When To Be A Zealot

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah

Our parsha begins by relating that “Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aharon Hakohen” zealously killed the head of the Tribe of Shimon as he was committing an act of immorality with a Midianite princess. Normally, people in Chumash are mentioned together with the name of their father, but not their grandfather. Why here is Aharon mentioned?

Rashi answers that after Pinchas committed his act of zealotry, people from among the other shevatim began asking each other: “Did you see Pinchas, whose forefather (Yisro) fattened calves to offer to avoda zara — he’s now become a zealot for Hashem’s honor?” Therefore, the verse shows that Pinchas is a direct descendant of Aharon.

What answer does Pinchas’ genealogical connection to Aharon provide for those who scoffed at him? And moreover, why were they scoffing? Everyone knew the sin Zimri had committed with a Midianite princess. Why was Pinchas even criticized?

Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz explains that the din Pinchas carried out is not a halacha in the sense that the Sanhedrin could have killed Zimri (Sanhedrin 82a). They could not, and if someone would have asked their permission, they would have ordered him not to kill Zimri. Only, there is a halacha leMoshe Misinai known as “kanaim pogim bo,” meaning if a zealot witnesses such a sin, he has a right to follow through on his zealotry by punishing them himself.

This rule is applicable only in the rare case that a person acts purely out of zealotry for Hashem, with no ulterior motives. When the shevatim wondered aloud about Pinchas, what they questioned was his motivation. Perhaps he had something against Zimri personally? Or perhaps he was the type of person who takes murder lightly? Perhaps he intended to avenge the honor of Moshe Rabbeinu, before whom this sin was committed? Whatever the outside intention, it would have been enough to render Pinchas’ act forbidden. Short of 100 percent zealotry, the heter of kanaim pogim bo does not exist.

Moreover, they noted that Pinchas was a descendant of Yisro, who had fattened calves for avoda zara. The heter of kanaim pogim bo applies only when a Jew is caught sinning with a gentile, as it brings the Jew closer to avoda zara. Could Pinchas, due to his lineage, really be considered clean of avoda zara himself?

The verse therefore emphasizes Pinchas’ descent from Aharon Hakohen, who pursued peace and befriended all Jews. Pinchas shared this trait of Aharon’s. He was very far from any form of violence. The only reason why he would do something like this is because of his zealotry for Hashem.

While we are far from Pinchas, at times we too face questions about committing acts of zealotry. For example, we decide that we must keep a distance from a certain person, for fear that he poses some spiritual risk. One must be very careful in deciding on such a course of action. Any would-be zealot must also possess the midda of Aharon Hakohen. Aharon would befriend all Jews (Avos 1), and the Rambam explains that this itself caused many resha’im to mend their ways. “If Aharon would know who I really am, he would never befriend me. I therefore must improve myself…” they thought to themselves. Of course, Aharon knew full well who these people were, yet he went out of his way to befriend them, hoping he would have the positive influence that he in fact did. For us as well, if there is any chance that we can help a person, even in the long run, we may have no right to distance him.

Even when a person must be distanced, this shouldn’t be done wantonly. Always push away with the left and draw close with the right (Sotah 47a). The Gemara criticizes Elisha the prophet for having pushed away Gechazi too forcefully, leaving no way for him to return—even though Gechazi was a rasha who brought the masses to sin.

Rav Shimshon Pinkus adds that even though zealotry is a hard thing to use today, one may make use of it regarding himself. If one sees that his behavior is leading him into error, he should take even a drastic measure to ensure that he change his ways.  As an example, Rav Pinkus cites the Gemara (Shabbos 150b) where a Jew’s fence broke down on Shabbos and he either asked about how to fix it or thought he could have it fixed by gentiles on Shabbos. In either case, he quickly regretted his action and resolved to penalize himself. He left the field unfenced from then on, never repairing the breach, in order to remind himself of the severity of the laws of Shabbos. For this act, the Sages refer to this man as a “chassid.” He merited a miracle — a tree grew in this field that provided him and his family with parnassa from that time onward. (See Taz on Orach Chaim, Siman 307:14.)

The above is an example of zealotry applied on oneself. For us as well, if a person finds himself in a situation that comes even close to sin, he should think: how can I penalize myself so that this never happens again? From now on, I will never even go near such a place!

A more recent case of being zealous with oneself comes from the Volozhin Yeshiva, where it is told that a group of bachurim were once eating together and a question was raised in halacha. One of the bachurim was unable to answer the question, and his ignorance on the subject disturbed him so much that he left the meal and headed straight to the beis medrash. He resolved that he would not leave there until he became a talmid chacham. In the end, this bachur remained in the beis medrash for seven years, learning non-stop until he was fluent in all of Shas.

May we be zoche to apply zealotry correctly — on ourselves!