Pinchas (parsha)

Pinchas, Pinhas, or Pin’has (פנחס — Hebrew for “Phinehas,” a name, the sixth word, and the first distinctive word, in the parshah) is the 41st weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the eighth in the book of Numbers. It constitutes Jews in the Diaspora generally read it in late June or July.

Summary

After the sin of Baal-Peor

God announced that because Phinehas had displayed his passion for God, God granted Phinehas God’s pact of friendship and priesthood for all time. God then told Moses to attack the Midianites to repay them for their trickery luring Israelite men to worship Baal-Peor. ()

Another census

God instructed Moses and Eleazar to take a census of Israelite men 20 years old and up, and Moses and Eleazar ordered it done. The census showed the following populations by tribe ():

Reuben: 43,730
Simeon: 22,200
Gad: 40,500
Judah: 76,500
Issachar: 64,300
Zebulun: 60,500
Manasseh: 52,700
Ephraim: 32,500
Benjamin: 45,600
Dan: 64,400
Asher: 53,400
Naphtali: 45,400

totaling 601,730 in all.

The text notes parenthetically that when Korah’s band agitated against God, the earth swallowed them up with Korah, but Korah’s sons did not die. God told Moses to apportion shares of the land according to population among those counted, and by lot. The Levite men aged a month old and up amounted to 23,000, and they were not included in the regular enrollment of Israelites, as they were not to have land assigned to them. Among the persons whom Moses and Eleazar enrolled was not one of those enrolled in the first census at the wilderness of Sinai, except Caleb and Joshua. ()

The daughters of Zelophehad

The daughters of Zelophehad approached Moses, Eleazar, the chieftains, and the assembly at the entrance of the Tabernacle, saying that their father left no sons, and asking that they be given a land holding. Moses brought their case before God, who told him that their plea was just and instructed him to transfer their father’s share of land to them. God further instructed that if a man died without leaving a son, the Israelites were to transfer his property to his daughter, or failing a daughter to his brothers, or failing a brother to his father’s brothers, or failing brothers of his father to the nearest relative.

Moses’s successor

God told Moses to climb the heights of Abarim and view the Land of Israel, saying that when he had seen it, he would die, because he disobeyed God’s command to uphold God’s sanctity in the people’s sight when he brought water from the rock in the wilderness of Zin. Moses asked God to appoint someone over the community, so that the Israelites would not be like sheep without a shepherd. God told Moses to single out Joshua, lay his hand on him, and commission him before Eleazar and the whole community. Joshua was to present himself to Eleazar the priest, who was to seek the decision of the Urim and Thummim on whether to go out or come in. ()

Offerings

God told Moses to command the Israelites to be punctilious in presenting the offerings due God at stated times. The text then details the offerings for regular days, the Sabbath, Rosh Chodesh, Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Shmini Atzeret.

In classical rabbinic interpretation

Numbers chapter 25

Rabbi Johanan taught that Phinehas was able to accomplish his act of zealotry only because God performed six miracles: First, upon hearing Phinehas’s warning, Zimri should have withdrawn from Cozbi and ended his transgression, but he did not. Second, Zimri should have cried out for help from his fellow Simeonites, but he did not. Third, Phinheas was able to drive his spear exactly through the sexual organs of Zimri and Cozbi as they were engaged in the act. Fourth, Zimri and Cozbi did not slip off the spear, but remained fixed so that others could witness their transgression. Fifth, an angel came and lifted up the lintel so that Phinehas could exit holding the spear. And sixth, an angel came and sowed destruction among the people, distracting the Simeonites from killing Phinheas. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 82b.)

The Gemara told that after Phinehas killed Zimri and Cozbi, the Israelites began berating Phinehas for his presumption, as he himself was descended from a Midianite idolater, Jethro. The Israelites said: “See this son of Puti (Putiel, or Jethro) whose maternal grandfather fattened (pittem) cattle for idols, and who has now slain the prince of a tribe of Israel (Zimri)!” To counter this attack, the Gemara explained, God detailed Phinehas’s descent from the peaceful Aaron the Priest in . And then in God told Moses to be the first to extend a greeting of peace to Phinehas, so as to calm the crowd. And the Gemara explained to indicate that the atonement that Phinehas had made was worthy to atone permanently. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 82b.)

A midrash interpreted in which God gives Phinehas God’s “covenant of peace,” to teach that Phinehas, like Elijah, continues to live to this day, applying to Phinehas the words of “My covenant was with him of life and peace, and I gave them to him, and of fear, and he feared Me, and was afraid of My name.” (Numbers Rabbah 21:3.)

