{"id":48209,"date":"2019-01-27T00:32:02","date_gmt":"2019-01-26T22:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=48209"},"modified":"2022-08-21T12:40:39","modified_gmt":"2022-08-21T09:40:39","slug":"noble-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/noble-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Noble Violence?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[402,409,543],"acf":{"old_id":"48209","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37918,"related_cahpter":"142","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A zealot cannot be a leader","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Few biblical stories trouble modern readers quite as much as that of Pinchas, the Torah\u2019s zealot-hero.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Numbers insists upon the nobility of Pinchas\u2019 violent deed. Yet there is something profoundly disturbing about this evaluation. Not surprisingly, Rabbinic tradition was decidedly ambivalent about Pinchas, seeing him both as a hero and as a potentially dangerous force needing to be contained and restrained. Even if one defends what Pinchas did, he remains an extremely troubling figure, and tradition gives voice to that fact in a variety of powerful ways.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin (Netziv, 1816-1893) asks why does God grant Pinchas a covenant of peace? \u201cIn reward for calming the anger and wrath of the Blessed Holy One,\u201d he writes, \u201cGod blessed him with the attribute of peace&#8230; Since it is in the nature of Pinchas\u2019 action\u2014killing human beings with his hands\u2014to leave an intense emotional unrest in the soul afterwards&#8230; the blessing he received was to be in a state of peace and tranquility\u201d (Ha\u2019amek Davar to Numbers 25:12). On this reading, the blessing Pinchas receives is the one he most needs: A zealot needs help in discovering calm.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some commentators seem to doubt that zealotry can be checked or tamed at all. Affirming Pinchas\u2019 greatness, they nevertheless insist that his zealotry disqualifies him from leading the people. Not long after Pinchas\u2019 slaying of the Israelite leader and his Midianite consort, Moses is reminded by God of his impending death; he will not lead the people into the land. Moses makes a request: \u201cLet the Lord, God of all spirits,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">appoint someone over the community who shall go out before them and come in before them, and who shall take them out and lead them in\u201d (27:16-17). God responds by appointing Joshua, \u201ca man filled with the spirit\u201d (27:18). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why does this exchange between God and Moses happen specifically now? Why did Moses not make this request of God earlier, when he had first learned that he would not be the one to lead the people into the Promised Land? The Hasidic Master R. Menahem Mendel of Kotzk explains that until Pinchas\u2019 moment of ferocious zealotry, Moses had always assumed that the latter would be his successor. The Kotzker affirms that Pinchas\u2019 actions were incomparably great, and he reminds us of the tremendous reward he receives from God. Still, he insists, \u201chaving seen Pinchas\u2019 zealousness for God\u2019s name&#8230; Moses thought, \u2018A zealot cannot be the leader of Israel.\u2019\u201d Therefore Moses turned to God to find an alternative (Amud Ha-Emet, p. 42).<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":107406,"id":107406,"title":"-6301fd8425706--6301fd8425707num25-gun violence restrain.png","filename":"6301fd8425706-6301fd8425707num25-gun-violence-restrain.png.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/6301fd8425706-6301fd8425707num25-gun-violence-restrain.png.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/noble-violence\/6301fd8425706-6301fd8425707num25-gun-violence-restrain-png\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"6301fd8425706-6301fd8425707num25-gun-violence-restrain-png","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":48209,"date":"2022-08-21 09:40:20","modified":"2022-08-21 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Violence?","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"A zealot cannot be a leader","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":107406,"id":107406,"title":"-6301fd8425706--6301fd8425707num25-gun violence restrain.png","filename":"6301fd8425706-6301fd8425707num25-gun-violence-restrain.png.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/6301fd8425706-6301fd8425707num25-gun-violence-restrain.png.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/noble-violence\/6301fd8425706-6301fd8425707num25-gun-violence-restrain-png\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"6301fd8425706-6301fd8425707num25-gun-violence-restrain-png","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":48209,"date":"2022-08-21 09:40:20","modified":"2022-08-21 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