Musar su Numeri 25:2

The two words "לאמר" that we mentioned earlier as apparently superfluous, have something in common. The repeated "דבור" suggests that there was an exoteric (נגלה) as well as an esoteric (נסתר) element in what the Torah tells us here. In 25,10 the exoteric meaning is to inform the people of the noble lineage Pinchas was descended from, whereas in 25,12 they are to be informed of an additional dimension of Pinchas' greatness, i.e. that he is equated with the prophet Elijah. This is alluded to in the words "because he displayed jealous fervor on behalf of his G–d" (25,13). The letters in the expression “לאל-היו,” are identical with the word “לאליהו,” “to Elijah.” The latter also excelled by displaying jealousy on behalf of G–d, something that he himself is quoted as saying to G–d in Kings I 19,10. He referred to his having slain four hundred Jewish priests who had forsaken the Torah to serve the idol Baal instead. Elijah's performance on Mount Carmel was similar to that of Pinchas at Shittim. The name אליהו (which in the Bible is frequently spelled without the letter Vav at the end) contains two names of G–d, i.e. El and Ya-h. In his encounter with Zimri Pinchas restored the honor of the name El, since the Israelites at the time had been guilty of insulting that name of G–d by serving the El of the Moabites and Midianites, "וישתחוו לאלהיהן" (Numbers 24,2). The second of the Ten Commandments specifically prohibits a Jew prostrating himself before an alien deity (Exodus 20,4). Pinchas' deed restored the relations between G–d and Israel which the people's behaviour had upset. His deed, when analysed, consisted of discrediting a man and a woman who respectively were leaders of their tribes, or, in the case of Cozbi, whose father was an ancestral tribal head. The Torah emphasizes the word איש and אשה, when referring to these two both in 25,8, and in 26,14-15, although there is no need for this. We have mentioned repeatedly that the letters "י and ה" in the Hebrew for "man" and "woman" teach us that only when they remain aware of G–d's Presence in this world are they safe from burning up in the passion of their sexuality, seeing that without those letters of G–d's name their names would signal merely masculine and feminine "fire" respectively. The name of G–d contained in those two people whom Pinchas slew was Ya-h. These two had disgraced the name of G–d by their conduct. The Torah in order to draw our attention to all this repeats: …. ושם … איש … ושם האשה, (26,14, 26,15). Rashi already explained that at the count of the people after this episode the peculiarly worded names of the tribes i.e. ה-ראובנ-י, and not simply ראובן demonstrated that the name of each tribe contained the name of G–d. G–d thus personally testified-that the members of all these tribes were conceived while their respective parents maintained absolute chastity. This too is the meaning of Psalms 122,4: שבטי י-ה עדות לישראל, "Israel are G–d's tribes, as per G–d's personal testimony." The letter ו in the word שלום, is "amputated" in 25,12. Baal Haturim points out that the numerical value of that word equals זהו משיח, "this is the Messiah." By diminishing the size of that letter, it is as if one had not thought about the last letter in the name of אליהו. Elijah is the prophet who announces the imminent arrival of the Messiah and prepares people for that. Removing part of the letter ו is meant to convey to us that Elijah (as alluded to by the absence of the last letter in his name), will materialise when one least thinks of him.. The letters added to the names of the tribes during this count therefore can be viewed as making up the second name of G–d contained in the name אליה, the name Ya-h. The Torah informs us in Exodus 6,25 that Pinchas' father had married one of the daughters of Putiel, who according to Midrash Hagadol fattened (play on word Putiel) all the idols in the world and the other tribes despised him on account of his ancestry. Since the name פוטיאל concludes with the letters of the name of G–d, however, the Torah alerts us to the fact that he converted to monotheism, i.e. El Ya-h. The whole verse is an allusion to Joseph who controlled his desire in his involvement with the wife of his master Potiphar, whose similarly sounding name reminds us of what took place then. Just as Joseph preserved the holy covenant with G–d at that time, so Pinchas, his descendant maternally, restored the holy covenant with G–d by taking G–d's revenge on Zimri. As a result, G–d granted him "My covenant Peace." Targum Yonathan on that verse says that Pinchas was made into an angel who would live until he could announce the final redemption. It is further written (of Pinchas) that G–d's covenant of life and well-being was with him (Malachi 2,5), that "the true Torah was in his mouth. He walked with Me in peace and equity, nothing perverse was on his lips. He served Me with complete loyalty; he held many back from committing iniquity, for the lips of a priest guard knowledge and people seek Torah from his mouth, seeing that he is an angel of the Lord G–d of Hosts" (Ibid 6). This verse clearly alludes to Pinchas, since Pinchas became an angel, as our sages comment on Joshua 2,4, (Tanchuma quoted by Rashi). Since Pinchas held back many from sinning, he is described by the prophet as having the true Torah issuing forth from his mouth. "Truth" is an element that reinforces and strengthens religious belief and practice. It is not something merely personal, but is something that must be demonstrated to the community in order to be capable of convincing such a community to do penitence. Such a result is called אמת, truth. Truth is something of an everlasting nature.

