someone else to solve it.

8:17 SPEAKER_00: Pinchus refused to stand by while everyone else remained passive.

8:21 SPEAKER_00: This is what Hashem praises.

8:23 SPEAKER_00: Not violence, but responsibility.

8:27 SPEAKER_00: Responsibility begins at the moment we stop asking why isn't someone doing something and start asking why am I not doing something?

8:38 SPEAKER_00: The Torah is teaching an idea that 20th century philosopher Karl Popper later called the paradox of tolerance.

8:45 SPEAKER_00: That if a society is tolerant without limit, its ability to be tolerant will eventually be seized or destroyed by the intolerant.

8:55 SPEAKER_00: The paradox, therefore, is for a society to remain tolerant, it must refuse to tolerate intolerance.

9:04 SPEAKER_00: We live in a world where tolerance is treated as one of the highest modern virtues.

9:09 SPEAKER_00: The problem is it's become a disguise for apathy, for moral confusion and cowardice.

9:16 SPEAKER_00: If we do not stand up for anything in society and state that sometimes certain actions or beliefs are morally unacceptable, we destroy the very society that we are trying to maintain.

9:28 SPEAKER_00: Klalia Ishrael was at a moment of existential crisis.

9:33 SPEAKER_00: The covenant with Hashem had been betrayed.

9:35 SPEAKER_00: People were openly committing two of the three cardinal sins, forbidden relations and idolatry.

9:41 SPEAKER_00: Doing nothing would have led to moral collapse.

9:44 SPEAKER_00: Pinchas is not a hero because he killed Zimrian Cosby.

9:48 SPEAKER_00: Pinchas is a hero because he was willing to stand up for what is right at huge personal risk in order to save Klalya Shrael.

9:59 SPEAKER_00: Responsibility always requires courage.

10:02 SPEAKER_00: It's easy to remain silent.

10:04 SPEAKER_00: It's easy to wait for somebody else.

10:06 SPEAKER_00: Pinchus teaching that sometimes taking responsibility demands moral courage.

10:13 SPEAKER_00: Yes, to live with conviction is to live dangerously, but it is also the only way to protect society.

10:20 SPEAKER_00: We live in a world where Torah values are being eroded.

10:24 SPEAKER_00: We're told men and women are the same.

10:26 SPEAKER_00: We're told all cultures and moral systems are equally good.

10:29 SPEAKER_00: We're told that all lifestyles are equally valid.

10:32 SPEAKER_00: We're told there is no objective truth and everyone can choose their truth.

10:36 SPEAKER_00: We're told there's a moral equivalence between Iran and the USA or terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah and Israel defending itself against these actors.

10:45 SPEAKER_00: The challenge for us is usually far less dramatic than Pincas's.

10:50 SPEAKER_00: We are rarely asked to risk our lives.

10:53 SPEAKER_00: We are asked to risk our comfort.

10:55 SPEAKER_00: Do we challenge Lashon Hara when everyone else joins in?

11:00 SPEAKER_00: Do we defend Torah values when it's unpopular?

11:04 SPEAKER_00: Do we speak up when somebody misrepresents Judaism?

11:07 SPEAKER_00: Do we set the right example for our children even when nobody else does?

11:12 SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we confuse kindness with not disagreeing, compassion with not drawing boundaries, tolerance with moral neutrality.

11:21 SPEAKER_00: Pinnacus comes to teach us that sometimes, for the good of everyone, you have to take a stand.

11:28 SPEAKER_00: What about the rewards that Pinnachus received?

11:31 SPEAKER_00: Hashem did not give Pinnachus arbitrary gifts, there was a reason for both.

11:36 SPEAKER_00: The Jewish people are the cohenym of the world.

11:39 SPEAKER_00: We are the connectors between Hashem and the rest of humanity.

11:42 SPEAKER_00: That is why Avraham is told, all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your offspring.

11:49 SPEAKER_00: Similarly, within Khali Ishrael, the Kohenim of the connectors between Hashem and the Jewish people, with the betrayal of the covenant, that connection was in danger of being damaged or severed.

12:01 SPEAKER_00: Pinchas deserved the Brit Kahuna because he did the job of a Kohen and restored the connection between Hashem and Khal Ishrael.

