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Zeal / Kin'ah L'Tov
Parashat Pinchas opens with a troubling image: Pinchas, grandson of Aaron the High Priest, kills two people in a moment of public sin, and is rewarded with a brit shalom, a covenant of peace (Numbers 25:12). How can such zeal be linked to peace?
Our tradition is cautious. The Talmud notes that Pinchas acted without legal precedent, this was not a model for others. And yet, God affirms that Pinchas’s passion was not personal rage, but kin’ati, “My jealousy”, a righteous indignation on behalf of something larger than himself.
The Hasidic master Sefat Emet teaches: “The inner light of the zealot becomes a vessel for divine presence… when it is cleansed of self-interest.” (Parashat Pinchas 5640, 5642).
Zealotry is like a fire in the belly, a burning passion that can illuminate or incinerate. When that fire is fueled by ego or anger, it becomes destructive. But when it is refined through humility and love, it becomes a force for transformation. Pinchas’s fire burned hot, but because it was directed toward Heaven and not toward self, it was ultimately met with God’s covenant of peace. Passion itself isn’t the problem, it’s what ignites it, and what we do with it once it burns.
Today, we live in a world where passions run high. In times of war and unrest, people on all sides feel certain they are right. But the Torah reminds us: zeal must be examined. It must serve peace, not pride. Even Pinchas’s reward, a “covenant of peace”, is written in the Torah with a broken letter, as if to say: even justified zeal leaves a scar.
We need passion in our world, especially when standing up for justice, truth, and the dignity of all people. But passion must be grounded in humility, compassion, and a commitment to peace.
Let our fire be one that warms and uplifts, not one that consumes.
- Rabbi David Cohen-Henriquez
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