Weekly Torah portion: Pinhas
In the haftarah chosen for parashat Pinhas, we read Elijah’s response to God after he slew the prophets of Baal: “I am moved by passion for the Lord, the God of Hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and have put Your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they are out to take my life” (I Kings 19:14).
The midrash makes a surprising comment: “Reish Lakish said: Pinhas is Elijah.” The midrash goes on to explain: “The Holy One said to him: You made peace between Me and the Children of Israel, and so in the future you will make peace between Me and them, as it is written: Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes” (Midrash Aggada (Buber) Numbers 25).
This idea is also expressed in the Pseudo-Jonathan Aramaic translation of Exodus 6:18: “The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. And the span of pious Kohath's life was one hundred and thirty three years, and he lived to see Pinhas, he is Elijah the high priest who will be sent to redeem Israel in the end of days.”
A similar midrashic phenomenon can be found in regard to another figure in parashat Pinhas: “The name of Asher's daughter was Serah” (Numbers 26:46). Pseudo-Jonathan explains: “The name of Asher’s daughter was Serah, who ascended alive to Eden accompanied by six hundred thousand angels because she brought Jacob the news that Joseph still lived.” Elsewhere, we learn: “How did Moses know where Joseph was buried? He was told by Serah the daughter of Asher, who survived from that generation” (Mekhilta DeRabi Shimon bar Yohai 13). Rashi explains that the reason Serah is mentioned in parashat Pinhas is “because she was still alive.” According to these legends, it would appear that Serah was born before the descent to Egypt, was redeemed in the Exodus, and was still alive at the time of the apportionment of the Land of Israel.
1. The similarity of language in the accounts of Pinhas and Elijah is clear, but it would appear that the authors of the midrash based the idea of Pinhas’ long lifespan on the words ‘priesthood for all time’ in the verse: “It shall be for him and his descendants after him a pact of priesthood for all time, because he took impassioned action for his God, thus making expiation for the Israelites” (Numbers 25:13). What did the sages wish to teach us by identifying Pinhas as Elijah? What does the midrash mean by ‘you’ in saying “You made peace between Me and the Children of Israel, and so in the future you will make peace between Me and them”? Is this to be taken literally?
2. By virtue of her being Asher’s daughter, it is reasonable to assume that Serah was born before the descent to Egypt, but what reasons did the sages have for asserting that she was still alive after the Exodus? Does the appearance of her name in parashat Pinhas require this conclusion?
3. Nahmanides explains that Serah’s name appears in the parasha because she was the daughter of Asher’s wife by her first husband who died without sons. Thus, Serah is mentioned because her right of inheritance was the same as that of the daughters of Zelophehad. Does this approach require that Serah still be alive? What other value lessons can be derived from Nahmanides’ approach?
4. Can the various midrashim be read as reflecting facts that can be joined together into a unified historical picture, or should each midrash be read as a discrete unit intended to convey an independent value lesson?
Iyunei Shabbat is published weekly by the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary, The Masorti Movement and The Rabbinical Assembly of Israel in conjunction with the Masorti Movement in Israel and Masorti Olami-World Council of Conservative Synagogues.
Chief Editor: Rabbi Avinoam Sharon
