Parshas Toldos 5787
בריתי היתה אתו החיים והשלום ואתנם לו מורא וייראני (מלאכי ב-ה)
This week’s Haftorah ends with praise for the Kohen: “My covenant was with him, life and peace… for the lips of the Kohen guard knowledge, and they will seek Torah from his mouth.” Who is this Kohen?
The Brisker Rav zt"l (Chiddushei HaGriz) explains that it is Pinchos, who according to Chazal is Eliyahu HaNavi. Eliyahu is a link in the chain of the mesorah, and one day he will settle every open question and return the Torah to Klal Yisroel. When the Brisker Rav said this to his father, R’ Chaim Soloveitchik zt"l, he added that this is why melamdim teach that “Teiku” stands for Tishbi Yetaretz Kushyos U’ba’ayos: to plant in a child’s heart the emunah that Eliyahu will bring the Torah back.
Pinchos was rewarded for an act of zealotry, but why then did he get a “covenant of peace” and not a covenant of zealotry? Says R’ Chaim, a soldier’s medals reflect what he did, and the pasuk says Pinchas’ act “turned back My wrath … and I did not destroy Bnei Yisroel.” For Klal Yisroel, his zealotry was an act of peace, so his reward was that of peace.
Thus says the Brisker Rav, Pinchos is the one to return the Torah to Klal Yisroel because When Zimri sinned, the halacha was forgotten until Pinchos remembered it. Since he brought one forgotten halacha back to Klal Yisroel, he will be rightly rewarded with eventually bringing back the entire Torah.