Pinchas: a mental battle

Last week's parsha ended with the story the Jewish people being led to commit idolatry by falling prey to the enticement of the women of Moav and Midyan. In our parsha Pinchas receives the reward of a bond of peace for his heroism in striking down the prince of Yisachar and the Midyanaite princess which he took. The parsha continues with the command to smite the nation of Midyan, "Ki tzoririm hem lachem b'nichleihem asher niklu lachem al dvar Peor", because they are afflicting you in the thoughts which they devised regarding the idolatry of Peor. Two grammatical points catch the eye: 1) The pasuk uses the present tense, "tzoririm", to describe the Midyanite continued affliction of the Jewish people, even though it would seem that the two nations were now separated; 2) The pasuk focuses on Midyan's thoughts, the planning, rather than on the action of enticement or idolatry itself.

The Noam Elimelech explains that the women of Midyan were in fact no longer physically present to tempt the Jewish people, but the Jewish people were still afflicted and haunted by their memory of the temptation of these women and their crime. It is not the "thoughts which they devised about you" which is the focus of the pasuk, but rather the "thoughts which they made you think", the recurring feeling of lust followed by guilt which remained long after the actual crime committed. The fight with Midyan was a process of mental catharsis, not just a physical battle.

Read in this light, there is a deeper connection between the reward of Pinchas and this command to do battle with Midyan. Netziv explains that the blessing of peace which Pinchas was rewarded with was peace of mind; even the justifiable violence of Pinchas can leave psychological scars that require healing.

The Torah recognizes that psychological stress is something that we must grapple with and do battle with. Mental strain can leave its mark even long after a trial has been overcome. Our hope is that we too can be blessed with the peace of mind given to Pinchas as a reward for our efforts.