Thread by @JYuter

1. Time for a mini-Twitter shiur.

Today's topic - Was Pinhas Right?

2. I'm going to be giving this talk over Shabbat but no one in that shul is on Twitter. Also even though the weekly Torah readers are still not synched between the Israel and Diaspora, it's still relevant to both due to the parasha division splitting the narrative.

3. More importantly, I think it's relevant given our incendiary political climate (at least in the US and Israel)

4. First, here's the Biblical narrative. From Num 25, Pinhas saw a head of the tribe of Simeon fornicating with a Midianite woman, speared the two of them, and ended a plague.
biblegateway.com/passage/?searc…

5. Rather than get mad at the extra-judicial killing, God extends to Pinhas a Brit Shalom, literally a "Covenant of Peace" and promotes Pinhas to Priest
sefaria.org.il/Numbers.25.10?…

6. The Rabbinic tradition explains that for certain transgressions "zealots may punish" the offender, even without the usual requirements for warnings, witnesses, or even a conviction.

7. Now, even if this is the correct law, I hope we can all recognize how this rule can be abused. The Rabbinic Sages seemed reluctant to endorse this rule as per this passage from the Jerusalem Talmud

8. The Babylonian Talmud goes into much greater detail about the Rabbinic aversion. Not only do we see that Sages should not tell people to take zealous action, but also that Pinhas could have been killed in self-defense, or even liable for murder under certain circumstances

9. As a slight interlude, the Gemara continues with a nice example of "whataboutism" between the offender and Moses:

10. Still, the Gemara continues that God performed 6 miracles on behalf of Pinhas, which seemingly assigns divine approval for his actions. The antecedent for this read comes from the "covenant of peace" mentioned earlier

10. Both the Bavli and Yerushalmi point to the Covenant of Peace as proof of the righteousness of Pinhas' actions, with the Yerushalmi being more explicit.

11. In fact, the Yerushalmi reminds me of a similar instance with Honi the Circle Drawer where R. Shimon b Shetach wanted to excommunicate Honi for his (non-violent) zealotry, but the results validated Honi's actions.

12. I think today we see a whole lot of people acting with similar zeal. Everyone not only thinks they're right, but because we live in unprecedented times, the normal rules no longer apply.

13. The result is a feedback loop of escalation - all done in the name of righteousness. We'll support the indefensible and redefine our morality as needed.

14. From Pinhas we see we might even be right! The problem is, we won't know for certain until after the fact, and even then, explicit signs from God.

15. So was Pinhas right? Yes, but with a *massive* asterisk. At least according to the Rabbinic tradition, Pinhas' model is not to be emulated. Not because it isn't "right" but because the consequences make it far too risky. \fin