Pinchas: The Fine Line Between Holy Self-Sacrifice and Murder

This week's portion starts out with the a description of Pinchas and his lineage, along with the great reward he receives for his act of zealousness on behalf of Hashem. Below is the first two lines of the portion, with Rashi's commentary:

10. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: י. וַיְדַבֵּר יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר: 11. Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the kohen has turned My anger away from the children of Israel by his zealously avenging Me among them, so that I did not destroy the children of Israel because of My zeal. יא. פִּינְחָס בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן הֵשִׁיב אֶת חֲמָתִי מֵעַל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּקַנְאוֹ אֶת קִנְאָתִי בְּתוֹכָם וְלֹא כִלִּיתִי אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּקִנְאָתִי:
Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the kohen: Since the tribes were disparaging him, saying, Have you seen the son of Puti, whose mother’s father [Jethro] fattened (פִּטֵּם) calves for idols (See Rashi, Exod. 6:25), and who killed a chieftain of an Israelite tribe? For this reason, Scripture traces his pedigree to Aaron. — [Sanh. 82b, Num. Rabbah 21:3, Mid. Tanchuma Pinchas 2] פינחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן: לפי שהיו השבטים מבזים אותו, הראיתם בן פוטי זה שפיטם אבי אמו עגלים לעבודה זרה והרג נשיא שבט מישראל, לפיכך בא הכתוב ויחסו אחר אהרן:

There seemed to be almost a general consensus among the tribes that the actions of Pinchas were absolutely wrong, and they wanted to excommunicate him. They compared his actions to the murder of animals for the sake of idol worship. In fact, Pinchas' actions were for the sake of peace, and Hashem Himself interferes in order to protect him both physically and spiritually. Pinchas is entered into a "Covenant of Peace" from God, and is made a Kohen.

While some might use this portion of the Torah to justify radical and violent behavior, it should primarily be used to prevent such actions. One has to be on the level of Pinchas (who our Sages tells us is also Elijah the Prophet) to know when such actions are appropriate. Anyone not on that level might think he's doing a righteous act, but in fact is probably committing murder and idol worship.

The Torah also equates anger with idol worship. When a person is angry he loses control - he forgets Hashem to the point that his very soul becomes impure and leaves him. This is what leads to violence.

99% of the time violence is not the answer. There is a fine line between holy self-sacrifice and murder. Unfortunately, certain segments of the Arab world have crossed this line long ago. Let us not fall into this trap. Instead, let us help them out of it - always holding firm in our ground and demanding the respect we deserve - but never engaging in this cycle of fruitless violence and idolatrous murder.