Reading the words of that Phinehas “made atonement for the children of Israel,” a midrash taught that although he did not strictly offer a sacrifice to justify the expression “atonement,” his shedding the blood of the wicked was as though he had offered a sacrifice. (Numbers Rabbah 21:3.)

Numbers chapter 26

Rava found support in for the proposition that sometimes texts refer to “sons” when they mean a single son. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 143b.)

Abba Halifa of Keruya asked Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba why reported that 70 people from Jacob’s household came to Egypt, while enumerated only 69 individuals. Rabbi Hiyya reported that Rabbi Hama bar Hanina taught that the seventieth person was Moses’ mother Jochebed, who was conceived on the way from Canaan to Egypt and born as Jacob’s family passed between the city walls as they entered Egypt, for reported that Jochebed “was born to Levi in Egypt,” implying that her conception was not in Egypt. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 123b–24a.)

The Gemara taught that the use of the pronoun “he (hu)” in an introduction, as in the words “These are (hu) that Dathan and Abiram” in signifies that they were the same in their wickedness from the beginning to the end. Similar uses appear in to teach Esau’s enduring wickedness, in to teach Ahaz’s enduring wickedness, in to teach Ahasuerus’s enduring wickedness, in to teach Abraham’s enduring righteousness, in to teach Moses and Aaron’s enduring righteousness, and in to teach David’s enduring humility. (Babylonian Talmud Megillah 11a.)

The Gemara asked why the Tannaim felt that the allocation of the Land of Israel “according to the names of the tribes of their fathers” in meant that the allocation was with reference to those who left Egypt; perhaps, the Gemara supposed, it might have meant the 12 tribes and that the Land was to be divided into 12 equal portions? The Gemara noted that in God told Moses to tell the Israelites who were about to leave Egypt, “And I will give it you for a heritage; I am the Lord,” and that meant that the Land was the inheritance from the fathers of those who left Egypt. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 117b.)

Numbers chapter 27

Chapter 8 of tractate Bava Batra in the Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud and chapter 7 of tractate Bava Batra in the Tosefta interpreted the laws of inheritance in and 36:1–9. (Mishnah Bava Batra 8:1–8; Tosefta Bava Batra 7:1–18; Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 108a–39b.)

Rabbi Joshua taught that Zelophehad’s daughters’ in petitioned first the assembly, then the chieftans, then Eleazar, and finally Moses, but Abba Hanan said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer taught that Zelophehad’s daughters stood before all of them as they were sitting together. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 119b.)

Noting that the words “in the wilderness” appeared both is (where Zelophehad’s daughters noted that their father Zelophehad had not taken part in Korah’s rebellion) and in (which tells the story of the Sabbath violator), the Rabbis taught in a Baraita that Zelophehad was the man executed for gathering sticks on the Sabbath. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 96b.)

A Baraita taught that Zelophehad’s daughters were wise, Torah students, and righteous. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 119b.) And a Baraita taught that Zelophehad’s daughters were equal in merit, and that is why the order of their names varies between and . (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 120a.) According to the Gemara, they demonstrated their wisdom by raising their case in a timely fashion, just as Moses was expounding the law of levirate marriage, or yibbum, and they argued for their inheritance by analogy to that law. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 119b.)

Numbers chapter 28

Tractate Tamid in the Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the regular offerings in (Mishnah Tamid 1:1–7:4; Babylonian Talmud Tamid 2a–33b.)

Tractate Pesachim in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the Passover in Exodus 12:3–27, 43–49; 13:6–10; 34:25; Leviticus 23:4–8; 28:16-25; and Deuteronomy 16:1–8. (Mishnah Mishnah/Seder Moed/Tractate Pesachim; Tosefta Pisha 1:1–10:13; Jerusalem Talmud Pesachim 1a–; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 2a–121b.)

Numbers chapter 29

Tractate Sukkah in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of Sukkot in 34:22; and 31:10–13. (Mishnah Sukkah 1:1–5:8; Tosefta Sukkah 1:1–4:28; Jerusalem Talmud Sukkah 1a–; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 2a–56b.)

Commandments

According to Maimonides

Maimonides cited verses in the parshah for 12 positive and 6 negative commandments:

To judge in cases of inheritances ().
To offer the continual sacrifices daily ().
To offer an additional sacrifice every Sabbath ()
To offer an additional sacrifice at the beginning of each new month ()
To rest on the seventh day of the Festival of Passover ()
Not to do work on the Festival of Shavuot ()
To offer an additional sacrifice on the Festival of Shavuot ()
To hear the sound of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah ()
Not to do work on Rosh Hashanah ()
To offer an additional sacrifice on Rosh Hashanah ()
To offer an additional sacrifice on Yom Kippur ()
To fast on Yom Kippur ()
Not to do work on Yom Kippur ( 23:28, 31; )
Not to do work on the first day of Sukkot ()
To offer an additional sacrifice on the Festival of Sukkot ()
To offer an additional sacrifice on the day of Shemini Atzeret, for this day is a pilgrimage festival in itself ()

