Parashas Pinchas
Finding The Ger Above Nature
Rabbi David Katz
Parashas Pinchas in many respects is the conclusion of the
story that began at Sinai, enclothed within the enigma known as Jethro [the
Ger]. Although the connection may seem a bit opaque at first glance and
seemingly devoid of mutual content, the Jethro - Pinchas pipeline contains a subtle
quality of firepower that without annual close investigation, the consequences
are to endure yet another year of exile.
On one hand is Parashas Jethro, obviously
well-known as the miraculous giving of the Torah, through a lesser known
agency, this being the consummate Ger in Jethro. On the other hand is Parashas
Pinchas within the summer months, of which we say that it is precisely under
these times, that the Messiah is born, and delivered to the World. One could easily
generalize the essential qualities of the Parshiot as the beginning of the
Jewish mission through bestowing the Torah upon the World, and the fulfillment of
God’s Divine Word. What people are often
not aware of is that one leads to another, as Jethro was the catalyst for
Pinchas’ zealous behavior, in the culmination of a unique family conquest!
Jethro is Pinchas’ grandfather, and their saga is the ultimate expression of
divinity coming into this World from a Place that only God could know. For all
intents and purposes, we call this climax the moment that Pinchas speared two
sinners to death; God would call it the moment that Torah won on Earth through
the Love of the Ger.
Pinchas is the son of Aaron son of Elazar, who married of
the daughters of Putiel; Putiel being a Torah hint [in language, even on the
Simple Meaning level] that points to Jethro. The Midrash explains that the
Putiel reference to Jethro is a metaphor to his days of repentance and
salvation from idolatry and coming to the ways of Hashem. In this light, we see that Pinchas [on his
mother’s side] is a descendant of Jethro, and even in words of kabbalah, it is
said that Pinchas contains an incarnation of Jethro, making him truly one with
Jethro.
The irony would begin under these circumstances of close
proximity, and all the while surrounding the fact that Jethro was a Ger, a
repentant from idolatry, to the point that if Torah were to be seen from a
dramatic perspective, Jethro would be a lead role! Yet here was Pinchas as a
son of Aaron, a budding young star with a lot to prove to himself, to the
Jewish People, to the Gerim, and ultimately to God Himself – being asked to
move mountains while immersed in Ger lore through his odd family dynamic. All together
one couldn’t paint a more taxing scenario in Torah, especially since these
episodes took place at the ever crucial formation of the newly found Torah
Universe. From a researcher’s conclusion, one can testify that Pinchas’
miracles emerged from his association with Jethro the Ger, yet the pedestrian model
would blindly see only images of doom destined to erupt from the family
contained in Pinchas’ proverbial spear. Ultimately
God would orchestrate from the utmost chaos, a monumental suicide mission of
which its seeds were sown from before Sinai, in the greatest display of Torah
unfolding that the Creation would ever know in Pinchas’ vengeance and loyalty
to God through his Love of Jethro and his deeper Love for the Ger – all in the
eyes of the scoffers amongst Israel.
To arrive at a clear understanding of Pinchas’ heroism, one
must first understand the Torah that was not spoken at the time of the Pinchas
narrative, using the Torah itself to pose as its own exclusive commentary, as
the key that opens God’s most sacred door: Pinchas’ Covenant of Peace. This
simple passage in the Parsha is perplexing by nature, and we are told year
after year the magnitude of Pinchas’ bravery, how it is Messianic in that it
led to Pinchas finding his own internal Elijah, yet in only a few short weeks
we will be sitting amidst the ashes of yet another 9th of Av
wondering where we went wrong in our plight to find Moshiach! So let the story
be told of Pinchas, the one who restored the Torah, the whole Torah, as it will
be in the End of Days; making the logical place to begin with perhaps the most
simple and logical application [even if it is a direct response to God Himself]
in the performance of, “that which is hateful to you, to others to not do.”
Simply put, God hated what was going on in Israel, and Pinchas brought Peace
the only way possible – through Love.
Love your neighbor as yourself the Torah commands us, yet
with even one moment of contemplation and honesty in this matter, it is quickly
seen as an impossible request, for it defies the laws of nature, no matter how
sincere the servant of God. The commentators explain that to effectively not hate
in your heart is sufficient in the performance of this mitzvah, one that is said
to comprise the entire Torah. Pinchas however stood on a different ground, as
he restored [the entire] Torah in the desert [as he speared Zimri and Cozbi
through Torah law, as they were engaged in severe immorality, coupled with
Moses’ moment of duress] by not keeping status quo; Pinchas Loved his neighbor
as himself, or more explicitly, he Loved the Ger as himself.
