Once again, we are forced to confront a very difficult reality that seems off-putting to modern-day sensibilities - specifically, that, sometimes, vengeance and violence not only can bless a people but can also do atonement for them as well. I'm talking, of course, about the new Torah portion this week, Pinchas, and the words G-d says after the act - which can and must be interpreted one way, that violence was the only way, and in fact the clear and true path to eternal peace.
Human life is sacred, and to be spared at all costs. I still remember learning the Talmud which summed up all the death penalties outlined in the Torah - brutal, no less - which is that if a Jewish court ordered someone to the death penalty more than once every 70 (?) years, then it was a murderous court (and probably said something about their ability to control their constituents, or the corresponding leadership). And this is somewhat true in the Torah as well - there are extremely rare instances, although they most certainly did happen (see the Golden Calf reprisals) where a Ben Israel took up arms and killed a fellow brother.
I mean, there are certainly a lot of layers here. Perhaps that some people are beyond teshuva and that, I believe as a Rambam says, their teshuva is, in fact, death. That violence can be the way to peace. That, when appropriately moved, zealous action in which no permission is asked for is sometimes the only path forward. But still - a random seemly murder in the middle of the camp? That sounds like a recipe for disaster, if only for the horrible example it may set for those less holy and righteous then a direct descendent of Aharon like Pinchas.
What I think it comes down to for me - on a deeply personal level (and, no, I don't have murderous tendencies), is that we are not angels, it would be foolish to try and totally abandon the so-called "left Hand" of G-d - the one of justice - which is ever-present, of course, but still barely ever shows itself (say the kabbalistic masters), perhaps in these two episodes of Jew against Jew we see in the Torah or in the halachic courts described above. But to try and abandon that instinct, that doubtless vengeance, is simply not possible nor healthy. And I think there's something to be said that for all the troubles, and crises, and panic, we don't see more civil war in the Exodus story. In fact, they are so limited to Pinchas's one act, amongst a tiny handful (or couple) that this story sticks out so clearly simply because it is so unusual.
But still, the Torah tells his story for many reasons, one of them being to acknowledge that there are many different ways to peace, not all of them "pretty."
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