Zeal for His God: Pinchas and Eliyahu's Truth

1“Pinchas son of Elazar son of Aharon the Kohen turned back My wrath from upon Bnei Yisrael, when he was zealous with My zeal in their midst … Therefore say: Behold, I give him My covenant of peace … because he was zealous for his God.”¹ The Baal HaTurim, R' Yaakov ben Asher, cites a note of the Masorah here, the traditional record of where words recur in Scripture. It pairs “Therefore say: Behold, I give My covenant of peace” with “Therefore say to Bnei Yisrael,” the words Hashem spoke about the redemption from Egypt.² What does that verse have to do with this one?

2Let us first take up two points of wording that the commentators, the Alshich and the Ohr HaChaim, have raised.³ In “when he was zealous with My zeal in their midst,” what do the words “in their midst” mean? And what does the verse mean when it says “because he was zealous for his God”?

3aIt seems we can explain this as follows. We know that truly complete avodas Hashem, the service of Hashem, means doing the mitzvos lishmah, for their own sake, with no ulterior motives at all, solely to increase the honor of Heaven. This is very hard, and in acts of zeal it is harder still: to have nothing in mind but the honor of Hashem is extremely difficult. That is why the Torah testified that Pinchas's zealous deed was done purely for the sake of Hashem. This is what the verse means by “because he was zealous for his God”: he acted only for his God and for the honor of His Name, blessed be He.⁴

3bThe same idea explains “when he was zealous with My zeal in their midst”: Pinchas's act of zeal was done entirely for the sake of the people of Israel. My holy ancestor, the author of Toldos Adam, zt"l, explained “in their midst” in a similar way. Although Pinchas son of Elazar came of distinguished lineage, a man of Torah and the son of great forefathers, he did not set himself above his fellows; he always remained “in their midst.”⁵ In the same way, he did this deed only to atone for Bnei Yisrael, with no other intention, and for this he received the reward the verse describes.

4This lets us explain the Midrash's words: “By right he should take his reward.”⁶ Several holy sefarim, the Kol Simchah, the Toras Moshe and the Sifsei Tzaddik, ask why the Midrash says bedin, “by right,” a word built on din, judgment. We must also ask how Pinchas could be rewarded in this world, when the rule is that “there is no reward for a mitzvah in this world.”⁷ The answer lies in a teaching recorded in the Torei Zahav in the name of the Maggid of Mezritch, the Baal Shem Tov's successor, and in the Arvei Nachal.⁸ There is no reward for a mitzvah in this world, they explain, because it is almost impossible to do a mitzvah wholly for the honor of Hashem's Name. For the most part, Heaven forbid, people do the mitzvos with ulterior motives and the like, and the attribute of judgment accuses: this person is serving not Hashem but himself. So he cannot receive his reward in this world, only in the World to Come, where the reward increases nothing but the honor of Hashem, blessed be He. Here, however, the Torah testified that Pinchas acted only for the sake of Hashem. That is why the Midrash says “by right he should take his reward”: even the attribute of judgment, which scrutinizes every mitzvah for a flaw, agreed that Pinchas deserved a reward.

5aThis lets us explain the Masorah note we cited, which links “Therefore say: Behold” with “Therefore say to Bnei Yisrael.” It hints that through Pinchas the rest of that passage in Shemos will come true: the verses about Israel's redemption, up to “And I will bring you …,” which refers to the future redemption.⁹ For the Midrash teaches: “Just as it is written of the Holy One, blessed be He, ‘And Hashem alone will be exalted,’ so too of Yaakov: ‘And Yaakov was left alone.’”¹⁰

5bWhat is the intent here, and how are the two verses connected? We may say as follows. As is well known, doing Hashem's mitzvos lishmah is hard work. Since good and evil are mixed together in the world, it is almost impossible to do Hashem's mitzvos without even the slightest trace of an ulterior motive. When will we be privileged to do them truly lishmah? Only in the days of Moshiach, when all evil will be completely wiped out. Once we reach the level of “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea,”¹¹ no stray thoughts or ulterior motives will remain in us at all, and only the honor of His Name, blessed be He, will be before our eyes. This is the level of Yaakov Avinu, who embodies the attribute of truth, as in the verse “And Yaakov was a wholesome man”:¹² his intention in avodas Hashem was whole, “to Hashem alone,”¹³ with no other calculations. That is the connection between the verse “And Hashem alone will be exalted on that day” and the avodah of Yaakov Avinu, of whom it is said, “And Yaakov was left alone.”

6That is why Chazal said, as cited by Rabbeinu Bachya and the Baal HaTurim, “Pinchas is Eliyahu.”¹⁴ Eliyahu the prophet will come before Moshiach to announce the redemption because he has perfected this very level: his whole intention is for the sake of Hashem, blessed be He, like the level of the redemption. In this way he will prepare us to reach that level, so that we too will have the attribute of truth and serve Him “to Hashem alone.”

7We find this in a teaching quoted in the name of the holy Rebbe R' Baruch of Mezhibuzh, zt"l, the grandson of the Baal Shem Tov,¹⁵ on the Mishnah about two people who deposited money with one man, “this one a maneh and that one two hundred.” The Rabbanan and R' Yosi disagree there, and our ruling is that the disputed money “shall remain until Eliyahu comes.”¹⁶ R' Baruch asked: the halachah is that only “by the word of two witnesses shall a matter be established.”¹⁷ What good, then, will Eliyahu's coming do, if money can be taken from a person only through witnesses? He explained that when Eliyahu comes, the truth will be revealed in the world and there will be no falsehood at all, so the truth will come to light by itself. It will not be settled by Eliyahu the prophet declaring who is right; rather, Eliyahu will reveal truth and spread it through the world, and every false claim will vanish. This makes it clear why Eliyahu comes “before the coming of the great day of Hashem”:¹⁸ to increase the attribute of truth in the world.

8We can now explain the words of the Masorah, “Therefore say: Behold, I give him My covenant of peace” and “Therefore say to Bnei Yisrael,” in a further way: Eliyahu, [who is Pinchas,] will come before Moshiach to teach Bnei Yisrael, too, the way of truth, to be “to Hashem alone.”

9May Hashem grant that we soon be privileged to reach this: to serve Hashem in truth, without any ulterior motives, and so to bring the redemption near. Amen.