Parshas Pinchos 5785
- Torah Tavlin
- Jul 16
- 2 min read
פינחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן השיב את חמתי מעל בני ישראל בקנאו את קנאתי בתוכם (כה-יא)
Chazal tell us that after Pinchos killed Zimri, the Shevatim mocked his zealous act, attributing him to being a descendant of Yisro, a former priest of idols. The Torah corrects this claim, connecting Pinchos to his other grandfather, Aharon Hakohen, the ultimate seeker of peace. But how does this dispel the Shevatim’s claim? After all, wasn’t Pinchos a grandchild of Yisro?
The Vilna Gaon zt”l in his Peirush on Megilas Rus reveals how tricky the Yetzer Hara can be. Normally, the Satan will convince a person to sin. But when this fails, he devises a sneaky plan by pushing a person to do a mitzvah which will result in an aveira. The good disguises the bad. An example may be, pushing a person to stay up very late at night for a chessed, only to miss davening the next day, be grumpy and annoyed with everyone, and to skip his daily seder. How does one know if he is doing the right thing or not? Says the Gr”a, the Yetzer Hara dwells inside our bodies. As such, if the action is easy and desirable, it is the Yetzer Hara’s influence. But if one feels that he must push himself, he can be sure it is entirely a mitzvah.
As an aside, I once asked HaGaon R’ Meir Stern shlita if based on this idea, should one never do a mitzvah he is inherently inclined to do, as it might be עצת היצר? He responded, “Do the mitzvah - but proceed with caution!”
Says R’ Meir Shapiro zt”l, the Shevatim were not saying that Pinchos didn’t do a mitzvah; they questioned who was the “driver” of the mitzvah? Was it difficult for Pinchos to kill Zimri or was it the Yetzer Hara’s sly plan? The Torah makes the link to Aharon to show the struggle Pinchos felt, proving it was an absolute mitzvah.
It is told that one bitter winter morning, a chasid saw the Kotzker Rebbe zt”l immerse in a frozen Mikva, the ice barely broken. The chasid questioned why a warm Mikva would not suffice. The Kotzker responded sharply, “Hashem doesn’t need my Mikva - I need my Mikva! And the harder it is, the more I have conquered my Yezter Hara!”