columnTorah Portion

A peace prize for murder?

What does the story of Pinchas tell us about the Middle East today?

U.S. President Bill Clinton looks on as Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization head Yasser Arafat shake hands at the signing of the Oslo Accords on Sept. 13, 1993. Credit: William J. Clinton Presidential Library/National Archives & Records Administration.
U.S. President Bill Clinton looks on as Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization head Yasser Arafat shake hands at the signing of the Oslo Accords on Sept. 13, 1993. Credit: William J. Clinton Presidential Library/National Archives & Records Administration.
Rabbi Yossy Goldman
Rabbi Yossy Goldman
Rabbi Yossy Goldman is Life Rabbi Emeritus of Sydenham Shul in Johannesburg and president of the South African Rabbinical Association. He is the author of From Where I Stand, on the weekly Torah readings, available from Ktav.com and Amazon.

I’ve heard of soldiers who displayed true courage under fire being awarded a Medal of Valor, a Purple Heart or other military honors, but a Medal of Peace?

Our Parsha tells the story of God rewarding young Pinchas for his dramatic intervention in stemming the tide of immorality among the Israelites of the time.

Zimri, a prince of the tribe of Shimon, and Kozbi, a princess of Midian, were publicly parading their illicit relationship. Zimri had even challenged Moses’s own marriage to his wife Zipporah, who also originally hailed from Midian.

This brazen immorality had the dangerous possibility of promoting widespread intermarriage in the Jewish camp. Pinchas saved the day by killing both Zimri and Kozbi and the plague came to a sudden end. By acting as he did, Pinchas stopped a plague that had already claimed 24,000 lives.

The verse at the beginning of the Parsha tells us that God said of Pinchas: “I hereby give him My Covenant of Peace.” But why should killing two people earn you a peace prize? I can understand a Medal of Valor but why a peace prize?

The answer is that there are times when being nice and showing kindness can be cruel and counterproductive, and there are times when seemingly acting unkindly may be the best thing you can do. Do you give charity to a drug addict knowing full well that your generosity will go to purchasing more dangerous drugs? Do you allow a child who wants to play with a knife to do so, or do you act harshly and take the knife away from the child though he may cry or even have a tantrum?

If someone had assassinated Adolf Hitler in 1938, would it have been a sin or would it have been considered the biggest Mitzvah of the 20th century? Would the assassination have been condemned or would it have been justified six million times over?

We don’t go around killing people we may disagree with. But there are extraordinary moments that call for extraordinary action. The story of Pinchas is one such example.

We are not a violent people. We love peace and crave peace, but there are situations in which we must be bold, courageous and forceful. In such circumstances, timidity can be fatal. In abnormal times we cannot behave as we would normally. Pinchas grasped the danger of the moment and took decisive action that saved the day and he was rewarded accordingly with God’s Covenant of Peace.

On the international stage, momentum is growing for recognition of Palestinian statehood. China, that great bastion of peace and goodwill, is busy brokering peace between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to advance statehood.

There are several instances in the Talmud in which we find that the law is decided in a particular way to avoid the situation of Choteh Niskar, in which the “sinner will be rewarded” for his misdeed. Does Oct. 7 deserve the reward of statehood? Do the Palestinians really deserve a reward for terror?

How many times since the lamentable Oslo Accords back in 1993 has Israel offered the most generous “land for peace” deals, only to be rejected time and again by Palestinian leaders starting with Yasser Arafat? We can actually thank God that the deals were rejected because some of them were so generous as to be strategically suicidal for Israel!

Every peace compromise continues to be rejected by the Palestinian side because they don’t want their state, they want ours. This has become abundantly obvious over the last few years, so that even formerly pro-Oslo Israelis now see the mistakes of the past. Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 is a prime example of offering peace and, in return, receiving war.

Does anyone still believe that the Palestinians are ready for peace with Israel? Is there really a genuine peace partner out there? With all the continuous hate, venom, violence and terror from the other side, are there still such delusional people who think we can sit down around a table and sort things out diplomatically?

I once heard this parable from a former mayor of Gush Etzion, Shmuel Goldstein:

Two men were walking down the road and, in the distance, they spotted something black on a tree in the distance. One said it was a bird, but the other insisted it was a cat. So they made a little bet and, when they got closer, they would be able to see exactly what it was and who would win the wager.

As they approached the tree, they suddenly saw the black object fly off the branch into the distance. “Aha! I told you it was a bird,” said the one. “Pay up!” But the second one replied: “Amazing! Until now, I never knew that cats could fly!”

As there are those who believe that cats can fly, so are there still those who believe that the Palestinians are genuine peace partners and a two-state solution is possible. I’m afraid they are equally delusional.

I know we hate being the so-called “occupier.” But if the choice is victim or occupier, I’ll choose occupier. Enough of Jewish victimhood! We don’t need or want the world’s sympathy. We want respect, fairness and objectivity. 

For our own people who still dream about living side-by-side in peace and harmony with jihadists who want us out of the Middle East, let me ask you this: When were the two times in the last 75 years that Israel was most respected and admired by the rest of the world?

The answer is clear. The Six-Day War and the Entebbe rescue. That tells you something. The world respects us when we are strong and decisive. After Oct. 7, the world’s sympathy disappeared in a matter of days. Today in Western capitals we are witnessing open support not just for the residents of Gaza but for the terrorists of Hamas.

Pinchas is not our norm, but neither are we living in normal times today. We are not comfortable with it; we remain a peace-loving nation; but today there is no alternative. If we are nice, giving and generous, we may not be here tomorrow, God forbid.

The story of Pinchas is the story of “peace through strength.” Hashem oz lamo yiten. … Hashem yivorech et amo bashalom. “God will give might to his nation, G-d will bless His nation with peace” (Psalm 29).

The opinions and facts presented in this article are those of the author, and neither JNS nor its partners assume any responsibility for them.
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