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It began in last week’s Sedra, when twin terrorists Balak & Bilaam conspired to send Midianite prostitutes among Bnei Yisrael. After failing at their other evil plans, they reasoned – correctly - that if they could somehow get the Jews to compromise our sexual morality, we would be vulnerable to the anger Bilaam knew that G-d possesses.
This is the same Bilaam who ironically gave to us the famous compliment, "Mah tovu ohalecha Yaakov," how good are the tents of Am Yisrael, praising our admirable quality of tzniut, modesty, exemplified by the fact that our tent openings did not face those of our neighbors, so that no one could see into the next person’s private domain.
The Midianite women not only seduce the Jewish men, they lead them to engage in one of the sickest forms of idolatry, an eschatological, excrement-linked ritual that truly inflames Hashem. To make matters worse, even after many of the guilty men had been executed for their sin, one of Israel’s tribal leaders - later revealed as Zimri of Shevet Shimon - chooses to consort with a Midianite in the full presence of Moshe & the nation’s leaders.
It may be that because Moshe was himself married to a Midianite women – albeit not a depraved one – he is slow to act in the face of this abomination. In fact, he cries, the only time we know of, perhaps because his leadership has now been truly challenged & publicly repudiated.
Enter Pinchas. He doesn’t wait for any court to convene, or trial to be held. He acts. He picks up a spear, which the Torah calls a "romach," a very unusual word that is rarely used in Tanach. Yet we’re quite familiar with this word; its numerical value is 248 – the number of organs Chazal ascribe to the body - & is part of the misheberach we say for the sick. I suggest the Torah is hinting, via this word, "you sinned with your body; now your body, & that of your paramour Cozbi, will be violated." So ends this luscivious episode of the Cozbi Show (the Torah is prophetic, is it not?!)
This story is spread over two separate parshiyot, rather than dealt with all at once in a single sedra, in order to give us pause, I suggest. It seems that Pinchas’ act – though it saves the nation from destruction & is labeled a "Brit Shalom, a Covenant of Peace" - comes at a high price. The Yud in Pinchas’ name & the Vav in the word "Shalom" – the first 2 letters of Hashem’s name – are made small in the written Torah parchment. The implication is that while vigilantism & righteous zealotry may be necessary in times of acute crisis, G-d "shrinks" when we solve our problems with animosity, rather than amicably.
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