The commandment to love thy neighbor [let’s call it Hillel’s
law, as it was said over numerous times in his name, in his counsel with the
Ger] is auspiciously juxtaposed within abstract Ger Torah [a Ger is forbidden
to combine mixtures; kilayim] that is seemingly begging for attention to be
associated with Hillel’s law. The commentators even elaborate on this point, by
stating that there is indeed a mitzvah to Love the Ger, as one’s self – yet without
the allowance of a lesser degree of simply “don’t hate him” – for the grammar
is oddly such that it yields no lending hand with the Ger. With a little bit of
thought into matters and promptly superimposed upon the Pinchas – Jethro family
tree, we may bear testimony to the ultimate expression of Moshiach in the times
of the year of Moshiach, in finally understanding Pinchas and his covenant of
Peace.
The Ger is not Jewish, and thus has no command of Loving the
neighbor, no matter how noble this may seem. Couple that, with not only today,
but in all of history, the most neglected mitzvah, which happens to be God’s
favorite [as we are told 46 times along with numerous hints] in” Love the Ger”,
and you have the golden recipe to harbor unprecedented hatred in the World,
while the Torah hasn’t changed its stance on how it feels toward hate. The
entire Torah is bound up on this point, and the only salvation at hand, is that
we are told not to worry, as it is against nature to change it.
Although this is true, it is only half true, for this
equation and its solution often does not take counsel with the Ger variable, as
he is simply seen as dwelling on the outside of matters due to his lack of
explicit command on scene. The irony is, that to calculate this into a formidable
outcome, would be an astronomical theory, one that we are supposed to be
believe that one day man will magically arrive at such an accounting, that man
is the Messiah, and the generation that brings him. However Torah teaches a
different lesson on these matters, one that goes against the limited hearts of man; the man came already, his name is
Pinchas, he is promised to return in the guise as Elijah, he will announce
redemption, and his secret [in merit] was in his power of belief in Torah.
Pinchas followed the instruction manual to open one’s heart
with ability to love; he saw to first Love the Ger. Newton’s Law in these
spiritual matters, is that perhaps the Ger would take it upon himself to Love
you back, showing the two-way street of love in the flavor of Hillel’s law. All
of a sudden, nature is transcended, Love is found, it is to the letter of the
one who said it, and only then can one truly sanctify on the highest level – to
Love God Himself.
It would be great to
say that Pinchas was simply a greater prophet than even Moses, and
prophetically he achieved such an exalted status with God. But the answer is far simpler – for Pinchas
loved his grandfather Jethro. To make matters even more ironically simple, he
didn’t love him simply as a family affair; he loved him for he was one with
him, he found it within himself to Love the Ger. Once Pinchas was in Love, the
Torah was in his hands, and he could arouse even the Love of the People with
their Maker – Jew and Ger, in what was miraculously achieved under the pretext
of the covenant of Peace. The Torah itself says to Love is to not be jealous of
another, and Pinchas knew not of jealousy, for he was its antithesis in divine
zealotry. This was clearly a love
affair, born of Peace, and conceived in the Awe that he found by adhering to
God’s Torah, enveloped in a false foe of Jethro.
Jethro in the true
Light of Pinchas’ Glorification of God, shall forever be known as Reuel – the [true]
friend of God, a true friend to all, the ultimate personification of the
Brotherhood of Jew-Ger, even beyond what Moses and Jethro enveloped amongst
themselves [as reincarnations of Kain and Able]. Such exaltation will forever
stand as the Covenant of Peace, and its symbol is eternally embedded within the
additional letter yud added to Pinchas’ name, as testimony that Pinchas’ deed
was God’s will, such that it is the prophecy of his name [this aspect of prophecy,
within the name is thus seen to be even more explicit than all other prophecy
until this time, for it derived from Wisdom, as opposed to a lower level –
Netzach]. This however is not the end of the story, but rather a new beginning,
for the letter vav contained within the word “Shalom” is prophetically
commanded to remain in broken form – Pinchas’ Priesthood, symbolic of Peace,
would be told in this unique Torah anomaly.
