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In the 1920’s, the author Don Marquis created a wonderful series of comics and poetry.  One poem, “the lesson of the moth,” features archy, his favorite character, observing a moth who as archy describes him, is “trying to break into a lightbulb and fry himself on the wires.”

“why do you fellows
pull this stunt i asked him
because it is the conventional
thing for moths

have you no sense

plenty of it he answered
but at times we get tired
of using it
we get bored with the routine
and crave beauty
and excitement
fire is beautiful
and we know that if we get
too close it will kill us
but what does that matter
it is better to be happy
for a moment
and be burned up with beauty
than to live a long time
and be bored all the while

myself i would rather have
half the happiness and twice
the longevity

but at the same time i wish
there was something i wanted
as badly as he wanted to fry himself

What could a quirky and endearing work such as this have to do with Pinchas, a Torah portion filled with enough violence and treachery to make us, at the very least, profoundly uncomfortable?

When we first encounter Pinchas, his fellow Israelites are engaged in some truly terrible behavior.  They are flaunting their disobedience of God’s word.  They are doing everything they can to show that they no longer care about holding themselves apart, about being a part of God’s covenant; even worshipping idols, having sexual relations with people from the surrounding foreign tribes.

Conditions are so severe that God has brought down a punishing plague on the Israelites.  As all this is going on: enter Pinchas.  In a moment of fury over his people’s disregard for God’s commandments, he takes his spear, storms the tent of one of the Israelite men engaging in the aforementioned forbidden relations with a Midianite woman.  Their names were Zimri and Cozbi, and Pinchas killed them both.

And God seemed to approve of Pinchas’s action!  The plague lifted.  God promised Pinchas eternal friendship, a place in the priesthood, possibly in order to channel his impulsivity.
 

How can this be?  As contemporary readers, are we supposed to be on board with seeing Pinchas as a hero?  Do we want to be?

God forbid.

Out of religious zealotry, Pinchas murdered two human beings.  We know all too well what individuals are capable of when they believe there is only one way, or that God is on their side and no one else’s.

So why does God seem to regard what Pinchas did favorably?

Here’s a theory.  While none of us today would condone Pinchas’s actions, what happens when we separate them from his motivations?  That’s when a different kind of reading becomes possible.  What initially motivated Pinchas was passion.  Fervency.  Commitment to his community.  A belief system so strong that he was willing to go out on a limb for it.  Again, we’re not condoning the very destructive limb he chose!

As for God’s seeming approval of the limb he goes out on, well… when was the last time that anyone among the Israelites displayed that level of commitment to God’s word, rather than to flouting God’s word?  It’s been a long time since this much energy was put into anything other than dissent and rebellion.

What if the story of Pinchas could allow each of us to look into our hearts and ask, like Don Marquis’ Archy, what do I want that badly?  When was the last time I felt so strongly about something that I took a determined, all-encompassing stand?  A direct action for a greater good   

Or, what if we applied a fraction of Pinchas’s fervency to the core Jewish values we care about?  Because it’s that kind of fervency that can move mountains.

So ultimately, I wonder: can take something positive from the fire Pinchas had in his heart, while not for a minute emulating where he allowed that fire to take him. 

On the subject of direct action, we hope to see you Monday August 5 at 7:00pm for the first of two non-partisan postcard writing evenings at TBD.  Like other Reform synagogues, we’ll be reaching out to folks reminding them of the importance of casting their votes and making their voices heard.  Details are on a separate flyer included in this Shabbat-to-Shabbat.

Have a joyous and peaceful one,

Rabbi Gutterman