Parshat Pinchas: Creating a Covenant of Peace

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This week's parashah/portion is Pinchas (Numbers/Bamidbar 25:10 – 30:1) It begins by mentioning an incident that occurred at the end of last week’s parashah where Pinchas, son of Eleazar the priest and grandson of Aaron slays the Israelite man Zimri and the Midianite woman Cozbi after they enter a tent to have sexual relations. This takes place after the text tells us that the Midianites have led the Israelites into whoring, both in terms of women and also after other gods (especially the Midianite god Baal Peor). At the start of this week’s parashah we are told that upon killing Zimri and Cozbi the plague that was ravaging the camp ceased. Furthermore, God gives Pinchas a brit shalom/covenant of peace as a result of the slaying of Zimri and Cozbi.

Throughout the ages rabbis and scholars have both lauded and criticized Pinchas for being a zealot for his cause (the term used by the Torah). Some believe that he acted justly in the name of God. Others believe that he acted in an extreme manner. Certainly, the cessation of the plague would imply God’s approval of Pinchas’ actions. And the covenant of Shalom is not given as a reward, so much as it is a gift so that Shalom/Peace rather than violence and retribution will rule in the future. 


Still one has to wonder what other messages we might find on a communal level  in the receiving a covenant of peace as the result of using an extreme and violent measure not only to punish Zimri and Cozbi for their behavior, but to end the plague and press a “reset button” for the future.  


On a more personal level, I wonder what we can learn if, as in our dreams, all everything that occurs in the communal narrative can be seen something within each of us, showing us. In that way, it shows us what can we learn from this text about ourselves – whether  we like it or not!


Given all that is happening in our world today I wanted to look not at the political and social upheaval around us, but rather how we can approach the uheavel within, as well as break through the barriers we build around our hear that prevents us from truly connecting and truly brining about a Covenant of Peace for us all.


Shabbat Shalom,


Rabbi Steve

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The Covenant of Peace
  

everything everyone is within us
     we are in everything  everyone
        Moses     teacher
      Aaron  priest
  Pinchas  zealot
          Zimri Cozbi 

    idolaters blasphemers 

  lust filled        human beings

they are all part of us
      we are part of  them

the story is within each of us

within our society our world


we all

learn  teach  attempt 

to achieve holiness
yet we also
  desire  lust 

after   false gods

believing  in them

worshiping them

through  our actions


how do we let go

leave the world of idolatry and passion

and bring 

order   balance   harmony 

peace    wholeness

to our world     and ourselves
   
 actions born of hate or fear

jealousy    anger    hatred     revenge

never bring peace   harmony  wholeness

they are rooted in ego

love of self    over all others

        masquerading as protection of self

    in the face of danger


not born of love   care    compassion for all    

these actions  divide    self and other

they do not embrace

that there is only One

that we are all one

and all is within us


guided by ego   feeling superiority

in the name of protesting profanity    sin   evil

our ego calls to us to seek

revenge   out of  fear    of changing

the world    our life

losing our status quo to those we see as  less


needing to hold on to what we believe is true

rather than embracing  what truly is

grasping on to what has been

rather than creating what it should become

leading  to more pain   suffering    

a plague of the heart    the soul    the world

as we remain stuck

unable to move from the past    to the future

in order to create a new present


how do we create change     for all
perhaps rather than simply allowing    waiting 

for change to happen

we must strike out   in revolution     protest

originating in the heart   the soul

not the ego

born from  trust   compassion

openness   love   acceptance

for everyone     for the world

not from hatred or fear


if we simply wait for it   to happen

    we allow    the world to continue

on the path of
  destruction   decimation    desolation
destroying our souls

and the souls of all

through the plague of the spirit

   resistant to treatment

small minds     closed eyes      shielded hearts    
                  
 preventing  the light  of love   compassion

to heal us all     heal our world


embracing the past   embracing our passions    desires

we become  enclosed  within a cocoon  of fear and hatred

eventually it becomes a hard shell  around the heart

containing   poison

which will destroy us   

the shell must be pierced

run through with the spear of 

violent justice   love   compassion    acceptance

shattering what is      so we can create what should be

allowing in
     light
       love
         openness
            acceptance
   peace wholeness shalom

within ourselves    within the world

how do we find the strength
    to pierce the shell


we must use our divine-human strength

within us all
to  pierce the shell

destroying    ego   selfishness   fear desire   

releasing compassion  love   connection
       saving us  and our world

     letting in the light
       releasing what has been held in bondage within

   preventing us from achieving true peace

            for all     for One

destroying the wall we’ve built

around ourselves     our heart

separating us   

allows       shalom   peace
     sh’leimut   wholeness
to enter heart mind    soul

connecting us to one another

   to the divine


if we wish to live with
truth   compassion    wholeness

united by the colors of the rainbow

to all within ourselves and within humanity

we must accept the covenant of        Peace

      within each of us

that is the only way to destroy the plague of 

ego   passion   hatred   prejudice  fear

then we are finally able to rejoice

acknowledging the divinity  within us all

the essence   that connects us all

with  equity   love   and   justice

eternally


it is the only way to change    to save

ourselves

so we may change

the world

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