In Hebrew rules, a vav may express either the word “and” or “or”;
add in the true methods of exegesis in Torah, double entendre etc., and then we
can begin to understand the magnitude of how great Pinchas’ achievement really
was and how is his Priesthood possible. His Peace contains more than a mouthful
and reveals even the Messianic Kingdom that is appropriate with the Priesthood,
in the repair of the Firstborn! [Jethro was an incarnation of Kain, and all
World repair must be for the sake of Kain’s firstborn rights; Pinchas elicited
this repair, even beyond the ability of Moses, for Pinchas Loved the Ger in an
unprecedented display before God]
In Hebrew, double entendre is part of tradition, as it is a
tool to contain massive amounts of information, making the Torah possible to be
written; this gives way to kabbalah, and nobody ever taught kabbalah quite like
Pinchas – Elijah. The word “Shalom” [from “my covenant of”] is lacking the
necessary article "of”; yet if we look within the word Shalom itself, and
employ the broken vav to simply mean “and” we can see that the word contains
the full expression of peace in proper form. Yet on the other hand, if invoke
the “or” mechanism, suddenly the double entendre appears, and “shalom” appears
like this,ש''ל או ם – meaning, “we can
say the word “of” is inside, making the word Shalom into a complex sort of
equation that tells the entire story, or we can employ the “or” thus alluding
to the “letter mem”, therefore illuminating itself as the other half of the
double entendre, to the exclusion of the “lamed” and making the “mem’ the
operative function in Torah – Grammar- Calculus, ultimately producing, “שם” – Shem! Effectively, it would read, “My covenant Shem.”
One must remember that it is Shem who was Malki Tzedek, and met
with Abraham on the Temple Mount, in efforts to pass the Messianic torch to
Abraham, along with Priestly rights, Kingdom rights, Torah rights, Firstborn
rights, etc. In essence the Messianic Light was given to Abraham, and it
finally materialized as Pinchas the son of Elazar son of Aaron through the
daughters of Putiel, Daughters of Jethro.
Only on Sinai do we see that Aaron was given the seed of the Priest,
even to the exclusion of Pinchas due to circumstance. Yet the Zohar explains
Pinchas’ Priesthood was unique, as it comes from the Supernal Priesthood, and
thus operates on a slightly different frequency, identical to that of Abraham
before him. This is the Priesthood of Shem, the father of Gerim in Torah, he
who functions perhaps the most intimately in Torah, even in a Messianic way
[albeit from the Upper Worlds, where he serves in the heavenly Temple], for he
is one of Four Redemption Craftsmen, in the Righteous Priest.
The Righteous Priest is an accolade that Shem shares with
none other than Pinchas in Torah tradition, and is thus fitting that they are
so bound up amongst each other. For Pinchas and Shem are the Priestly souls
that usher in Messiah’s Kingdom, bringing the ultimate expression of repair
back into Creation, utterly fixing the blemish that would originate in Adam and
his sons. It was Shem who perfected the Primordial Torah, and initiated the
Abraham – Ger Toshav program from atop Zion; how appropriate that the final
vision of Light should come from the same cloth, as Pinchas won the High
Priesthood the day he connected with Shem who dwells in the Holy Temple above,
expressing a truly redemptive spirit amidst the Congregation in the eyes of God.
The Torah for one moment, had its true Messianic moment, one
inspired by Shem many moons before Pinchas roamed the sidelines, and that moment
was just as Shem engineered through his Blessings and transfer to Abraham – a simple
message, one that will rise to the ears of God’s mind – Love the Ger, for no
other reason, than the eternal fact that God simply Love the Ger. Love is found
within the heart of the Torah, verse Vayikra 19:19 to be exact, and we adjured
to Love God, Love Creation, to be Loving
People and removing jealousy and hatred; the formula is simple and profound: to
find love is to love the Ger, only then can you rise above the confines of one’s
heart to Love your neighbor, which is to finally Love God. Yet that may be a bit hard to recall in
a moment’s notice; in short, Love the
Ger, as God says, “…for I Love the Ger” – and that should be enough, as it was
indeed for Pinchas, and his covenant of Peace.
Don't Forget Class Time [Israel Clock] Motzie Shabbos 11 P.M. - Parasha Shavua
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