{"id":60104,"date":"2019-07-25T10:54:54","date_gmt":"2019-07-25T07:54:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=60104"},"modified":"2022-08-21T13:31:25","modified_gmt":"2022-08-21T10:31:25","slug":"pinchas-what-is-a-covenant-of-peace-in-a-world-full-of-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/pinchas-what-is-a-covenant-of-peace-in-a-world-full-of-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Pinchas: What Is A Covenant Of Peace In A World Full Of Violence?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The violence itself, the killing of a man and woman happens at the end of last week\u2019s portion Balak (25:7-9). We are told only of the result in the opening of this week\u2019s portion of Pinchas, eponymously named for the killer of Israelite Zimri and Midianite Cosbi. Commentators have been perplexed for centuries why a covenant of peace is a reward for cold-blooded murder, motivated by \u201czealousness for God\u201d (25:10) or not. Though some, such as Rashi, suggest that the covenant of peace is a gift to Pinchas as a repair or restoration for him for the violence he has done, I think there is something else involved.<\/p>\n

We find some guidance in depictions of Pinchas in the rabbinic tradition. The Talmud in Bava Batra 15a, discussing who wrote which parts of the books attributed to them, states that \u201cJoshua wrote his own book.\u201d The text then questions how he wrote about his own death in Joshua 24:29? The response: \u201cAaron\u2019s son Elazar completed it. The Gemara asks: But isn\u2019t it also written: \u2018And Elazar, son of Aaron, died\u2019 (Joshua 24:33)? The Gemara answers: Pinchas completed it.\u201d The discussion here is whether an individual can write his own death, but actually it is about completion. Who is the right person to complete a task?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why is Pinchas cited as the one to finish writing the book of Joshua, that details the settling of the Israelites in the land, the completion of the unfinished work of Moses who wasn\u2019t allowed to enter the land?\u00a0<\/p>\n

One answer, based on the text, would be that Pinchas is the last individual mentioned in Joshua, when we are told his father Elazar is buried on his land (24:33). However, the concept of Pinchas as the individual granted a covenant of peace makes him the appropriate candidate to complete the entrance into the land, symbolically, by concluding the writing of the book of Joshua.<\/p>\n

Thus the land can only be settled by those who legitimately embody the \u201ccovenant of peace.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The meaning of \u201cpeace\u201d can be seen in the priestly blessing, the one Jewish parents give their children each week, which culminates in the word \u201cshalom\u201d (Numbers 6:26). Jacob Milgram says about peace in the priestly blessing that the meaning of \u2018shalom\u2019 is “general well-being” (Proverbs 3:2), as well as prosperity, good health (Ps 38:4) and friendship (Jer. 20:10 and 38:22).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pinchas is an individual who knew how to make wrong actions stop; stopping evil creates a feeling of well-being, prosperity, good health and friendship. That is, to my mind, what Pinchas\u2019 covenant of peace is meant to uphold.<\/p>\n

A coda to this idea is a tradition about Pinchas that \u201cone who sees Pinchas in a dream, it is an omen that a miracle will be performed on his behalf, just as miracles were performed for Pinchas\u201d (Talmud Brachot 56b). A figure who both completes the entrance into the land and has miracles done on his behalf is one worth dreaming about.<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":81950,"id":81950,"title":"ps29-peace","filename":"ps29-peace.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps29-peace.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-ultimate-goal-peace\/ps29-peace\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps29-peace","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":81949,"date":"2020-10-24 20:20:49","modified":"2022-08-21 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