Dedicated to a refuah shelaima for Yona Yaakova bas Mina, Chana Zelda bat Gittel Yita, Chaya Sarah bas Esther Leah, Moshe Aaron ben Necha Itta, Binyamin ben Simcha, and Yaakov ben Esther Malka.
The immediate thought when one sees a title like “Do You
Stand Out” for Parshas Pinchas is that it is an obvious grab at a Dvar Torah.
The parsha opens with Hashem publicly commending Pinchas for standing up for
His honor. Pinchas’ actions, as the commentaries relay, could, with just a
slight variance of moment, with a slight shift in intent, have been a crime. However,
because his intentions were correct and his actions were done in just the right
way, because his only thought was for Hashem, Pinchas became a Cohen with his
brothers and Klal Yisrael learned what purposeful zealotry was.
Pinchas, however, is not the only one who stands out in
this parsha. One could almost call it a motif. For instance, here too is where five
women - Machlah, No’ah, Choglah, Milkah,
and Tirtzah – distinguish themselves in the Torah. It is often mentioned how rare women are named
in the Torah (although the genealogical recounting in Parshas Pinchas pauses,
so to speak, to callout both Serach and Yocheved), and that reflects the true
greatness of these 5 women because being named in the Torah with details –
outside of a genealogical listing – represents significant action.
Again, like Pinchas’
zealotry, this is a popular topic for divrei Torah. These women didn’t let
convention stop them from approaching Moshe and asking for the right to inherit.
And, again, like Pinchas, one can imagine that their actions when they first
approached Moshe raised some eyebrows.
It is not just the fact that these were five women who
approached Moshe – although that is not without its significance – it is the
fact that they requested a change to Torah that had been delivered to them. It
is interesting to note that there are only two examples (although I could be
wrong) of Moshe being approached to change the law after it has been given. One
is the request that led to Pesach Sheni, and the other is the request of the
tribe Reuven and Gad to stay on the far side of Yarden. Having the courage to make
a case for themselves is significant – all the more so, as with Tzelaphchad’s
daughters and the men who asked for Pesach Sheni, when it is done l’shem
shemayim.
Their actions could, perhaps, be interpreted as acts of
quiet zealotry. While Pinchas had only
moments to act, Tzelaphchad’s daughters received the law, processed it, and refused
to accept that their family branch would be cut off from their inheritance in
the Land of Israel. That last bit is the important part. The daughters’ concern
was for a portion of the Promised Land, not gold or jewels or wealth. Their
concern was to have their father’s household be equal in its elevation.
This parsha contains the public acknowledgement of greatness
of one other person: Yehoshua. Like Pinchas, Yehoshua’s significant actions are
not recounted in this parsha. However, when Hashem tells Moshe that he will not
enter the Promised Land and Moshe requests that Hashem appoint a leader, Hashem
tells Moshe to take Yehoshua bin Nun, “asher ruach bo” – who has a spirit in
him.
What does the spirit mean? One idea is that it refers to the
midrash of the yud added to his name before he entered the land of Canaan with
the other scouts, how Moshe subtly changed his name to give him extra spiritual
strength in the journey to come. This extra experience changes him and leads
him to grow into the person best able to succeed Moshe.
The fact is that the congregation did turn against them
during the reporting of the spies, but they held their ground. And afterwards,
they could have been looked at with aspersion for having brought havoc upon the
people by contesting the majority. But that didn’t stop them. In a piece on Parshas Shelach, Rabbi Lord Jonathan
Sacs notes that having the ability to stand apart was not difficult for Calev
as he had the natural spiritual courage inherited through his descendance from
Yehuda. Yehoshua, however, had no such support. He had to work for it. In fact,
Moshe even recognized that when he changed his name from Hoshua to Yehoshua.
The name change, according to Rabbi Sacs, tells us something important. “Anyone
who has experienced a name change has been inducted into a growth mindset.”
That stayed with him, and Hashem here recognizes his significance.
Pinchas, Tzelaphchad’s daughters, and Yehoshua were all honored
in the Torah because their actions, which could have been misconstrued or
caused them to be derided by Klal Yisrael, were of pure intent. They are
praised because they stood up for Hashem.
It should, however, be noted, that the parsha also expands
itself when it lists the names of Dasan and Aviram as the sons of Nemuel of the
tribe of Reuven (as well as Kozbi, the
seductive Midianitess – not to leave out a wicked woman). Dasan and Aviram
stood up for the wrong thing. They, the commentaries say, were the actual
instigators more-so than Korach, and their deeds are repeated here. They stood
up for the wrong thing and are so castigated.
Most people will not have the opportunity in their lives to
stand out the way Pinchas, Tzelaphchad’s daughters, and Yehoshua did.
Nevertheless, they are people we can – and must – use as role models. We must
look to Pinchas to remember that it is important to call out what is wrong, but
to do so in the proper way. We must look to Machlah, No’ah, Choglah, Milkah,
and Tirtzah to know that it is important to ask questions within the law
because the Torah is a living law. We must look to Yehoshua to not stop at one
great act but to ride forward on our spiritual strengths. Most of us may never
rise to such true greatness, but we still need to find our own ways to stand
out.
Wishing you all a beautiful Shabbas
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