Musar к Бамидбар 25:13

Pinchas was innocent (of murder), his soul did not perish. He was restored to physical life through the transfer of the souls of Nadav and Avihu. The word נא alludes to this since it is made up of the first letters in the name נדב and אביהו respectively. This stratagem of G–d is what is referrred to in Job when both the "innocent," נקי, and "the upright," ישרים are described as surviving. This is also why Pinchas is usually described in the Torah and the Book of Joshua as not only the son of Elazar, but as בן אהרון, to indicate that his soul was connected to the soul of the High Priest whose priesthood was confirmed by שמן המשחה, "the holy oil of anointing" (Exodus 29,7). The Torah also mentions Nadav and Avihu as having been the sons of Aaron on repeated occasions (Numbers 3,4; 26,61) after they had been reported as having died. Mentioning their names does not seem to contribute anything in the context of what the Torah then discusses. The reason must be that their souls were absorbed by Pinchas, that their deaths were not absolute. At first glance these comments of the Zohar appear contradictory to the commonly held opinion that the priesthood was conferred on Pinchas (25,13) only as a reward for his fearless loyalty to G–d in risking his life by executing Zimri the prince of the tribe of Shimon. Actually, Pinchas's elevation to the priesthood was not merely a reward for his conduct, but by his absorbing the souls of Nadav and Avihu whose priesthood had been something conferred upon them by the holy oil of anointing, Pinchas became a priest בעצם, i.e. in essence. The priesthood was not just an attribute of his, such as when it is conferred upon a person through heredity. In order to convey this to us the Torah, when describing Pinchas's elevation to the priesthood, says: "והיתה לו," not as we would have expected: "ותהי לו." The meaning of the former is: "he remained," whereas the meaning of the latter is: "he became."

This is what king David, peace be unto him, said: "O G-d, do I not hate those who hate You? Do I not contend with those who rise up against You? I hate them with an utter hatred; I count them my enemies" (Tehilim 139:21-22). And Eliyahu said: "I have been very jealous for G-d, the L-rd of hosts..." (I Kings 19:10). We already learned what he merited by virtue of his jealousy for G-d, as the Torah states: "because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the children of Israel" (Bamidbar 25:13).

"With three crowns was Israel crowned : the crown of the Torah, the crown of the Priesthood and the crown of Kingdom" (Aboth 4:17, Yoma 72b, Eccl. Rabbah 7:1). Aaron merited the crown of the Priesthood, as it is said, "And it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood" (Num. 25:13). David merited the crown of Kingdom, as it is said, "His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before Me" (Ps. 89:37). As for the crown of the Torah — it lies there waiting for all Israel, as it is said, "Moses commanded us a law, an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob" (Deut. 33:4) : anyone who wants the crown of Torah can come and take it. And should you say that the other crowns are greater than the crown of Torah, then behold he says, "By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth" (Prov. 8:15—16). From this you learn that the crown of the Torah is greater than the crown of Priesthood, and greater than the crown of Sovereignty. And the Sages said, "A bastard who is a scholar takes precedence over a High Priest who is ignorant" (Horayoth 13a). As it is said, "She (wisdom) is more precious than rubies" (Prov. 3:15). The Hebrew word "peninah" means both "ruby" and "inside", and the verse can therefore be interpreted as meaning : More precious is the Torah and he who studies it than the High Priest who enters the very inside of the Temple — into the Holy of Holies.