We have a problem. It may be a Western culture thing, but I suspect it’s actually a global challenge. We see ALL forms of extremism and extreme reactions as bad, unproductive, and destructive. Which, to be fair, they often are. But then, as a result, we aim constantly and exclusively for calm discussion, sensible reasoning,
level-headed decision-making, and practical solutions. If I’m being completely honest, I have essentially subscribed to that way of thinking most of my life as well. But what happens when either the rational, objective, logical paths have all been exhausted, producing zero results, OR when a situation warrants something outrageous, crazy, spur-of-the-moment, and purely emotional? Then we’ve got a problem. Because we don’t know what to do or how, and we have been trained - all our lives - to view those kinds of behaviors as mortifying, unacceptable, and bad. Our
parashah challenges our way of thinking, when it begins by focusing on a man who acts impulsively, irrationally, savagely, and as a maverick... and God rewards him for it! Not only with praise, but God gives him something that we might find bewildering and TOTALLY inappropriate - a “Brit Shalom,” a Covenant of Peace.
Pinchas, the man in question, is the grandson of Aaron. At the end of last week’s Torah portion, Moses and Aaron stood in front of the whole community, declared that NO ONE could have sexual relations with an idolater, and then, right before their eyes, an Israelite man walked into a nearby tent with a Midianite (and thus idolatrous) woman. Everyone was stunned...
that is, except Pinchas, who grabbed a spear, followed them into the tent, and impaled them both - together! Following Pinchas’ rash and brutal action, the text declares, “... then the plague [same word as pandemic...] against the Israelites stopped” (Numbers 25:8). And if anyone was unsure whether Pinchas’ actions were both favored by God and directly led to the end of the plague, our Torah portion this week reiterates that his deeds yielded Pinchas a “Brit Shalom,” a Covenant of Peace, and explains: “... [it is] because he took impassioned action for his God, thus atoning for the Israelites” (v. 13). So what are we supposed to make of this? Again, we have a problem. One doesn’t DO this. Pinchas’ behavior is wrong, and leads to death, chaos, and totalitarianism. How can we learn anything from this story, other than religious fundamentalism seems to be favored by God... but remains abhorrent to most of us?
We need to grapple with this text. That’s why I not only emphasized it here (my first blog post after a couple weeks’ hiatus...), but I deliberately included much of the uncensored, gory details of Pinchas’ actions. We can’t sugar-coat this, and we mustn’t look away from it. To be CRYSTAL clear; I am NOT encouraging my
readers to kill or harm anyone! I am not condoning this behavior AT ALL. What I AM asking us to sit with is our own discomfort, and I want us to see how measured responses sometimes harm us as well. For example, back in January-February, most of us refused to imagine the impact of this pandemic. “We’re going to wear masks??? Every day, in all public spaces?!?! Isn’t that a bit MUCH?????” A second example, how we have ignored - for centuries - the embarrassment of racism in this country. We try to rationalize and justify, and focus on conversations, discussions, and working through our problems. Indeed, if you were sitting with a group of people and someone started yelling or cursing, the unpleasantness of that experience would turn many away. “You just don’t act that way.” But why are our only two options to calmly sit at a table and debate something OR grab a spear and find a heretic to impale??? We’ve got to work on finding a few middle-of-the-road options.
Sometimes, we need to get angry. Outraged even. We need to cry genuine tears of bitterness and frustration, so that we can truly STARE directly into the brokenness and injustice that pervades our society. Otherwise, what do we mean when we say “Never again,” or “Dayeinu - Enough,” or “Not on my watch”? Are they empty words? Will we only muster enough energy to draft a stern letter to a newspaper, or call and voice our objection to a local politician?
Yes, those actions are vital as well... but sometimes the situation at hand demands passion, emotion, and action. Pinchas is an extreme example. But it would be foolish and misguided of us to dismiss or censor this story, mainly because it makes us uncomfortable. Let’s take violence and murder off the table (phew!). Do you then have NO options left? How else could you stand up and actually live the values you purport to uphold? Think about the famous words from the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes (brought back to popular culture by the Byrds’ song, “Turn, Turn, Turn”). Yes, there are times for silence, healing, and keeping; all manor of gentle, socially-acceptable, tactful behaviors. But there must then also be times for speaking, crying, throwing, and yes, even destroying and fighting. It’s hard to accept, but we all really need to ask ourselves: Do we have the capacity for outrage? Do we believe that somewhere - anywhere - there is a line that cannot be crossed, when injustice has simply gone too far? And what might we do when that happens? And most scary of all, if that isn’t right now, in this toxic climate, then when?
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