What is mishpachah (family), and what is its role?
“Do not let anyone lead you astray. “Bad company corrupts good ways.” Wake up and come to your senses. Live righteously and stop sinning. Some of you lack knowledge of God. I tell you this to instill shame (disgrace or embarrassment) in you.” (1 Corinthians 15:33-34)
This week’s parashah is Pinchas, who, according to the Torah (Numbers 25:11), was the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest. This man, seeing the recklessness of the people and Zimri and Cozbi in front of the Tent of Meeting, reacted by throwing a spear and piercing these leaders to stop the plague in Israel. This zealous act granted Pinchas the Brit Shalom, the Covenant of Peace and the Kehunat Olam, the Priesthood forever.
Later, God ordered the families of Israel to take a census, registering a total of 601,730 men between the ages of 20 and 60. Moses then received instructions on how to apportion the land by lot to the tribes and families. Next, the daughters of Zelophechad appeared. He had no sons, just five unmarried daughters. Their deceased father would have no heir, so they asked Moses to grant them the right of inheritance so that his name would not be lost. Moses consulted with God, was given the go-ahead, and their cases fell into the category of the exceptional, allowing them, as women, to inherit from their father.
God informed Moses that he would not enter the Promised Land and indicated that Joshua, son of Nun, would inherit the leadership as his successor and guide of Israel. The portion concludes with the offerings to be presented at the Appointed Times (Moedim) – Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, Pesach, Shavuot, Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Shemini Atzeret.
I was thinking about the trappings of this world and how many of us, consciously or unconsciously, fall into them. The word “world” in Hebrew is olam (עוֹלָם), and it can refer to the physical plane, such as the universe or the world. Poetically, it can refer to Eternity (לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד le’olam vaed). But the verb alam, which means to hide or conceal, might stem from its root ע-ל-ם (ayin, lamed, mem).
This reminds me that “Not all that glitters is gold.” Delving a bit deeper, the word mishpacha (family),מִשְׁפַּ֖חַה appears 98 times in this parashah. As we know, nothing is written by accident in the Torah, either too little or too much, and perhaps this is one of the treasures I found. What is mishpacha, and what is its role?
The root ש־פ־ח (shin peh chet), meaning to extend or branch out, can refer to the unity of the family, to relatives, or to the tribe. Being so central, a hidden message lies in the fact that all the actions in this parashah are oriented toward strengthening the family. I know this is not a popular message for today’s “progressive” minds, but this is the deception of the world: they distort externals to justify their erroneous ideas.
First, we see a man named Pinchas. Shemot (Exodus) 6:25 says, “And Eleazar, the son of Aaron, took for himself a wife from the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Pinchas.” Although it doesn’t specify his name, it gives us a clue about who his father, Putiel, was. Putiel (פּוּטִיאֵל ) means afflicted or redeemed by God. This detail about Aaron’s father-in-law is no small matter, because Putiel, according to the midrashim and Rashi, was one of the seven names of Yitro. Referring to another name for Yitro, Keni, קֵינִי, we find that he was “jealous” (kinei) of God and the “acquired” (kanah) Torah.
In Jewish tradition (not Torah), identity is inherited through the mother. Why? Because the mother-child bond is strongest from the moment of conception, and, in a way, we can say that they were “one” during pregnancy. We see, then, that the influence of his grandmother was strong in shaping Pinchas’ character. Interestingly, his grandmother was a Midianite, meaning Aaron’s children were not “purebred” with a certified “pedigree.” However, they were transformed by what they witnessed through the Divine power given to Moses.
Let’s go back in history. The name Pinchas has a multitude of meanings. Here are some: It could be “peh-nachash – mouth of the serpent”; panehashi means Nubian or dark-skinned; peh-nachash can also mean bronze mouth or oracle; Pnei Chas “face of compassion.” The Torah says: “Pinchas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned away my wrath from the children of Israel by taking my vengeance among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in my wrath. Therefore, say to him, ‘Behold, I give him my Covenant of Peace, and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the children of Israel.’”(Bamidbar 25:11-13). Then we read in Psalms 106:28-31, “They clung to Baal-Peor and ate the sacrifices of the dead. They provoked God with their deeds, and a plague arose among them. Pinchas arose and did justice, and the plague stopped. And it was credited to him as merit, from generation to generation forever.”
The Torah then recounts the names of those who were committing immoral acts before the Eternal. One was Zimri זִמְרִי, which means “praiseworthy” or “my praise”; son of Salu, שאל means, “who inquires” and is from the tribe of Shimon, שִׁמְעוֹן, God hears. On the other side was the princess of Midian, Cozbi, who is linked to the Hebrew word Kazab, meaning “to lie or deceive.”