The mystical undercurrent of the whole legislation is continued by the Torah in the next paragraph which commences with: "If a man has two wives, etc.” The two "wives" in question are none other than Lilith and Machalat. The "wife" who is described as the אהובה, the beloved one, is none other than Machalat, who captures the imagination of many people who observe her because of her joyful attitude to the transient life on this planet. The other wife, the one the Torah describes as שנואה, the hated one, is Lilith. The firstborn son the Torah speaks of in 21,15, is an allusion to בני בכורי ישראל, Israel. Israel is to always prevail over the hated "wife," even during times when the war against half of the evil urge she represents is waged outside the Holy Land. If we do not properly observe the commandment לא תחיה כל נשמה "Do not allow any of your enemies to survive," then Israel the first born son may turn out to become a בן סורר ומורה, (21,18). Raising a son who turns out to be wayward and defiant is the result of our not having waged the war against the evil urge with all our might. The Zohar describes this passage in approximately the following way: Upon being given this passage of the Torah Moses asked G–d how a Jewish father and mother could be expected to take their own son to the Supreme Court in order to have him executed? This whole passage should be deleted from the Torah! G–d explained to him that it was included to enable us to receive a reward for studying it, though it would always remain in the realm of hypothesis only. At that time G–d called upon יופיאל, the "prince" of Torah, who asked Moses to allow him to explain the meaning of the passage. He explained that the word איש at the beginning of the verse כי יהיה לאיש refers to G–d Himself who is known to us as איש מלחמה from Exodus 15,3. The word בן in our verse refers to the people of Israel, G–d's firstborn son. The words סורר ומורה are an allusion to Hoseah 4,16: כי כפרה סוררה סרר ישראל, "Israel has balked like a stubborn cow." The words: איננו שומע בקול אביו ובקול אמו, refer to G–d the father and כנסת ישראל, the mother, respectively. Such concepts are alluded to by Solomon in Proverbs 1,8: אל תטוש תורת אמך, "Do not abandon the teachings of your mother." The words ויסרו אותו, "they disciplined him," are reminiscent of Kings II 17,13: "G–d warned Israel and Yehudah through all His prophets and seers: 'Turn back from your wicked ways, etc.'" The words: ולא ישמע אליהם are parallel to the words ולא שמעו אליהם in Kings II 17,13. The Torah continues in 21,19: ותפשו בו אביו ואמו והוציאו אותו אל זקני עירו ואל שער מקומו, "His father and mother will seize him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the public place of his community, etc." We must ask ourselves: Why did the Torah not write "their city" instead of "his city?" Why did the Torah not write מקומם, "their community" instead of מקומו? The subjects of עירו and מקומו are the city of G–d and the place of the כנסת ישראל respectively. The Torah alludes to the highest Tribunal in the Celestial Regions whence supervision of man's activities on earth is exercised. The Torah adds the apparently superfluous words בנינו זה "this son of ours" to emphasize that he is not a Canaanite. Suddenly the parents (i.e. the Torah) add a new accusation: זולל וסובא, "he is a glutton and a drunkard" to explain the background to the excesses of such a wayward son, i.e. the presence of Canaanites in Israel's midst from whom the Jewish lad picked up these bad habits and became a delinquent. Psalm 106,35 refers to the results of such social mingling between the Jews and the Canaanites: "They mingled with the nations (Canaanite) and learned their ways." The Torah itself testifies about the Israelites in Numbers 25,2: "The people ate and bowed down to their deities." The eating and drinking with the Canaanites eventually led to these people making obeisances to the deities of their Canaanite (actually Moabite) hosts. It is therefore fair to attribute the cause for turning into a בן סורר ומורה to someone associating socially with the Canaanites. The Torah continues in 21,21: "The men of his city shall thereupon stone him to death." The "men of his city" referred to are the forces G–d has appointed as agents to carry out sentence on people who have been found guilty. The reference to stones are the אבני קלעים with which we are familiar from Uzziah's army in Chronicles II 26,14.