Chiddushim (Torah insights) and Pearls for the Weekly Torah Portion - Pinchas from the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a (may he live long and good days):

"In his being zealous for My sake"

Kozbi wanted to convert; Kozbi was sincere. She wanted to convert but did not succeed because they did not want to convert her. Therefore, she returned in a gilgul (reincarnation) as the wife of Turnusrufus, and then she converted and married Rabbi Akiva, who was the gilgul (reincarnation) of Zimri. For every gentile woman wants to convert; there is no gentile woman who does not want to convert. According to Rabbi Meir, a man can betroth a gentile woman and say to her, 'Behold, you are betrothed to me for when you convert.' Every gentile woman wants to convert; there is no such thing as not wanting to convert—everyone wants Hashem (God). "And Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aaron the Kohen (priest), saw it, and he rose up from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand" (Numbers 25:7) and killed them. Therefore, he lives forever. Why does he live forever? Because they wanted to put him to death; the entire nation of Israel wanted to kill him. They said, "What did Zimri do there? It was just a conversation, a soul-talk; he wanted to convert her." But in truth, the Torah tells us the reality—that he committed a transgression with her. And then what happened, happened—a terrible thing occurred where Pinchas stabbed Zimri. "And he went after the man of Israel into the chamber and stabbed both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly" (ibid, verse 8). Then he lifted them up, and the barrier was raised. Each one weighed a hundred kilos, and he had to lift two hundred kilos; he walked through the entire camp of Israel while carrying two hundred kilos. In a wicked person, there is a spark of a tzaddik (righteous person), just as we said that within Sisera was the soul of Rabbi Akiva, and in a tzaddik, there is a spark of a wicked person. Rabbi Akiva received the task to rectify the spark of Zimri ben Salu, the prince of the father's house of the Shimonites. However, Rabbi Akiva did not manage to attend every shiur (Torah lesson) of Rabbi Eliezer the Great. Rabbi Eliezer said to him, "You missed a few lessons; you lost the tikkun (rectification), for you came into the world to rectify the sin of Zimri." And your twenty-four thousand students are the students of Zimri—who defended Zimri and were killed in the plague back then. So Rabbi Eliezer says to him: "You are the tzaddik who defended Zimri, and instead of overcoming himself through the power of the great soul that was impregnated within him, he fell to where he fell, Hashem have mercy." When Pinchas killed Zimri in the tent, he thrust the spear that was in his hand into Zimri and Kozbi. Twelve miracles occurred for him as he walked through the entire camp of Israel with the spear and they did not kill him. Everyone said that it was only a conversation intended to bring her back in teshuvah (repentance), and the proof was that she came to convert. The fact is that she did convert in her next gilgul (reincarnation) when she came as the wife of the wicked Turnusrufus. It doesn't help [to resist], because every gentile woman wants to convert. The 'Mei HaShiloach' says that she—Kozbi bat Zur—was actually innocent. The Mei HaShiloach has a fearsome and awesome discourse on this. It is written "Zarzir" (starling) (Proverbs 30:31). Zarzir (242) is the gematria (numerical value) of Mashiach ben David (242). If he—Zimri—had truly converted her, Mashiach ben David would have arrived, because she truly wanted to convert. Therefore, she came in a gilgul (reincarnation) and converted; she was the wife of the wicked Turnusrufus. For the wicked Turnusrufus combed the flesh of Rabbi Akiva with iron combs, and Turnusrufus—'Rufus' is the name of a ministering angel/title, 'Turnus' is the private name. Everyone is a gilgul (reincarnation) of someone. Rabbi Akiva came to rectify Zimri who was also [potentially] innocent; he—Rabbi Akiva—had to rectify him. And the twenty-four thousand defended him; now they come in a gilgul (reincarnation) to Rabbi Akiva as his students, together with their Rav (teacher), with their leader Zimri who was impregnated within Rabbi Akiva. Zimri is [potentially] the greatest tzaddik. So Rabbi Akiva came in the place of Zimri, and he was forbidden from missing a shiur (lesson) from Rabbi Eliezer the Great. If he had not missed any lesson, he would have been able to rectify that soul. However, since he missed a few lessons, to bring her tikkun (rectification) was only possible through iron combs. For listening to a shiur (Torah lesson) is also like iron combs [refining the soul], and if he had come to the lessons, he would have sweetened the decree of the iron combs. It is written "In his being zealous for My sake" (Numbers 25:11), because Pinchas had only zealotry for Hashem. Therefore, "Behold, I give him My covenant of peace" (ibid, verse 12). All the Kohanim (priests) until the end of generations will come from Pinchas. If there is any Kohen Gadol (High Priest), he will come from Pinchas. Even Yael is related to Pinchas; she became Eli. Any woman, if she is a tzaddikah (righteous woman), she will turn into a Kohen Gadol. Why does Pinchas live forever? Because he is a kannai (zealot)! If a person is zealous for Hashem, his entire body is exchanged; he receives a new body from Gan Eden (Paradise), and he lives forever.

"And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serach"

Serach bat Asher did not understand what was happening here—why they were not revealing to Yaakov (Jacob) that Yosef (Joseph) was alive. Why were they letting him sit on the ground for twenty-two years and weep? Serach bat Asher said, "I am prepared to die, over my dead body, until my last drop of blood—I am saying that Yosef is alive." It was forbidden to say that Yosef was alive; whoever said it was supposed to die on the spot. If a person says after 22 years that the child is alive, immediately Yaakov would have been strict with him, saying, "For 22 years you hid this from me?! I am sitting on the ground and crying." "Sackcloth and ashes were spread out for the many" (Esther 4:3). Yaakov sat for 22 years on the floor in the ashes, wallowing in the ashes, literally sitting in the ashes. And Serach bat Asher said: "Enough!" And this was the greatness of Serach bat Asher; therefore, she entered Gan Eden (Paradise) with her physical body. She does not give up—do not give up. Serach bat Asher does not give up; this is what we read in Parshat Pinchas, "And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serach" (Numbers 26:46). Now she is revealed; she can be seen. She is like a dwarf, but she has more wisdom than everyone. She is now revealed and can be seen. Whoever says "And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serach" enters Gan Eden (Paradise) with their body. Therefore, Serach, who took death upon herself, lives forever. If a person takes death upon himself [for the sake of truth/Hashem], he lives forever. Pinchas took death upon himself—he lives forever. There are two people in our Parsha who live forever. Who are these two people? Pinchas ben Elazar and Serach bat Asher. This Parsha speaks about how it is possible to live forever. If a person accepts upon himself all the deaths in the world—and Serach agreed to die, because whoever revealed to Yaakov that Yosef was alive was supposed to die immediately, according to the plain meaning—according to nature—due to the strictness of a tzaddik.

The lesson has undergone editing, and if any error is found, it should not be attributed, Heaven forbid, to our teacher the Rav shlit"a, but to the writer, and "may our error remain with us." Illustration courtesy of the artist R' Yehoshua Wiseman. To purchase: www.yehoshuawiseman.com

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