Okay, so to be totally transparent (a commodity these days, right?) my daughter’s daughters are almost seven. But nonetheless. So we were walking to Machaneh Ramah Yomi (Ramah Day Camp) this morning and chatting about Parshat Pinchas. I had just read my colleague Rabbi Haim Ovadia’s thoughtful post (as his always are) about how we understand Pinchas’ initiative in correcting the slippery slope of wrong dealings and doings amongst his people by finally putting his foot down, so to speak, and killing Zimri and his cohort who had just gone too far. Sometimes, we have to take such individual action on behalf of the greater good, but such actions must be undertaken properly and sparingly. Remember that we are in the book of BaMidbar/Numbers and reading about how the chapters of life for the B’nai Yisrael in the spiritual desert of their physical desert unfolded. Complaining about Manna, Miriam starting trouble regarding what she said about Moses, the scouts scaring the people regarding the land, it was all just too much! So far in our litany of missteps, a talking donkey is one of the few who makes the most sense. An interesting lesson for us in our lives today!!!!!
Anyway, I digress! So how exactly does one explain the concept of the “greater good” to almost-seven year olds when it involves killing people (with a spear, so we are told) who do wrong things (yes, we know, its not the bad child, its just not-so-good things that the poor little tater tot does!) and then one’s reward for doing so is being insured of the everlasting Priesthood and a covenant of peace? Very carefully, very carefully….. that’s how.
I have tremendous faith in the wisdom of young minds so all I do is set the stage and then they will give me the language and Neli and Neima are not ones to disappoint! I started by explaining that the B’nai Yisrael, the people of Israel, had just gone too far and that bad actions begat bad actions. At this point, Pinchas says “Enough!” so to speak and shall we say, disposes of the wrongdoers……so that the people will understand they are really not behaving the way they should and need to get their act together. So then I ask, how do we do that – you know, remove the wrongdoers from the group? I was thinking along the lines of a time-out, a reflection paper, or such, but a better answer was provided from these wonderful children, who are no doubt Harvard bound! They proposed that when a child does not fit into the class or school, they may have to be removed and go somewhere that is better for them as well as protect the rest of the students if they are not behaving properly. I TOOK IT! Yes, that works, that is exactly what we do, because otherwise if we do not take any corrective action, then the who class, school, camp bunk or nation will end up totally off track! Now how do we do that for an entire nation?????
So the greater good trumps the individual, right? Well not so fast! Jewish law has many correctives built into it to protect every individual and balance that with the notion that we do every possible thing to help each person but cannot sacrifice the whole for a single part. It’s a tricky balance to be sure. In this case, the solution was indeed that Pinchas had to act harshly, not just for the wrongdoers but for the entire nation for whom wrongdoing had become the accepted normal way, and this could not be. That’s why we have rules and limits and boundaries; and of course our young scholars understood this.
Now, tonight we get to go further in the Parsha and learn about the other end of the spectrum of Jewish Law where the Torah mandates that land is passed on through families and their male inheritors. That’s great when there are sons but what about Zelophachad who had no sons but daughters? Moses will go directly to God and ask what he should do that is fair and here we learn about laws that can be amended for the right purpose for the people who are acting appropriately and honorably. I am really looking forward to that discussion with the almost-seven year olds about our first Jewish female property owners.
Shabbat Shalom and a great weekend to all.
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