Broken Peace

http://shalomrav.wordpress.com/2007/07/06/broken-peace/

At the end of last week’s Torah portion, Pinchas, son of

Eleazar, son of Aaron, displayed his “zeal” for God by killing
an Israelite man and a Midianite woman who were engaged
in a public act of sexual idolatry:

When Pinchas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw

this, he left the assembly and, taking a spear in his hand, he
followed the Israelite into the chamber and stabbed both of them, the Israelite
and the woman, through the belly. (Numbers 25:7-8)

Pinchas’ act is portrayed in the Torah as an act of salvation for the Israelites. As
a result of his initiative, a plague afflicting the people is checked - and at the
beginning of our portion, God tells Moses that Pinchas’ action has saved the
Israelite nation entirely:

“Pinchas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron has turned back my wrath from the
Israelites by displaying among them his passion for Me, so that I did not wipe
out the Israelite people in My passion. Say, therefore, ‘I grant him My pact of
peace. It shall be for him and his descendants after him a pact of priesthood for
all time, because he took impassioned action for his God, thus making expiation
for the Israelites.’” (Numbers 25:10-13)

It is important to note that Jewish commentators have long been troubled by

Pinchas’ actions, as well as the suggestion that he seems to be rewarded by
God for his zealousness. Many have suggested that God’s offer of a “pact of
peace” (“Brit Shalom”) should not be regarded so much as Pinchas’ reward, but
rather as a covenant that will require responsibility and moderation on the part
of this future Israelite leader.

One of the most powerful commentaries on Pinchas’ act is written into the very
fabric of Torah itself. The Masoretes - the 8th and 9th century rabbinic sages
who codified the written Torah into the version we know today - instructed that
the word “Shalom” in the term “Brit Shalom” should be written with a broken
letter vav. As a result, every Torah scroll now bears this inner message: peace
achieved through zealotry and violence is an incomplete peace - a “broken
peace,” as it were.

For an era beset by growing violence committed in “the name of God,” this one
small pen-stroke makes a profound statement indeed…

July 6, 2007 - Posted by Rabbi Brant Rosen | Judaism, Peace, Religion,

Religion/Politics, Terrorism, Torah Commentary