Growing up, we were not just watching movies. We began watching trilogies. From the Godfather series, to Superman and Back to the Future, three became the standard. My youth was defined by a trilogy with 3 different names: Star Wars, the Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. 

The story of Pinchas' zeal and the sin of some Jews with Midianite women enters its third phase in parshas Mattos. We learned of the events at the end of Balak, we heard of Pinchas' reward in Pinchas and here, we learn about the consequences for the Midianite nation. 

We are re-introduced to Pinchas in this week’s Torah portion. He is appointed by Moshe to serve as the spiritual leader of the battle against Midian.

"וישלח אתם משה אלף למטה לצבא, אתם ואת פנחס בן אלעזר הכהן לצבא וכלי הקדש וחצצרות התרועה בידו" (במדבר ל"א:ו)

“Moshe sent them – a thousand from each tribe for the legion – them and Pinchas son of Elazar the Kohen to the legion, and the sacred vessels and the trumpets for sounding in his hand” (Bamidbar 31:6).

In a long exposition, Rashi offers several reasons why Pinchas was sent on this misson, and not his father Elazar, the High Priest.

First, citing Midrash Tanchuma, God reasoned, “he who began the deed of battling the Midianites, by executing Zimri while he publicly cohabited with Kasbi, the Midianite princess, should conclude the deed.”

Second, he went to avenge the treatment of Joseph, his maternal ancestor. The Torah records that the Midianites sold Joseph (Bereshis 37:36). The Torah records (Shmos 6:25) that Elazar married a daughter of Putiel. The sages (Shmos Rabba 7:5: Bava Basra 109b) dispute the identity of Putiel. One opinion suggests that he is Yisro, who fattened (p.t.m) calves for idolatry, while the other identifies him as Yosef, who opposed (p.t.p.t.) and defeated his evil inclination. The Maharal (Gur Aryeh, Bamidbar 31:6 #9) point out that Yosef was the polar opposite of Midian. Midian dispatched their youthful female royalty to acts of immorality, wholly unbefitting of their regal stations. Yosef had the moral wherewithal to withstand the entreaties of a powerful and desirous woman.

Rashi’s third opinion is quite brief. The Talmud (Sotah 43a) identified Pinchas as the special kohen anointed to lead the Jews into battle. This was simply his job. He was not selected because of his historical role in the battle with Midian.

The Me’am Loez (citing Midrash Rabbah, Tanchuma, Yalkut and Kli Chemdah) suggests that Moshe himself opted not to lead the nation in battle because he resided in Midian and benefited from their kindness or, at least, that of their leader and his father in law, Yisro. This is consistent with Moshe’s behavior when he did not strike the Egyptian ground during the plagues, for her buried the man he killed in the Egyptian soil, and also for not defiling the Nile, in which he floated to safety in the basket his mother made.

It was Moshe who chose that Pinchas lead the nation into battle. Pinchas was his great nephew. According to the Kotzker, Pinchas’ popularity was still high at this time, since his staving off a plague was fresh in people’s minds. Nonetheless, Moshe selected Yehoshua to succeed him. But Pinchas would play an important role going forward. Eventually he was selected as one of the two scouts Yehoshua appointed to survey Yericho (Jericho). The other one was Kalev, who, with Yehoshua, led the challenge to the slander of the other 10 scouts.

I would like to suggest some important interpersonal lessons we can learn from Moshe’s selection of Pinchas for this particular task. Our sages noted that one aspect of mourning over Jerusalem, which intensifies with the onset of the month of Av, is to eschew baseless hatred, and to increase internecine peace and pursue baseless love.

Destiny called upon Pinchas to end the plague that resulted when the Midianites spiritually attacked the Israelites. Moshe understood that Pinchas possessed some unique trait that saved the nation from the Midianite attack. This would be Moshe’s final salvo. After this war, he would die. Many have discussed Moshe’s alacrity in prosecuting this war. He did not hesitate, which could have prolonged his life, since the next item of business would be his demise.

Moshe showed us that while he was still the leader of the people, he could delegate. He found someone who deserved to lead the nation in battle and to be the one returning on the shoulders of the victors. He was happy to let Pinchas succeed. Do we allow others to succeed, when we know we can take some of the credit? Are we happy when others succeed? Do we empower others around us to bask in the spotlight?

Moshe also understood that this may have been more personal for Pinchas than it may have been for him. He showed sensitivity to that fact. I remember seeing how an aging Holocaust survivor sat at a computer console and with her hands, initiated the nation-wide siren for Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel. How meaningful. Someone else could have done it. But imagine the emotion running through the veins of this holy woman, who lives in a country that protects Jews, whose first parliamentary law was one which guaranteed a new homeland for all Jews and declared “Never Again!” for the world to hear.

This may sound obvious, but we need to let people do what they are supposed to do. It doesn’t matter if we can do it better. Pinchas was anointed as that special spiritual leader. I remember once that I gave a class on a particular topic at a communal day of learning. Much of my lesson was based upon an article penned by Rabbi Dr. Moshe D. Tendler, a long-time Rosh Yeshiva, professor of biology, medical ethics expert and son-in-law of the late Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt’l. From the outset of the class, I cited Rabbi Tendler’s article. He had written an article on the halachic concept ofmar’is ayin, of avoiding certain behaviors because of the appearance of impropriety. Imagine how embarrassed I was when Rabbi Tendler walked in to the room where I was teaching. He was the featured speaker. I did nothing wrong, but it’s a bit uncomfortable teaching someone else’s novel idea in their presence. He was incredibly kind and modest. He complimented me after the talk and said (perhaps as an exaggeration to be kind) that he learned something. I was the one slated to give that talk. He could have taken it over (I offered). He certainly was more qualified than I. Yet he sat back and listened intently to what I had to say.

Finally, we can never be too sensitive. One reason Moshe did not personally lead the war and “ride into the sunset” was because he had a reason not to engage against Midian. Those who showed him kindness during his stay there were likely not the ones perpetrating the horrible moral attack against Israel. Moshe embodied the trait of hakaras hatov, of gratitude. My teacher, Harav Nebenzal, once taught us, in the name of the Vilna Gaon, that since our parents likely taught us Aleph Bet, they get credit for every word of Torah we will ever learn. They actually become our primary teachers for giving us the tools with which the structures of Torahs will be erected.

Hopefully, armed with some role modeling from Israel’s greatest prophet, we can embrace others and bring ourselves closer to the unity of Israel. We can realize that we have the ability to change the future of the Jewish people.

I share a relevant Facebook post from my colleague and friend, Rabbi Efrem Goldberg.

Got this amazing text from my friend R' Shay Schachter last night about his father, my Rebbe Shlit"a, Rabbi Hershel Schachter (sharing with his permission):

"Just got off the phone with my father. I started to ask him a number of questions about the nine days that people asked me in Shul over the past few days. He began crying uncontrollably on the phone and said "Shay, I really can't answer these shailos (Jewish legal questions), I really don't know the dinnim (laws); every year I hold myself back from learning the halachos (laws) of Tisha bav, I really thought we would have a beis hamikdash (Temple) this year. I can't bring myself to learn it too much in advance of Tisha B'av."

May this Tisha B’av be one of dancing and celebrating, not mourning and crying.