[Pinchas - Artist Yoram Raanan]
Summary
Bamidbar 25:10 - 30:1
Pinchas is rewarded for killing the Hebrew and the Midiani woman who cursed G-d. Yisrael fights a war against the Midianim. A second census is taken. The daughters of Tzelafchad force a change in the laws of property inheritance. Yehoshua is chosen to be Moshe's successor. The sacrificial ritual for all festival occasions is described in detail.
25:10 Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying,
11 Pinchas (a son of Ele'azar and grandson of Aharon the Kohen) was the one who zealously took up My cause among the Benei Yisrael and turned My anger away from them, so that I did not destroy them in My demand for exclusive worship.
Since the plague had felled 24,000 Benei Yisrael, the people might have contended that the plague was finally arrested not because Pinchas had slain Zimri, but because G-d's anger against the Benei Yisrael for their transgression was cooled and His vengeance satisfied by the 24,000 victims. The Torah therefore tells us that it was the zealous action of Pinchas, solely, which turned away G-d's anger and saved them from destruction. If not for him nothing would have remained of the Benei Yisrael. (Toledot Yitzchak)
The New Census
Following the plague that struck the Benei Yisrael, G-d told Moshe and Eleazar to count them. When a wolf attacks a flock of sheep killing some of the, the shepherd wants to take their tally in order to see how many are left.
One reason for the present census, therefore, was to determine how many remained alive. But G-d bit the Benei Yisrael to be counted also for another reason - because the time was nearing for Moshe to leave this world. Moshe may be compared to a shepherd who was entrusted by the owner with a flock of sheep. When the time came the sheep to be returned, they were first tallied, just as they had been when they were entrusted to the shepherd.
Thus, when the Benei Yirael left Egypt, G-d had them counted, and He had instructed Moshe to lead them along direct pathways where they would not get lost. Now that the time had come for him to return that which been in his trust, G-d instructed him to count them before passing them to Yehoshua. G-d di not involve Yehoshua in the census taking, however, out of consideration for Moshe. Had it been necessary for Moshe to report the results of the census directly to Yehoshua, it would have been a painful reminder of his approaching end. So G-d arranged for him to communicate directly with Ele'azar, who would then naturally pass on the information to Yehoshua.
There were also other reasons for conducting a census of the Benei Yisrael at this time. When they had stood at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, the nations were envious, an they complained why out of all the nations G-d had chosen Yisrael to be close to him and to have conferred upon them so much honor and prestige. Whereupon G-d replied: "These enjoy one distinction that you lack. They possess an impeccable lineage, while you are illegitimate offspring of illegitimate offspring."
Hearing this, the nations began to praise and acclaim the Benei Yisrael for their purity of line, as it is written, "The daughters saw her and called her happy; and the queens and the concubines praised her" (Shir HaShirim 6:9).
The "daughters" are the nations of the world who, when they beheld the people of Yisrael in its purity, devoid of all blemish, of immorality or illegitimacy, exclaimed: "Happy is this people that is untainted by vice!"
That, however, was true at the time of the giving of the Torah. Now that the Benei Yisrael had come into this desert [of the plains of Moav] and it was said of them that they began to behave immorally, these very nations rejoiced, declaring, "The crown of chastity and freedom from taint with which this people had been garlanded in Egypt has not departed from the, and we and they are one multitude, equally steeped in immorality."
Accordingly, after G-d had cleansed the Benei Yisrael of sinners by means of the plague, He told Moshe to count them and establish their familial and tribal pedigrees. "Then I will place upon each family My signature - My Holy Name י׳ה."
"These two letters of My Name would be affixed to the names of the individual tribes, so that Re'uven will be written as haReuveni, and Shimon, will be written as haShimoni, symbolizing that henceforth the nations of the world and the scorners among the Benei Yisrael would know that the Jewish people had been purified once again of every taint of immorality and illegitimacy. Those who are stamped by immorality will become extinct while these shall bear G-d's Name upon their names as proof of their impeccable ancestry." (Yalkut Shimoni; Rashi; Alshech)
Given the symbolic function of G-d's seal in relation to the paternal line, two questions arise. Why is it that only in three instances is this seal affixed to the tribal names: Re'uven - Re'uveni, Shimon - Shimoni, Zevulun - Zevuluni - while for all other tribes the seal is affixed to the family names but not to the tribal names? The second [and related] question in why G-d's seal consists of the Name Yud Heh (י׳ה) specifically?
The Name י׳ה (Yud, Heh) is encompassed by the Hebrew words for man - ish (אִיש) and woman - ishah (אִשָה), whereby we are taught that when a husband and wife live a life of sanctity in accordance with the Will of G-d, the Shechinah abides with them; if not, the Yud and the Heh, respectively, are symbolically lost from their names, turning them into esh (אֵש) - two mutually consuming fires.
This explains why G-d placed [upon the Benei Yisrael] the Name Yud Heh (י־ה) specifically. It symbolized that they were free of all taint, and that because there was sanctity in the way they lived, He did not depart from them.
Moreover, since the women were even more circumspect than the men in sexual matters - no women at all having been involved in the present lapse into immorality, as further evidenced by the fact that the Torah publicized the lone instance of such a lapse by a woman in Egypt - the Torah here records that the letter Heh (ה) of the word ishah, (אִשָה) was placed at the head of the corresponding name, and the letter Yud of ish (אִיש), at the end; Ha'reuveni (הָ׳רְאוּבֵנִ׳י); Ha'shimoni (הַ׳שִמְעֹנִ׳י).
Explained also is why the Name was affixed to the aforementioned three tribal names. Re'uven had compromised in the matter of Bilhah, and although he had not done anything wrong, there remained an aura of suspicion. So, to remove any doubt, and to silence those said that Re'uven had actually cohabited with Bilhah (Bereishit 35:22), [G-d affixed His seal to the tribal name of Re'uven].
In the case of the tribe of Shimon, too, this was necessary, for there was room for suspicion on account of what Zimri, its leader, had done.
[The name as testimonial was associated as well to] the tribe of Zevulun, because they would be traders, and thereby absent from their homes most of the time.
Accordingly, G-d associated His Name to these three tribes in order to silence gossip and to bear witness that, notwithstanding suspicious circumstances, they were free of the slightest taint of immorality and that their family lines were distinguished and pure. (Alshech)
- Me'am Lo'ez
