Acting on Impluse

In the beginning of the Parsha, Pinhas is rewarded with “briti shalom”, the covenant of peace.

It is his reward for actions in previous parsha
Israelites were seduced by idolatrous women at Bal peor
Zimri and Cosbi had intercourse in public
People were stunned, couldn’t think straight
Pinhas ran his spear through both of them in the act

Term for Pinhas in Hebrew: kenai—zealot
Someone who throws themselves in, mindlessly
Jumping in feet first, acting on blind impulse
Not thinking about the risk—
Zimri could have legitimately killed him in self defense

Most of us here aren’t zealots in that sense
But there is the temptation to be impulsive in our speech
To say exactly what I think, the moment I think it
I let you know exactly what kind of a person you are.
How horrible a thing you just did

Problem with Zealotry:
Too often bad motives
immaturity, impulsivity,
the thrill of controversy, self-promotion,
or advancing some sort of personal agenda.
Also: not very effective to improve people around you
If you jump on people who are wrong
Even if you’re right, they don’t want to listen

Pinhas’ reward is the covenant of peace—briti shalom
It’s an odd reward: he was hardly peaceful!

The Ntziv, Rav Naftali Tzvi Berlin, says it was a protection from recrimination
So people should know his motives were pure
Because all too often, when people are zealous,
Their motives are not pure

The truth is, we never fully admit our own motives, even to ourselves
And all too often when we act impulsively,
Or when we speak impulsively,
It’s really out of selfishness, vindictiveness,
The thrill of attack
Or other less than stellar motive

So in general we need to be more like aaron, a little more peaceful
When aaron would hear someone sinned
He wouldn’t attack them
He would befriend them
And the person would be so embarrassed to sin, because what would aaron think of that

When we see something we don’t like, and we are tempted to attack,
To jump in and criticize,
We need to act in a way that embodies brit, sacred relationship,
We need to approach all of our fellow humans
Even in the moments where they are doing something we can’t stand
with patience, love and peace