Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto’s talks are known throughout the Jewish world. They combine chassidic teachings and philosophy, along with tips for a better life. We have collected pearls from his teachings that are relevant to our daily lives. This week he comments on the Torah section of Pinchas.
This week, the Jewish people celebrated the death anniversary of our holy teacher, the Ohr haChaim, who was a exalted saint.
Our holy rabbis say that when citing a Torah thought said by a righteous person, we should try to imagine that person’s figure as if he is standing nearby and saying the novel idea or the Torah thought. In this way, we will receive emanations from the righteous person’s root, and heaven will give us spiritual strength. Therefore, this week we will be inspired by the Ohr haChaim’s Torah thoughts. It will be as if his lips are speaking in the grave and he will be a good advocate for each and every one of us.
In this week's Torah section of Pinchas, the Torah tells us about Pinchas’s zealotry in killing the wayward prince of the tribe of Shimon. This is how the Torah describes it: "And the smitten Israelite who was smitten with the Midianite woman was Zimri the son of Salu." The Ohr haChaim asks why the verse repeats itself "the smitten one who was smitten?" It is well known that God is careful about every word that He writes in the Torah and states things as tersely as possible. There are no superfluous words in the Holy Torah, so why does the verse seemingly repeat itself here by stating twice "the smitten one"? It is enough to say that “the name of the smitten Israelite was Zimri.”
To answer this question, the Ohr haChaim explains a novel concept: every Jew has a life force he is connected to in heaven, and when this force is strengthened, he is also strengthened below. The same is true vice versa. When his life force above is weakened, he is also weakened below.
This is true of individuals and it is also true of nations. If we see a nation falling, it is a sign that its corresponding force in heaven has weakened, and if we see a nation that is growing stronger - it is a sign that its force in heaven is getting stronger. There is a synergistic relationship between a person and his source of strength and vitality in heaven. If his heavenly power weakens - he also weakens, and if his heavenly power gets stronger, he also gets stronger and full of vitality.
The holy Ohr haChaim explains our verse based on this concept: Pinchas only stood up and stabbed Zimri ben Salu after Zimri had lost his heavenly life force. He was viewed in heaven as if he was already dead. When he consorted with the Midianite woman, he began to lose his heavenly life force, and the moment he defied Moses he completely lost it and was viewed as a dead man. Although his body seemed to be alive, it was not alive beyond a temporary interim state, while in heaven’s view, he was dead.
Similarly, the Gemara in tractate Shabbat relates that Yehuda ben Garim informed on Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, causing him grief. At that moment, Yehuda ben Garim lost his right to life and was considered dead by heaven, even though below he was still temporarily alive. He continued to live another thirteen years until Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai came out of the cave. All it took was Rabbi Shimon’s stare to turn him into a pile of bones.
In the midst of the Torah section about the spies, Caleb related about the Canaanites that "their shadow was removed from them" (Num. 14:9). When a person's “shadow” is removed, this means that the light radiating to him from Above is extinguished. He may continue to live temporarily, but in heaven, they already consider him as good as dead. As soon as a person despises a tzaddik or the Torah or a holy item, he loses his heavenly life force. His other part, the one below, easily falls, and when it falls, he is considered like a "smitten person who was smitten." This person was a walking phantom without a viable life force.
Therefore, Zamri ben Salu’s consorting with the Midianite caused him to lose his life force. The verse says, "And the smitten Israelite who was smitten", to show that he had already “died” before he was smitten. His body may have been alive, but in terms of his heavenly life force, he was already dead. Therefore, Pinchas did not really “kill” him, but merely did a small action which finished off what Zimri ben Salu had already done to himself.
This explanation also ameliorates Pinchas’s act of killing Zimri. Since he killed a man who lacked a life force, Pinchas did not commit the cardinal act of murder. While Pinchas was willing to endanger his life out of zeal for God, Zimri was already a dead man and therefore the fact that Pinchas killed him was not an act of premeditated “murder”. Pinchas only carried out the final act to complete what Zimri himself had initiated. With this explanation, the Ohr haChaim has fully explained the meaning of the double usage of the word “smitten”.
A person's name also contains great spiritual power. Some righteous people can perceive from a person's name whether his corresponding heavenly counterpart is alive or dead.
The Gemara (Yoma 83b) relates about Rabbi Meir that he was an expert in analyzing people from their names. When they would ask him about a certain person, he would check his heavenly life force by examining the person's name.
One day Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yossi arrived at a home and asked the homeowner if they could stay there for Shabbat. Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yossi gave the owner of the house their money for safekeeping, but Rabbi Meir hid his money in the cemetery.
On Saturday night, Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yossi asked the homeowner for their money. The homeowner brazenly denied that he had received money from them. They lost their money but Rabbi Meir was spared. The other two sages asked Rabbi Meir: “How did you know not to give him your money?” Rabbi Meir said to them: ‘The homeowner's name is Kidor, like the verse (Deuteronomy 20:20) ‘For they are a generation [ki dor] of reversals.’ This showed me that he would keep changing his story, so I couldn’t trust him with the money.”
Because the righteous can see from a person's name whether he has a life force in heaven or not, therefore people have the custom to give a famous rabbi a note with the name of a person who needs a blessing. The righteous man will know how to assess the person’s spiritual level through his name, recognize his life force and its vibrancy, and see what kind of blessing or salvation he needs. .
We have a tradition that learning the holy Ohr haChaim’s teachings will refine one’s soul and gain a protector and advocate for him in heaven. May it be God’s Will that we stand together with all the Jewish people to be blessed and saved at the coming of our righteous Moshiach, Amen.
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel