30 Jun PINCHAS: OPENING OUR EYES

Parashat Pinhas begins
with Hashem
announcing the reward
that would be given to
Pinhas, the grandson of
Aharon, who save Beneh
Yisrael during the tragic incident of Ba’al
Pe’or. The people had committed severe
sins with the women of Moav, and Hashem
punished them by bringing a deadly plague
that killed thousands of people. The plague
ended only when Pinhas stood up and killed
two public violators – the leader of one of
the tribes, woman from Midyan with whom
he committed a public sinful act. Hashem
would have destroyed the entire nation if
Pinhas had not done what he did.
Hashem announced that Pinhas’ reward
would be Briti Shalom – “My covenant of
peace.” According to one view, this means
that Pinhas would be Eliyahu Ha’navi, who
will come in the future to prepare the Jewish
People for Mashiah. Just as Pinhas brought
peace between Hashem and the people at the
time of the sin of Ba’al Pe’or, he will also
bring peace between Hashem and His nation
in the future, at the time of the final
redemption.

What does all this mean for us? And what is
the connection between Pinhas’ act
and Mashiah?
The idea to lure Beneh Yisrael to sin was
conceived by Bilam, whom we read about in
the previous parashah, Parashat Balak. He
was hired to place a curse on Beneh Yisrael,
but he was not successful, and so he advised
luring the people to sin, instead – a plan
which, unfortunately, succeeded.
Bilam describes himself as a man with a
“closed eye.” The Rabbis explain that we are
created with two eyes because we are to look
at the world from two different

viewpoints. One eye is to see the here-and-
now, our current and immediate needs and

wants. The other eye is to look beyond the
here-and-now, toward our long-term goals,
seeing the purpose for which we were
brought into this world, and all that we are
meant to accomplish during our brief
sojourn on earth. Bilam set out to
destroy Beneh Yisrael by “closing” their
second “eye,” by having them see only the
here-and-now, the enjoyment that they could
experience in the present. Most of the
mistakes that people make result from the
closing of the second eye, from their failure

to see beyond the present

moment. They forget their long-
term goals and purpose and focus

only on the vain pleasures available
to them right now. This is how
Bilam nearly succeeded in
destroying Beneh Yisrael – by
closing their second eye.
Pinhas ended the plague by doing
something drastic, redirecting the
people’s attention toward the things
that really matter. He in essence
opened their second eye, making them look
beyond the present moment, and be mindful
of the greater purpose for which they were
created.
The Mishnah (Eduyot 8:7) teaches that
Eliyahu Ha’navi is going to come
before Mashiah “to distance those who are
close…and to bring close those who are
distant.” One explanation of this teaching is
that Eliyahu will come to fix our priorities,
to show us that the things which are “close,”
that we focus our attention on, that we spend
a great deal of time on, should be “distanced,”
and moved down to a lower rung of our
priority scale. And he will show us how to
bring “closer” into focus that which we have

“distanced,” the important things, the things
that really matter, the goals and ambitions
that should be our highest priority.
This is why Pinhas is Eliyahu – because
both “open our eyes” to give us proper
perspective. They teach us that we need to
look beyond the here-and-now, beyond the
vain matters that take up our time and to
which we devote our attention, to see the
greater purpose of life, the important goals
that we ought to be pursuing.
Let us all work to keep both eyes open, to of
course tend to our needs and enjoy the
world, while always remaining cognizant of
the important missions that we have been
brought here to accomplish.