Pinchas realizes that the actions of Zimri present a clear and present danger. He knows that he has to do something to stop Zimri. Instead of waiting for the courts to take action, he does. Sometimes we have to take action to stop evil.
Now for a quick Devar Torah.
This week’s double portion ends with a tragedy. As I mentioned earlier, the parashah is called Balak, even though Balaam is the central figure. The reason is that Balak is the instigator. He realizes he cannot defeat the Jewish people militarily, so he seeks to attack them spiritually. He hires Balaam, the famous non-Jewish prophet, to curse Israel.
But every attempt fails. Each curse is transformed by God into a blessing.
One of Balaam’s greatest compliments is, “How goodly are your tents, O Jacob.” Our Sages explain that the entrances of the Israelite tents did not face one another. Families respected one another’s privacy. There was dignity, modesty, and mutual respect within the camp.
Balak learns an important lesson. As long as the Jewish people remain spiritually and morally strong, they cannot be defeated from the outside. If they are to be defeated, it must come from within.
So he changes tactics. Instead of curses, he attacks their morality. The women of Moab and Midian entice the Israelites into immorality and idolatry. Tragically, one of Israel’s own leaders, Zimri, publicly commits this sin in open defiance.
The situation is so shocking that Moses and the leaders are momentarily stunned. Then Pinchas realizes that this is a clear and present danger. If it is not stopped immediately, it will spread throughout the camp. He acts decisively, ending the plague that has already claimed thousands of lives.
The Torah makes clear that this was an extraordinary moment. God later affirms that Pinchas acted correctly, but only because this was an exceptional crisis. Judaism does not encourage people to take the law into their own hands. Normally, justice belongs in the hands of the courts. Pinchas represents the rare exception, not the rule.
History sometimes presents similar moments. In New York during the late 1930s, before America entered World War II, the German American Bund held pro-Nazi rallies. There were times when the law had little power to stop them. Some Jewish leaders quietly enlisted Jewish gangsters to disrupt these meetings. Their instructions were simple: break up the rallies, but do not kill anyone. Eventually, the demonstrations largely disappeared because the organizers realized they would face immediate resistance. Whether one agrees with those tactics or not, they reflected the difficult choices people sometimes face when confronting immediate threats.
The Haftorah from the prophet Micah provides the balance. After recalling Balak and Balaam, Micah asks, “What does the Lord require of you?” His answer is timeless: “To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
That is the enduring lesson. There may be rare moments that demand extraordinary courage, but our daily mission is much simpler: live moral lives, act justly, show kindness, and faithfully observe God’s commandments. That is the strongest defense any people can possess.
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