Pinchas gets the bris shalom (covenant of peace). What merit did Pinchas have to get the bris shalom?? The Torah tells us that because he killed Zimri, he got the bris shalom. If one were to analyze the act that Pinchas did, he would wonder how killing brings peace. After Abraham passes the test of the Akeida, the Torah says (B'reishis 22:12), "...for now I know that you fear G-d." Asks the Vilna Gaon: Abraham at this point in time is 137 years old; before this last test, he has already passed nine other tests. He has been teaching the world about monotheism. He has waited for about 100 years for G-d to grant him a son; he has instituted the prayer of Shacharis. Isn't it obvious that Abraham has yiras shomaim (fear of G-d)??? Why does the Torah wait until after the Akeida to tell us that he had yiras shomaim? Says the Vilna Gaon: What was Abraham's midah (character trait)? Chesed. What's the hardest thing for a man of chesed to do? To kill someone that he loves. The Vilna Gaon tells us that fear of G-d means that one is willing to go 180 degrees against his whole life motto and life work to serve G-d. Therefore, the Torah tells us after Abraham is willing to sacrifice his only son Yitzchok, "...for now I know that you fear G-d." The Torah tells us that Pinchas was a grandson of Aharon the Kohen. The Mishna in Pirkei Avos (Ethics of Our Fathers) asks what Aharon was known for. "He loved peace and pursued peace." (Chapter 1:12) Pinchas, a grandson of Aharon, had a predisposition towards peace. Naturally, for a man of peace to kill is almost impossible. But Pinchas went against his nature to do what the Torah wanted him to do. Therefore, Pinchas gets the bris shalom. (This is what I heard from one of my rabbeim many years ago.) The Vilna Gaon says that a man's job in this world is to refine his character, and if man does not refine his character, there is no point in living. The Tifferes Yisroel, at the end of tractate Kiddushin, brings a very interesting story: There was a king at the time of Moshe Rabeinu who heard of the greatness of Moshe. He sent his best artist to draw a portrait of Moshe in order to have his wise men read the painting and identify which qualities made Moshe great. After drawing his painting of Moshe, the artist brought the painting back to the king. The king submitted the portrait to his wise men, who, after long deliberation, came to the conclusion that Moshe was lazy, conceited, angry, impatient, cruel...etc. The king was in a quandry. He didn't know whether to believe his wise men or to trust his artist. He finally decided to personally go see Moshe Rabeinu. To his amazement, Moshe looked exactly like the painting. Consequently, the king began to suspect his wise men of trickery, but the wise men were insistent that those negative character traits were present in Moshe. Left without resource, the king decided to tell Moshe that his wise men had interpreted Moshe's portrait to say that Moshe was lazy, conceited, angry ...etc. Perplexed, the king asked Moshe why his wise men came to such a crazy conclusion that a great leader like Moshe had such negative qualities. Moshe responded that the aforementioned character traits accurately described him and that he had many more negative aspects that were not detected by the wise men. As you might imagine, the king was baffled. Moshe explained further: "If I would have been born flawless, I would be no better than a piece of wood or a stone." Moshe was teaching the king that man's job is to conquer his natural flaws. Moshe's ability to conquer these flaws shows just how great Moshe was. The same is true with Abraham when he was willing to sacrifice his son, and the same applies to Pinchas when he killed Zimri. May G-d help us to overcome our character flaws to become better people. Torah Blessings, Y. Bertram bertram@ohr.israel.net