Based on the characteristics of their family names, Zimri sounded better than Pinchas. At this point, Pinchas was just a Levite; he was neither a priest nor a prince, and it seems he lived in the shadows. Furthermore, his grandmother was a Midianite and not of the same lineage as Zimri, who was a prince in his tribe. However, it is interesting that Pinchas’ grandparents were men full of Shalom; from his grandfather Aaron and his mother, he had inherited his grandfather’s characteristics of keni (zeal) and surrender (putiel). It is here that we see how families play a central role in the development of children, their characteristics and in how they face life’s adversities.
Both Zimri and Pinchas were exposed to the same temptations. Baal of Peor was a god who was amongst the lowest calibre in the ancient world, since he focused on sexual perversion in countless forms. And he wasn’t even a Midianite god; he was a Moabite god. Remember the expression of the wicked Bilaam when he said in Bamidbar 24:5, “How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob!” He was obviously referring to their families, yet look at what this wicked man wanted to destroy when he looked out toward the desert. (Bamidbar 23:28) This was the core. Without family, modesty, decency, and fear of Heaven are lost, and the social consequence is the spread of death.
Back to the story: what did Zimri see? Could he have acted correctly in the face of the depravity of Baal Peor and the prostitution of the Midianite women? Of course, he could. Let’s look a little at his parents’ past. Zimri’s father was Shimeon, son of Leah and Yaakov. His father, Pinchas, was Levi, also the son of Leah and Yaakov. Were they ever together? Of course. Do you remember the Shechem episode? Who joined forces in the past? Levi and Simeon. Yaakov says of them: “Their weapons are instruments of violence… For in their anger, they killed men… Cursed be their anger, for it is violent, and their fury, for it is harsh!” (Bereshit 49:5-7).
It may be deceptive for us to think that certain seemingly negative characteristics are sinful, and we seek to eliminate them from our personality. God doesn’t ask us to suffocate these characteristics; that’s how He created us. Rather, He asks us to transform these energies into light. Zimri didn’t unleash his anger and fury in the face of such an act of human corruption. Instead, this “praiseworthy” man allowed himself to be seduced by the “liar and deceiver,” and showed himself to be a sheep when he should have been a lion. Thus, he succumbed and followed Baal Peor, surrendering to the lowest and most filthy cult in existence at that time. The consequence was that he lost his awareness of the Eternal One and of himself, engaging in public acts of indecency in front of the Tent. Who was in the Tent? The Eternal One. So, the lack of respect wasn’t directed toward the humans present; the defiance was actually directed toward God Himself. The consequence? Their relationship could not branch out or extend (ש־פ־ח), and his act became fruitless. Instead of generating life, it brought death when he was pierced by the spear (romach רֹ֫מַח), and his people died. Midah keneged midah, measure for measure, was fulfilled. The deaths caused as a consequence of Shimon’s anger would now be 24,000 of his children.
Pinchas, on the other hand, also a son of Levi, used his fury but redirected it toward stopping the imbalance of love for the Eternal. He used a seemingly negative characteristic to reestablish order and restore shalom to all of Israel. Levi was restored through Pinchas, so we might say that his clan performed Teshuvah. They carried this collective generational sin upon their shoulders; thus, Pinchas reestablished order in his family, not by causing death, but by bringing blessing to his house, since it is said that he received the Kehunat Olam (Priesthood forever): “Vehayetah lo ulezar’o acharav brit kehunat olam וֹלָ֑ם כְּהֻנַּ֣ת בְּרִ֖ית אַֽחֲרָ֔יווּלְזַרְע֣וֹ לּוֹ֙ וְהָ֤יְתָה … which will be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of perpetual priesthood.״
Interestingly, Pinchas used a spear (romach רֹ֫מַח) which in gematria is 248. It is also a palindrome which, when read from left to right, is חמר Chomer, meaning world, substance or clay. But in Parashat Balak, the donkey (chamor), consisting of the same letters, refers to putting our body to use in service to God. Pinchas submitted his physical desire to Divine service to stop the plague. According to our sages, there are 248 organs in the human body, 248 positive commandments, and the name Abraham in gematria adds up to 248, representing total devotion to God.
Our present actions lay the foundation for the development of future generations. Getting back to the beginning: Let us not fall into the trap of associating with evil, as it corrupts good morals. Let us follow the path of justice, for all will have their reward in the end.
My prayer for this Shabbat is not that we modify our anger, but that we channel it toward justice. It is not that we extinguish our fury, but that we redirect it toward the path of love and peace. We can transform our weaknesses into excellent middot”, and just as a seemingly unbeautiful caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly, we can transform our negative behaviour into light in order to achieve “brit shalom”, a covenant of peace.
Shabbat Shalom
Mauricio Quintero