12:10 SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, how can Pinchus be given the Brit Shalom, the covenant of peace, when he killed Zimri and Cosby?

12:18 SPEAKER_00: Shalom really means wholeness, completeness.

12:21 SPEAKER_00: When things are whole, complete at one, then by definition there is peace.

12:26 SPEAKER_00: Hashem had brought a plague upon Am Ishrael because of their immoral behavior and betrayal of the covenant.

12:33 SPEAKER_00: There was a rupture in the relationship, fragmentation and dysfunction.

12:37 SPEAKER_00: Pinchas' action shocked Am Yishrael.

12:40 SPEAKER_00: It ended the plague and restored wholeness, completeness, oneness to the relationship between Hashem and the Jewish people.

12:47 SPEAKER_00: This is peace.

12:48 SPEAKER_00: What is interesting is that when Pinchas is given the Brit Shalom, the word Shalom in the Torah is written with a slightly severed or broken vove.

12:58 SPEAKER_00: Perhaps it's coming to teach us that shalom, peace, wholeness, completeness, can never be fully restored by an act of violence.

13:07 SPEAKER_00: Further action needs to be taken for it to be fully restored.

13:12 SPEAKER_00: For example, war is sometimes necessary.

13:14 SPEAKER_00: In World War II, the evil of the Nazis had to be defeated.

13:19 SPEAKER_00: The defeat of the Nazis restored it a certain amount of completeness, wholeness and harmony back to the world.

13:25 SPEAKER_00: However, relations with Germany then needed to be repaired through dialogue, diplomacy and reason.

13:32 SPEAKER_00: One of the messages of the broken vove is that violence can only achieve so much.

13:37 SPEAKER_00: Pinchus was worthy of the Brit Shalom, but the severed vo reminds us that even when it is necessary, there are limitations to a violent act.

13:48 SPEAKER_00: Should we imitate Pinchus?

13:51 SPEAKER_00: The short answer is no.

13:52 SPEAKER_00: Even in the times of the Gomorrah we can see the sages' reticence to condone Pinchus' action.

13:58 SPEAKER_00: Today when we are not on the level of previous generations, there are too many questions as to our ability to act with the right motivations, which would mean that halakhli would not be permitted.

14:10 SPEAKER_00: But the lesson of Pinchus is about taking responsibility.

14:14 SPEAKER_00: And because responsibility often comes at a cost, it requires courage.

14:20 SPEAKER_00: Every generation has challenges.

14:23 SPEAKER_00: When there are things that are wrong in the world, Pinchus comes to teach us that silence is not acceptable.

14:30 SPEAKER_00: People remain silent because they fear criticism.

14:33 SPEAKER_00: People remain silent because they fear losing friends.

14:36 SPEAKER_00: People remain silent because they fear the backlash on social media.

14:39 SPEAKER_00: People remain silent because they prefer an easy life.

14:43 SPEAKER_00: Pinchus reminds us that indifference is not a Jewish virtue.

14:47 SPEAKER_00: Judaism does not ask us to become zealots.

14:50 SPEAKER_00: It asks us to become people who are prepared to take responsibility when truth, Torah, and morality are under attack.

14:58 SPEAKER_00: The Torah does not ask us to become another Pinchus.

15:02 SPEAKER_00: It asks us to refuse to be a bindstander.

15:05 SPEAKER_00: Sometimes responsibility is costly.

15:08 SPEAKER_00: Sometimes responsibility is lonely.

15:11 SPEAKER_00: Sometimes responsibility invites criticism.

15:14 SPEAKER_00: But if good people always wait for someone else, eventually there will be nobody left willing to stand for Torah.

15:21 SPEAKER_00: That was Pinchus.

15:23 SPEAKER_00: That is why Hashem rewarded him.

15:26 SPEAKER_00: That is the call to responsibility for us all.

15:29 SPEAKER_00: Every generation has its Zimri moments.

15:32 SPEAKER_00: Not moments when we are called to pick up a spear, but moments when silence is easier than speaking, when compromise is easier than conviction, and when standing alone is the price of doing what is right.

15:45 SPEAKER_00: The question of Parshat Pinchas is not would you have killed Zimri?

15:49 SPEAKER_00: It is when Torah, truth, and morality need someone to stand up.

15:54 SPEAKER_00: Will you?