Not to do work on the eighth day of Sukkot ()
Not to transgress in matters that one has forbidden himself ()

(Maimonides. Mishneh Torah, Positive Commandments 39, 41, 42, 45, 47, 48, 50, 51, 160, 164, 170, 248; Negative Commandments 157, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329. Cairo, Egypt, 1170–1180. Reprinted in Maimonides. The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 1:50–53, 55–60, 170–71, 173–74, 179–80, 256–57; 2:148–49, 298–301. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4.)

According to Sefer ha-Chinuch

According to Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are six positive commandments in the parshah.

The precept of the laws of inheritance
The precept of the regular olah offering, sacrificed every day ()
The precept of the musaf offering on the Sabbath
The precept of the musaf offering on Rosh Chodesh
The precept of the musaf offering on the Shavuot Festival
The precept of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah ()

Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 4:171–203. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1988. ISBN 0-87306-457-7.)

Haftarah

When parshah Pinchas comes before the 17th of Tammuz (as it does in 2008), the haftarah for the parshah is 1 Kings 18:46–19:21. When the parshah falls after the 17th of Tammuz, Jews read for the haftarah the first of three readings of admonition leading up to Tisha B'Av, Jeremiah 1:1–2:3.

Summary

The haftarah in 1 Kings tells the story of the prophet Elijah’s flight from King Ahab, his theophany, and his anointing of Elisha. God’s hand was on Elijah, and he ran from King Ahab to Jezreel. Ahab told Queen Jezebel how Elijah had killed all the prophets of Baal, and Jezebel sent a messenger to tell Elijah that she intended to have him killed by the next day in recompense. So Elijah ran for his life to Beersheba in the Kingdom of Judah, left his servant there, and went a day's journey into the wilderness. Elijah sat down under a broom tree, asked God to take his life, and lay down and slept. An angel touched Elijah and told him to arise and eat, and Elijah found at his head a cake and a jar of water, and so he ate, drank, and went back to sleep. The angel again touched him again and told him to arise and eat, and he did and on the strength of that meal journeyed 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb, the mount of God. When he came to a cave and lodged there, God asked him what he was doing there. Elijah said that he had been moved by zeal for God, as the Israelites had forsaken God’s covenant, thrown down God’s altars, and killed God’s prophets, leaving only Elijah, and they sought to kill him, too. God told Elijah to stand on the mount, and God passed by. A great wind rent the mountains, and broke the rocks in pieces, but God was not in the wind. Then an earthquake came, but God was not in the earthquake. Then a fire came, but God was not in the fire. And then came a still small voice, which asked him what he was doing there. Elijah repeated that he had been moved by zeal for God, as the Israelites had forsaken God’s covenant, thrown down God’s altars, and killed God’s prophets, leaving only Elijah, and they sought to kill him, too. God told him to go to Damascus and anoint Hazael to be king over Aram, to anoint Jehu to be king over Israel, and to anoint Elisha to succeed Elijah as prophet. God foretold that any who escaped the sword of Hazael would be killed by Jehu; any who escaped the sword of Jehu would be killed by Elisha; and God would leave alive in Israel only the 7 thousand who had not bowed to Baal. So Elijah found Elisha, who was plowing with one of his 12 yoke of oxen, and Elijah cast his mantle on Elisha. Elisha left the oxen, asked Elijah for permission to kiss his parents goodbye, killed the oxen and distributed their meat to the people, and went to follow Elijah. ()

Connection to the parshah

The parshah and haftarah both address protagonists who showed zeal on behalf of God against apostasy by the Israelites. and 13 report that God laud’s Phinehas’s zeal for God (be-kan’o ’et kin’ati and kinnei’ le-’lohav), while in and 13 Elijah tells God of Elijah’s zeal for God (kanno’ kinnei’ti la-YHVH). Immediately before the parshah (in ), Phinehas killed Zimri and Cozbi to stem the Israelites’ following of Baal-Peor in the Heresy of Peor, while immediately before the haftarah (in ), Elijah killed the prophets of Baal to stem the Israelites’ following of Baal. Targum Jonathan to Exodus 6:18 thus identified Phinehas with Elijah.

The Weekly Maqam

In the Weekly Maqam, Sephardi Jews each week base the songs of the services on the content of that week's parshah. For parshah Pinchas, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Saba, the maqam that symbolizes a covenant (berit). It is appropriate, because in the very opening of this parshah, God told Phinehas that due to his heroic acts, he was granted an eternal covenant of peace with God.