Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
At the request of Bilaam, King of Moav, Balak had tried unsuccessfully to curse Bnei Yisroel. Since he could not defeat Bnei Yisroel through prophesying, Balak devised a different approach to the danger Bnei Yisroel posed to them. Knowing that the God of the Jews abhors licentious sexual behavior at least as much as idolatry, Balak proposed using a makeshift bazaar to entice the men with the pretext of shopping and then luring them to come inside. Inside the shop-tents were young women who would use assorted powers of persuasion to get the men to perform service acts to their god Peor so that they would earn the privilege of cohabiting with them. Worship of Peor was not the usual bringing sacrificial animals or other gifts. Rather it involved debasing oneself completely by defecating in front of the god!
This plan, as disgusting as it was, was succeeding to such an extent that the elders were afraid to intercede. Zimri, the chief of the tribe of Shimon, then himself prominently took part. Dragging Kozbi by her braid, Zimri brought Kozbi, a princess of Midyan directly to Moshe at the Tent of Assembly, in front the Elders and all the people with the intention of being intimate with her. At that moment, Moshe forgot the law, and all the Elders could do was cry.
The Gemarrah Sanhedrin fills in the many blanks in this episode. First, why did someone as elevated as Zimri participate in such behavior, especially so publicly? Indeed, how did the men of Bnei Yisroel so quickly succumb to these abominations? Finally, how could Moshe have forgotten what the law was in such a situation?
Initially, the men of the tribe of Shimon were sinning, and Hashem was meting out swift judgment. The tribespeople came to Zimri and complained that he, as the leader, was doing nothing in this situation. Zimri arose. Rather than admonish the sinners in a losing battle, he decided to join them. He approached Kozbi. She initially refused his advances, saying that she was instructed to cohabit only with a king. Zimri assured her that he was a prince of the Tribe of Shimon, even greater than Moshe who was from their matriarch’s third son, Levi, while he himself was descended from her second son. He then took her by her braid, stood before Moshe, and challenged him. “How could this woman be forbidden to me when you yourself married a Midianite woman?” Moshe was dumbfounded and could not respond.
At this point, Pinchas stepped forward and reminded Moshe of the law: They are both to die. Moshe then told Pinchas that since he was the one who remembered the law, he was the one appointed to carry it out. Thereupon Pinchas took the spear and speared them both. For this courageous act, Hashem would reward Pinchas with a covenant of peace and eternal priesthood. From the reward, many commentators infer that Hashem wanted Moshe to forget this law so that Hashem could bestow this blessing on Pinchas. Nevertheless, writes Rabbi Munk citing the Medrash Tanchuma, Moshe was still held accountable. As the pertinent law was here hidden from him, so would Moshe’s final resting place be hidden and unknown to his people.
Did Moshe actually forget the halachah/law? The Peninei Daas suggests that Moshe did not actually forget the law, but he was so overwhelmed with the destruction of all decency, let alone Torah law, by the crying of the entire nation at the desecration, that he didn’t know where to begin.
It is important to understand that this desecration was not a sudden action, but the result of a slow process, writes Rabbi Broide in Sam Derech. When the Midianite women set up shop in Shitim, the place name is significant. Bnei Yisroel started going out of their camps, to “sail/lo’shit” outside, to explore. Outside the tents were elderly women acting as shopkeepers. When the men started examining the merchandise, these women told them to go inside for a better selection. There, young, beautiful women served them food and drink. Their inhibitions were now down, and the women suggested a sexual encounter. The women seized the opportunity to “get paid for their services” by demanding that the men first take care of their other “business” in front of their idol. Now, having eaten earthly food, the men’s digestive systems were also ready to respond naturally. Thus, the downward spiral was complete.
Rabbi Broide here points out the lesson for all of us. The outside world is full of spiritual challenges, yet life generally demands that we go out of the safety of our homes and face those challenges. It is important, therefore, to set up boundaries and barriers that will set off alarms as we near them so that we don’t fall into the traps the yetzer horo sets for us. Rebbetzin Smiles suggested, for example, that in the workplace men and women address each other formally, Mr. Jones or Miss Smith, rather than as John or Mary. This simple formality will on its own thwart unsanctioned interactions.
What was the lure of this idolatry that attracted the people? Sichos Mussar explains that it is the worship of ‘letting go’ and living a life of no inhibitions. People like to be able to do and say whatever pleases them, without being held back.
Getting back to Zimri, what motivated him to join this movement so quickly? According to Rabbi Shumelevitz, Zimri was concerned about his honor. If he refused to join the sinners, he was afraid he would lose his position of leadership. Then he sought to capitalize on his position by bragging about it to gain Kozbi’s confidence. The thirst for honor is unquenchable, so we are urged to calm that thirst by giving honor to others rather than seeking it for ourselves. Pursuing honor for oneself can lead one to descending so low that one may never rise.
The medrash talks of Yerovom ben Nevat, King of the Ten Tribes of Israel whose actions led Bnei Yisroel to worship idols instead of going to the Holy Temple. According to the medrash, Hashem approached Yerovom, telling him that if he would to do teshuvah, “I (God), you and the son of Yishai (David) would enter Gan Eden together. Not yet satisfied, Yerovom asked, “Who will go first?” Hashem had already told Yerovom that he would precede King David, yet Yerovom needed to satisfy his ego by hearing it again. Hashem cannot tolerate arrogance, and so Hashem now responded with, “The son of Yishai will go first.” At this, Yerovom refused to do teshuvah. His pride cost him his eternity. Similarly, Zimri’s pride led him down this terrible, sinful path. Both Yerovom and Zimri were irrational, flaunting their honor and the desire for honor above all other rational concerns.
