Chasidut על מלכים ב 2:1
Kedushat Levi
More on the concept that Pinchas is identical with or equivalent to the prophet Elijah.
It is an axiom that man’s body as such is a long way from getting involved in service of the Creator. The body, by definition, is concerned with its own needs, and seeing that is it transient, mortal, cannot be expected to concentrate on the likes and dislikes of its Creator, were it not for the fact that it is inhabited by a soul of divine origin. Naturally, this soul, which feels as if in prison while it inhabits a mortal body, longs for a return to its origin. Seeing that the body does not share the soul’s lofty aspirations, it is condemned sooner or later to return to the dust from which it was formed, i.e. its destiny is the grave, interment in the earth.
This condition of the body, however, is not absolute. If the body too had been involved in service of the Lord willingly, it would not be mortal. Such a situation existed in Gan Eden before man committed the first sin.
Actually, (according to our author) Pinchas by his deed, had deliberately risked death, as the sages said in Sanhedrin 82, i.e. his body had not warned him that he was embarking on self destruction. As a reward, his body had become immortal, similar to the body of the prophet Elijah which departed from earth on a journey heavenwards (Kings II 2,1-11) According to a Midrash referred to by our author, Pinchas’s success in killing Zimri was due to his body having made itself invisible at the time.
[I must confess that the statement attributed by the editor of the version of the Kedushat Levi that I work from to Sanhedrin 82 is not to be found there. Maybe the author had a different source in mind when quoting: “our sages have said.” Ed.]
It is an axiom that man’s body as such is a long way from getting involved in service of the Creator. The body, by definition, is concerned with its own needs, and seeing that is it transient, mortal, cannot be expected to concentrate on the likes and dislikes of its Creator, were it not for the fact that it is inhabited by a soul of divine origin. Naturally, this soul, which feels as if in prison while it inhabits a mortal body, longs for a return to its origin. Seeing that the body does not share the soul’s lofty aspirations, it is condemned sooner or later to return to the dust from which it was formed, i.e. its destiny is the grave, interment in the earth.
This condition of the body, however, is not absolute. If the body too had been involved in service of the Lord willingly, it would not be mortal. Such a situation existed in Gan Eden before man committed the first sin.
Actually, (according to our author) Pinchas by his deed, had deliberately risked death, as the sages said in Sanhedrin 82, i.e. his body had not warned him that he was embarking on self destruction. As a reward, his body had become immortal, similar to the body of the prophet Elijah which departed from earth on a journey heavenwards (Kings II 2,1-11) According to a Midrash referred to by our author, Pinchas’s success in killing Zimri was due to his body having made itself invisible at the time.
[I must confess that the statement attributed by the editor of the version of the Kedushat Levi that I work from to Sanhedrin 82 is not to be found there. Maybe the author had a different source in mind when quoting: “our sages have said.” Ed.]
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