Covenant of Peace

"Pinchas the Zealot?" 

Pinchas is not rewarded for taking the lives of those who performed the public act of harlotry. It is only Pinchas’ courage to sacrifice everything meaningful in his life in order to stand up for the

“The Alliance with Abimelech”

The alliance that Abraham made in ancient times with Abimelech, King of Gerar, reverberates profoundly throughout Jewish history and in modern times as well.

"Pinchas and King David"

While both Pinchas and King David killed in the name of G-d to bring sanctity into G-d’s world, only Pinchas was rewarded immediately with the eternal covenant of the priesthood. King David, on the other hand, was denied the right to build the Temple in Jerusalem.

“Pinchas the Zealot, and King David"

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik explains why Pinchas the zealot, who had blood on his hands, was allowed to serve in the Holy Tabernacle as a priest, while King David was not permitted to build the Temple in Jerusalem.

“Pinchas Avenges the Midianites”

Why is the zealous Pinchas chosen to lead the people of Israel into battle against the Midianites?

“The Lesson of the Broken Vav”

A most unusual scriptural anomaly is found in the verse in which G-d confers upon the zealous Pinchas the blessing of a “Covenant of Peace.” The letter “vav” in the Hebrew word “Shalom,” peace, is broken. What is the reason for this broken letter?

"The Zealotry of Pinchas as seen through the Midrash"

The vast majority of the people of Israel rejected Pinchas for his act of zealotry when he stabbed Zimri and Cozbi as they performed an act of public harlotry. Pinchas' life of hardship is revealed to us through the extensive Midrash cited by the great scholar Eliyahu Kitov.

"The 'Zealotry' of Pinchas"

Seemingly out of the shadows emerges a controversial hero, Pinchas, who slays Cozbi and Zimri, two "high profile" individuals who publicly perform a lewd sexual act. Only a man like Pinchas, who had himself suffered a lifetime of ridicule and rejection, could have mustered the courage to stand up and defend the great Moses who was being subjected to ridicule and rejection.