Jewish women congregate at the Wall in Jerusalem to pray.  Because they are wearing Tallitot and chanting from the Torah, they run a gauntlet of “true believers” intent on preventing them from reaching their destination.  These “true believers” pelt them with all kinds of objectionable things such as urine and fecal matter and release terrible epithets upon them in their attempt to protect the holiness of the Wall.  These same “true believers” terrorize a young prepubescent girl in their own community for her dress which they have deemed to be “immodest.”  

Are these “true believers” heroes protecting the morality, the sanctity and the integrity of Judaism?  Or are they fanatics who will go to any lengths to impose their values on others?  The answer is that they can be viewed as both heroes and fanatics.

In this week’s Torah portion, Pinhas, the rest of the story from the end of last week’s parashah is told.  As last week’s Torah portion drew to a close, the majority of the Israelites were seduced into attending a Midianite orgy celebrating their god of fertility, Ba`al of Pe’or.  They ate, they drank, and they caroused.  According to the text, their behavior so aroused God’s ire that they were struck with a plague which killed 24,000.  The plague ended with the action taken by the “true believer,” Pinhas, who took a spear and thrust it through the bellies of Zimri ben Salu, a Simeon tribal chieftain, and Cozbi bat Zur, a Midianite tribal chieftain.  In this week’s parashah, Pinchas is seemingly rewarded for his action with an eternal claim to the priesthood and a Brit Shalom, literally, a covenant of peace.

The commentators are of two minds as to whether Pinchas, the “true believer,” is a hero or a fanatic.  From Rav and Shmuel of the academies of Babylonia to the modern day, there are great minds in both camps.  There is no doubt that the Midianites threatened the very core values of the Israelites, who had witnessed the revelation of the world’s greatest moral, ethic and religious instruction at Mt. Sinai less than forty years prior.  Idolatry and immorality are two offenses that challenge the Israelites’ ability to remain faithful to God and to one another.  At the time, no one, not even Moses, seemed to be doing anything to stop the Israelites from behaving in this manner.  Did Pinchas not merely execute God’s orders?

One has to ask oneself why this story is spread over two weeks’ Torah portions.  Why did it not end with the rest of the story, the rewards given to Pinchas for his stepping up and executing those two members of the leadership class who were leading the Israelites astray by example?  Could it be that there is a real danger that is presented by “true believers” such as Pinchas?  Perhaps those charged with dividing the Torah in weekly parshiyot recognized that danger.  Perhaps they wanted subsequent readers to contemplate the action taken by Pinchas over the intervening week.  Perhaps they even imagined that Pinchas needed time to take in all that he had done and to contemplate whether there might have been a different solution to the same problem.

Yes, the plague was ended, and the people were brought back to reality and to sobriety.  However, two people were murdered in the process, summarily executed without benefit of judge or jury.  Could there not have been a better way to affect the same end?  

There is a danger that “true believers” pose.  The line between hero and fanatic can become blurred.  Pinchas’ action is extreme, and not every situation calls for an extreme intervention.  Perhaps there are other ways to bring about a Brit Shalom.