The beginning of this week’s parsha, Parshas Pinchas, resumes the narrative that began at the end of last week’s sedra, Balak.  At the end of Balak we read of the sins of the nation of Israel, who were persuaded to sin with the Midyanite women, and were worshipping the avodah zarah of Ba’al Peor (Bamidbar 25:1-3).  

How did this disastrous situation come to be?  After Bilaam’s failure to curse the Jews, he gave King Balak advice as to how to bring destruction upon the nation of Israel.  He encouraged Balak to set up tents (in the shuk) selling new linen garments, with zonos (seductive women) on the outside and inside of the tents, who would serve the Israelite men wine and then seduce them, which ultimately would lead to their worshipping idols (Sanhedrin 106a).

His plan worked and Hashem’s anger burned against the nation (25:3).  When the prince of the tribe of Shimon publicly lay with a princess from Midyan, Moshe was overcome with distress, and Pinchas - a grandson of Aharon - rose up with a spear in his hand, and killed the pair who were sinning.  Once he killed them, the plague which had been decimating Israel (due to G-d’s wrath) subsided.  The total number that fell by plague was 24,000 men (25:4-9).  

In the beginning of Parshas Pinchas, the narrative resumes (25:10-15).  For Pinchas’ brave actions, which were solely for the sake of Heaven, Hashem rewarded him with the covenant of peace and eternal priesthood.  The Torah identities the couple who were publicly laying together as Zimri ben Salu from Shimon, and Cozbi bas Tzur, a Midyanite princess. 

Immediately after this narrative, Hashem instructs Moshe to go to war against Midyan.“Antagonize the Midyanim and strike them, for they antagonized you with their schemes, that they schemed against you at Baal Peor…” (25:16-18).

It is interesting to note that Hashem had to command Moshe (and the nation) to go to war against Midyan.  24,000 men had just died in a plague, brought upon them because of the seduction by Midyanite women.  Would they not, on their own, decide to go to war?! 

Rabbi Dovid Holzer notes that “The Bnei Yisrael (Bn’Y) suffered tremendous losses because they allowed themselves to be seduced by the Midianite women.  Despite this, they were not eager to exact revenge on Midian afterwards.  In fact, Hashem had to order Bn’Y to attack them.  By contrast, when facing Amalek, Bn’Y seized the initiative to go out to battle (Bamidbar 21:1-3 w/ Rashi).  How do we account for these two different reactions?”

To answer his astute question, R’ Holzer quotes Rav Soloveitchik zt’l: “(My son) Chaim told me a story that is very characteristic (of our relationship with non-Jews).  When you study the Gemara, (tractate) Avodah Zarah, there are many instructions pertaining to the relationship between Jew and non-Jew.  One instruction says that a Jew should not walk in front and let a non-Jew walk behind him, because he may stab him in the back.  Then there is another injunction that a Jew should not take a haircut or shave from a non-Jew.  

“When he learned this Gemara, so a group of (his) students protested against our intolerance and suspicious nature.  And, of course, they accused us of being too parochial and so forth and so on, of not caring for human beings, but just Jews.  We are accused now of that….this is the major charge now of anti-Semites, I want you to know…the Jew is clannish, he is not universal… 

“Chaim didn’t say a word, he didn’t say a word.  And he told them he wants to take a walk with them.  Alright, he took them for a walk, took them straight to the Old City, and they passed by a barber shop, an Arab barber shop.  So one of his students needed a haircut, so he told him, here is a barber shop.  ‘I should go to the Arab barber shop!?  Where with the razor he’ll cut my throat!’ the student exclaimed.

“…There is an autobiography by Rav Yaakov Emden (18^th century).  He writes that ‘a miracle happened to me’.  So you read what happened to him.  He left the ghetto and he met a monk, and the monk gave him a stern look, but he didn’t do anything to him.  So he came home and wrote down that a miracle happened to him that a monk didn’t do anything, didn’t do any harm.”

How does this answer the question of R’ Holzer: against Amalek we were eager to attack, but against Midyan we had to be ordered to go to war? Says R’ Holzer, “With this teaching (of the Rav) we can explain the different reactions of Bn’Y to the Midianites and the Amalekim.  When the nations attack and oppose us openly, we recognize the danger and respond accordingly, as in the case of Amalek.  But when the nations seduce us with their civility and surface friendship – as in the case of Midian – they can be just as destructive, or even more destructive, without us realizing” (The Rav Thinking Aloud, Sefer Bamidbar, p. 206-210).  

Historically, throughout our long years of exile, our enemies can be divided into two camps, two thoughts, two ideologies.  The first category, the Amalek type, are those who seek to destroy us physically, eradicate our Torah, nation, holy places of study and worship, and erase any vestige of Am Yisrael from the world. 

However, the second type of enemy is the enemy of Midyan, their seductive women, and overtures of acceptance, friendship, and camaraderie.  “Shev - come sit in my tent, the Midyanite women said to the Israelite men, beror le’atzmecha - choose whichever linen garments you like, v’tzar’tzurei shel yayin Amoni mutzlach etzlah, and a pitcher of wine sat next to her” (Sanhedrin 106a). 

This enemy can be even more dangerous than the Amalek type, because it’s a foe-turned-friend, whose wicked design against our holiness, purity, morality, and Torah ways, we may not even realize… until “and his passion burned within him and he said to her, lay with me!” (ibid).

Today, enemies of all kinds rise up to destroy us once again!  There are those who want to kill us, destroy our home and our Land, and those who seduce us with their crooked beliefs and twisted ways, beckoning us to join them in their way of life.

As Torah Jews, we must be ever vigilant against all who rise to destroy us.  The path to our eternal survival lies in Torah and mitzvos, ki heim chayeinu v’orech yameinu.  When we remain in the tents of Torah, remain faithful to G-d and committed to Am Yisrael, we will be victorious over every enemy who rises to destroy us; והקב״ה מצילנו מידם.

בברכת בשורות טובות ושבת שלום