What a week!

What a week!

I have to say that I’ve had a hard time deciding what to focus on for this week’s message to you.  Thankfully the Torah portion for  Shabbat yesterday, Pinchas, seemed tailor-made for the week.

In the Torah portion, Moses publicly names Joshua as his successor, thus, beginning the process of turning his leadership over to the next, younger generation.  Moses does so with dignity for himself,  respect for the needs of the people, and love for his successor.  Moses’ actions were filled with personal melancholy and wanting, but also recognition of the greater good, and the Torah seems to approve of  his selfless decision.  Bring anybody to mind?

In the Torah portion, the daughters of Zelophehad stand up for their rights of inheritance.  Moses and the elders have begun thinking about how the land will be divided up between the various tribes and families.   There is just one problem with their plan – only the men will be assigned portions.  The daughters of Zelophehad, who are unmarried and whose father is deceased, don’t think this is fair.  They approach Moses and, like seasoned prosecutors, state their case.  Breaking an ancient glass ceiling, Moses grants them the right to inherit property. Bring anybody to mind?

But, amid these two uplifting tales, the Torah portion contains a third, far more grim and unfortunately also apropos story. At the end of the previous portion, a plague has befallen the Israelite people. A religious zealot named Pinchas decides that he knows the cause: A fellow Israelite man, Zimri, has started a loving relationship with a Midianite woman named Cozbi. Pinchas follows the couple into Zimri’s tent and impales them both with a spear.  In this week’s portion, Pinchas is praised and honored for his zealotry.  And the Israelites begin to make war plans.  My heart sank when I thought of the modern comparisons – war in the name of religion and intolerance. Hero status granted to zealots.  And, the innocents caught in crosshairs.

I delight in mining for golden nuggets of truth and inspiration in the Biblical text. I revel in finding ancient wisdom that speaks to today and in developing a sense of kinship with our ancestors through our shared experiences.  And, then, there are the stories like Pinchas - fool’s gold – outdated and out-of-touch.  And, to some, accepted as truth.  Bring anybody to mind?