Phinehas, Elijah & Circumcision (2013)

At the outset of a traditional circumcision ceremony it is customary for the mohel to recite the opening verses of the Torah portion of Pinhas: Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the children of Israel, in that he was very zealous for My sake among them, so that I consumed not the children of Israel in My jealousy. Wherefore say: Behold I give unto him My covenant of peace (Num. 25:11-12). These verses constitute the final vindication of Phinehas who stepped into a major crisis within the Israelite camp to perform a decisive act of intense zealotry which, according to tradition, alienated him from many fellow Israelites. (1) The details are contained at the end of the previous Torah portion, Balak (Num. 25:1-9), where we learn of the rampant immorality and idolatry that had taken root within the Israelite camp. The Midrash attributes it to the advice given by the heathen prophet Balaam: frustrated by his vain attempts to curse the Israelites, Balaam told the Moabite king who had hired him that the only way to overcome the Israelites was to estrange them from their God by luring them into immorality. Balak accordingly set up market stalls near the Israelite camp, with beautiful girls who enticed the men who came to buy their wares. (2) The Torah relates that Zimri, prince of the tribe of Simeon, grabbed Cozbi, a Midianite princess whom the Talmud identifies as Balak's own daughter, (3) and openly had sexual intercourse with her. Moses was so outraged, by the act itself and by what he construed as his own failure of moral leadership, that he remained rooted to the spot, unable to take action. Phinehas promptly leaped forward, seized hold of a spear and drove it through the two libertines, thereby bringing the nation abruptly to its senses and turning God's wrath away from Israel (Num. 25:11). Among the tasks that the Midrash sets itself is filling gaps in the narrative left by the written text. Hence, it seeks to account for Moses' inability to act decisively at such a critical time, thus leaving it to someone without judicial authority to do so instead, bypassing the due process of law. The Midrash states that Zimri dragged Cozbi by the hair in front of Moses and the elders, and challenged Moses, saying, Tell me, son of Amram, is this woman permitted to me or not? When Moses replied, She is forbidden, Zimri gave an insolent riposte: You call yourself a faithful interpreter of God's law. How can she be forbidden to me when you yourself, Moses, married a Midianite. Furthermore, this one is the daughter of a king, whereas your wife, Zipporah, is the daughter of an idolatrous priest!' Moses broke down in tears, unable to answer the personal insult hurled at him or to recollect the punishment Zimri deserved for his outrageous behavior. (4) It was this embarrassing impasse which prompted Phinehas to leap into the breach and take the law into his own hands. The Midrash adds two further insights: Firstly, the fact that no man knows his (Moses') burial-place (Deut.34:6) was a punishment for his indecision in taking action against Zimri; (5) secondly, that indecision was occasioned by the fact that Moses had forgotten an oral law he himself had communicated to Phinehas shortly after his return from Mount Sinai, (6) namely, Ha-bo'el aramit kana'im poge'in bo, Whoever has relations with a heathen woman, zealots (who are sincerely outraged) may run them through. (7) To return to our circumcision ceremony, why are only the opening words of parashat Pinhas recited by the mohel? This may, of course, be explained quite simply by the fact that during this ceremony we are bringing a child into the faith of Israel and giving him a Jewish identity. At that moment, we remind ourselves of the occasion in our early history when we were guilty of a flagrant act of apostasy and defection from the high moral standards that membership of Israel demands. …