It is customary for Bnei Yisroel to go to the graves of Tzadikim to ask for their intercession with Hakodosh Boruch Hu, both to provide blessings and to save them in dangerous circumstances. Why was Moshe denied a marked grave where Bnei Yisroel could come to pray for his intervention in times of need? In Chochmat Hamatzpun citing the Mearchay Lev, he explains that we go to the grave of a tzadik hoping to be strengthened through their memory. However, by failing to remember the law here, Moshe failed to reinforce the idea of eternity, and so after his own death, his prayers to strengthen Bnei Yisroel could prove ineffective and not strong enough.
In this moment, Moshe Rabbenu was not bold as a leopard, strong as a lion, or swift as a deer to do Hashem’s will. Moshe did not go above and beyond at that moment, and so Hashem denied him the opportunity to boldly go above and beyond to help us in our prayers. Overcoming obstacles is a struggle, but we are meant to be bold, daring and strong to overcome the challenges we face in serving Hashem. When we ask for Hashem’s help in our struggle to serve Him properly, He will help us even if we think we do not have the talent or the skills to succeed. As Rabbi Frand points out, life is like a moving escalator. If we struggle mightily to run up, we may reach the top. If we stand still, we will invariable be carried down.
Rabbi Scheinerman notes that honor is not up to us. While everyone is due respect, for we were all created for a purpose, Hashem gives each of us our moment to shine, to get the honor he needs when he needs it. Hashem wanted Pinchas to get this blessing of permanent priesthood, and so He caused Moshe to forget the halachah. Hashem orchestrates everything with purpose.
The Torah teaches that everything has a purpose, a philosophy diametrically opposite that of the worshipers of Baal Peor. They had a fatalistic attitude toward the world and toward life. This philosophy they expressed in their worship ritual, explains Rav Hutner. It doesn’t matter what is, what exists, what is eaten, what is produced – it is all worthless and turns to excrement. But we know that even excrement can serve a purpose and be used as fertilizer.
Rabbi Uziel Milevsky, the Ner Uziel, brings a very unusual perspective to the actions of Zimri. We know that the leaders of the tribes were men of very high spiritual caliber. For one to act so brazenly must therefore be examined with the possibility of a different motive. Rabbi Uziel suggests that Zimri had a vision of elevating all the nations, and living with all religions being equal in front of Hashem. While his name Shelumiel is recorded as the chief of the Tribe of Shimon at the beginning of the census, here he is called Zimri, a branch that will be cut off. His dream of creating a perfected world with all nations united under God was misguided, and would lead to his being cut off from his people. Kozbi, too, had a name that suited her, continues the Ner Uziel. While she seemed to befriend the Jewish men, especially Zimri, it was all kazav/lies. As a result of this episode, 24,000 men were condemned to die from a plague.
In Emunat Itecha, Rabbi Wolfson takes a long term, historical perspective on the Zimri/Kozbi episode. Rabbi Wolfson suggests that Zimri was trying to bring the world into its final perfection. In fact, this is also what King Solomon was hoping to do by marrying 70 princesses, one from each of the 70 nations hoping that through these alliances he could unite all the nations under our One God and bring Moshiach. Neither Zimri nor Shlomo Hamelech was successful. However, generations later, the soul of Zimri would be reincarnated in Rabbi Akiva, the descendants of converts, and Kozbi’s soul would be reincarnated in the wife of Tyrannus Rufus who converted to Judaism according to Jewish law and married Rabbi Akiva.
To further this connection, Rabbi Akiva’s 24,000 disciples died from a plague for not showing respect to each other. In this interpretation, these 24,000 men were the reincarnation of the 24,000 souls who died in that idol worshiping orgy at Baal Peor. Although they fell short of perfection, Rabbi Akiva’s disciples were able to enter the World to Come.
Zimri pulled Kozbi by her braid, the remaining vestige of her idol worship. She was not ready to convert fully, but her reincarnated soul did. When Rabbi Akiva was martyred, he was killed by using metal combs, similar to the ones used for combing the hair, to tear his skin from his body. From this perspective, suggests Rabbi Wolfson, all these men were trying to establish the Messianic Era. They knew the Messiah would descend from a Moabite woman. By converting these women, perhaps the Messiah would be born of one of them. But these women were perpetrating fraud. They were actually Midianite women dressed as Moabite women, aware of tradition that a Moabite woman would be the matriarch of the Messiah. [Indeed, Ruth actualized that tradition. The Mother of Monarchy was indeed a Moabite convert. CKS] They fell into the same warped thinking patterns of the worshipers of Baal Peor, that the ends justify the means. The men of Bnei Yisroel rationalized that if by cohabiting with the Moabite/Midianite women they could hasten the birth of the Messiah, then their acts were actually meritorious. They told themselves they were sinning for the sake of Heaven.
Although the methods of Zimri are abhorrent to Hashem, their passion to bring Moshiach should serve as a lesson to us in our desire for the coming of Moshiach, writes Rabbi Fordsheim in Lefonov Naavod. As we are told, one of the questions we will be asked when our soul ascends to Heaven is, “Did you anticipate the salvation, the arrival of Moshiach?” Every time we do a mitzvah or recite a brachah with proper focus and motivation, we are hastening the arrival of Moshiach. These are the methods Hashem has entrusted to us. Let us use them constantly and wisely, and may they, in fact, hasten the arrival of Moshiach Tzidkainu.