Pinchas: 5783 - Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld with this week's insight: There is a halacha that if one person slaughtered and another came and snatched from him the mitzvah of covering the blood, he must pay ten gold coins. And how…

00:01 Let’s start with a very interesting gematria connected to the Three Weeks, from the rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld. We say, “Zion shall be redeemed through justice, and those who return to her through tzedakah.” He said that “Zion shall be redeemed through justice” has the same numerical value as “Jerusalem Talmud,” and “those who return to her through tzedakah” has the same numerical value as “Babylonian Talmud.” In other words, through Torah study we will be redeemed from exile, with Hashem’s help, soon. In this week’s parsha it says, “And Pinchas saw.” The Gemara in Sanhedrin asks: What did Pinchas see? It gives three opinions. Rav said he saw the act and recalled the halachah. He came to Moshe Rabbeinu and said, “You taught us: If a man has relations with an Aramean woman, zealots may strike him.” Shmuel asks: What did Pinchas see? He saw a desecration of Hashem’s name, and when Hashem’s name is being desecrated, one does not defer to one’s teacher. Rabbi Yitzchak said he saw the destroying angel. At first glance, what is the disagreement here? What are these three opinions about? The Chida offers a very interesting and beautiful explanation. The Chida says that it is written, “He shall slaughter and cover”: the person who slaughters must cover the blood. What happens if someone slaughters and another person comes along, snatches the mitzvah and covers the blood? He has to pay the first person ten gold coins. Now, when the incident with Zimri happened, the mitzvah belonged to the greatest person there. Who was greater than Moshe Rabbeinu? Moshe Rabbeinu should have done it. But Pinchas came and killed Zimri. So, at first glance, Pinchas should have had to pay Moshe Rabbeinu ten gold coins. That is what the three opinions address: why Pinchas was exempt from this penalty. Rav says that because Moshe instructed him—as the saying goes, “The one who reads the letter should carry it out”—if someone tells another person to perform the mitzvah, that person does not have to pay a penalty. He was acting as his agent. According to Shmuel, Shmuel

02:00 says there was a desecration of Hashem’s name, and when Hashem’s name is being desecrated, one does not defer to one’s teacher. And Rabbi Yitzchak gives the third opinion: What did Pinchas see? He saw the destroying angel. Lives were at stake, and when lives are at stake, you don’t ask questions. So these three opinions explain why Pinchas was exempt from the penalty that, at first glance, he should have paid Moshe Rabbeinu. Good Shabbos to everyone.