Pinchas

A thought on this weeks parsha from one of my Rabbi’s in Jerusalem.

Parshas Pinchas is always read around the beginning of the Three Weeks, the time period in which we mourn the destruction of the Beis Ha-Mikdash. The gemara (Yoma 9b) says that the first Beis Ha-Mikdash was destroyed because of the performance of three grave sins: gilui arayos (immorality), avoda zara (idolatry), and shefichas damim (murder). The second Beis Ha-Mikdash, on the other hand, was destroyed because of sinas chinam, hatred of fellow Jews. A few lines later in the gemara, we are told that the sin that lead to the destruction of the second Beis Ha-Mikdash was not revealed. How could that be? If Reuven hates Shimon, doesn’t invite him over to his house, stops talking to him, and doesn’t allow his children to play with Shimon’s, aren’t his feelings apparent? Isn’t it clear as day that Reuven hates Shimon?

I once heard a beautiful answer. Sometimes people don’t speak to others for good reasons. For example, if Reuven knows that by speaking to Shimon he will end up hearing lashon ha-ra, he must stay away from him. Reuven’s mindset is le-sheim Shamayim - he doesn’t want to do an aveira. However, if Shimon realizes that Reuven has ceased to interact with him, he may become hurt and begin to have ill feelings for Reuven. When Reuven then hears that Shimon has ill feelings towards him, there’s a very good chance that Reuven will then have ill feelings towards Shimon, unrelated to the fact that Shimon might speak lashon ha-ra; this is sinas chinam. While Reuven began with a mindset of le-sheim Shamayim, it is difficult to maintain that mindset for long. After a while, one might actually enjoy not speaking to the other person or begin to feel that he is better than him. In the times of the Beis Ha-Mikdash, the sin of sinas chinam was not revealed because on the outside it seemed that everything was le-sheim Shamayim. But Hashem knows what man’s real intentions and motivations are; He knows if they are really le-sheim Shamayim, and since they weren’t, the Beis Ha-Mikdash was destroyed.

The lesson that we learn from Pinchas is that we must constantly check and recheck our motivations. Are our actions really for the sake of Hashem? There is a beautiful mashal that illustrates this point. A woman and a cat were running around the house trying to trap a mouse. While an onlooker might assume that they were both performing the same act, there was a major difference between the two. The woman wished the mouse would never been there in the first place, while the cat was ecstatic that the “problem” existed for it to “take care of.” Sometimes, people join protests against things that are wrong, but they wish they did not have to protest at all. Others enjoy protesting and are quite happy that they have the opportunity.

Through our introspection, we can ensure that we will always act le-sheim shamayim like Pinchas (gematria 208). May the merit of our actions being le-sheim shamayim speedily bring the rebuilding of the Beis Ha-Mikdash and the ultimate comfort given by Hashem of “nachamu, nachamu” (gematria 208).