Weekly D'Var Torah

Parshah Pinchas

Janet Eisenberg

July 26, 2024      20 Tammuz 5784

The most common word in Parshah Pinchas points to one of its central themes: family. The Hebrew word for family, mishpacha, appears in this Torah portion over 90 times.

At the start of the reading, Pinchas is rewarded by G-d with being a Kohen, for passionately defending G-d by killing an Israelite man who had sexual relations with a Midianite woman. The Torah makes clear that the couple had crossed a familial boundary.  Pinchas, who was considered a holy zealot, killed for the sake of G-d, to preserve G-d’s honor.  We learn nothing else about these two people except their names and familial identities.  Crossing traditional family lines was dangerous and the actions of these two people, who wanted to make others sin, led to a plague in which many people died, much in the way people died for the sins committed at the episode of the Golden Calf.

As soon as the plague is over and God’s rage has subsided, Moses and Eleazar are commanded to take a census of the people, each grouping defined by its ancestor and its clan — in other words, by its family. As the census unfolds, we learn of the many Israelite families traveling in the desert. In the next two chapters, mishpacha is repeated again and again, sometimes up to four times in a single verse, reminding us of the importance of family to our people.

We learn that there are many different kinds of families.  Some of the families listed don’t look like the “standard model” at all.  Most have experienced tragedy or drama.  In one family, the daughters of Zelophehad defy tradition and the established family model by declaring that they should inherit their father’s land even though he died without male heirs. They actually get the law rewritten to work with the reality of their family situation. Other possibilities for family variations are written into the law at the same time. “If a man dies without leaving a son, you shall transfer his property to his daughter. If he has no daughter, you shall assign his property to his brothers. If he has no brothers, you shall assign his property to his father’s brothers. If his father had no brothers, you shall assign his property to his nearest relative in his own clan, and he shall inherit it.”  

As I was reading this parshah I found relevance to mishpacha today. The biological family unit isn’t the only way to find deep connection and meaning. Passing on a legacy can happen in a multiplicity of ways. Parshah Pinchas ends with a description of the festival rites and sacrifices. Whatever the structure of the family, communal celebrations are open to all members of the wider community of Israel.  In today’s census, every type of mishpacha counts!

Shabbat Shalom!