I chose the Torah portion of Matot-Masei because the timing worked well for me, not because of the content. But when I looked at the Torah portion to sit down and write, I knew I had to go no further than the second chapter of Matot, Bamidbar 31, to find my subject. It is a hard subject to write about, but how can I not, given our current reality?
Our Torah portion begins after the story of Pinchas, who kills an Israelite man, Zimri, for having sexual relations with Cozbi, a Midianite woman (whom Pinchas also kills), which ends a divinely ordained plague where the Israelite men who were participating in an idolatrous orgy with Midianite and Moabite women, were dying. God praises Pinchas for his zealotry and appoints him to lead a war of vengeance against the Midianites, where the Israelites are to kill every Midianite, including women and children. And when women and children are spared, God instructs the Israelites to kill the male children, and all the females except those who are not old enough to have had sexual relations; those, they are to “keep for themselves.”
Steven Pinker, in his book, "The Better Angels of our Nature", writes about this war and others in the Bible, as examples of how brutally violent the ancient world was – not because these stories are necessarily historically accurate, but because they were written as examples of how one should behave. He then posits that today we do not use the Bible as our moral compass, but, rather, “religious people today compartmentalize their attitude to the Bible. They pay it lip service as a symbol of morality, while getting their actual morality from more modern principles.”
Pinker’s thesis is that society has progressed since ancient times and has become much less violent and barbaric. And when such barbarism – like rape as a weapon of war – is meted out today, it is condemned. This book was written in 2012. I wonder what Pinker would say today.
I wish I could say now that Pinker’s statement about “religious people today” was true. But the zealotry of Pinchas that is praised in the Bible is still not only alive and well in our culture today, but it seems to be in charge at the moment in our region and in many other parts of the world. That is terrifying.
What is also deeply troubling are the voices using religion not only to promote vengeful violence, but also to silence those who dare to speak out against it, accusing them of causing division in a time of war. Invoking the Talmudic read of history that it was senseless hatred among Jews that led to the fall of the Israelite empire during the Second Temple Period, rather than zealotry, is a clever tactic to let the zealots keep their power and continue their destructive work of pushing for more war, death, and destruction.
This is in contrast with those who prioritize another biblical source: "Who is the one who desires life, loves living, and desires to see good? [...] Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it" (Psalm 34:13-15).
We citizens who do fit Pinker’s description of “religious people today” – especially rabbis who are the religious and spiritual leaders of that population – must speak out against those elements who choose to use these biblical passages as a moral guide, rather than read against the text, as even the talmudic sages often did. I am proud to be part of an organization like Rabbis for Human Rights who is at the forefront of doing that holy work.
We are told that God makes a “covenant of peace” with Pinchas. Rashi interprets this as a promise to deal favorably with Pinchas and his descendants, in reward for their zealotry. In the spirit of Pinker’s optimistic read of history, I will choose to interpret that “covenant of peace” as a divine promise for a peaceful future ahead, when cycles of violence will not be the way we solve conflicts among peoples. But this future will only come if we speak out against those same forces of zealotry these passages praise.
Pinker may call this paying lip service to the Bible. Others may call it apologetics. I call it reinterpretation with full disclosure and pride, and with open eyes and hearts.
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Haviva Ner-David is a rabbi, author and activist. She is the founding rabbi of Shmaya: A Mikveh for Mind, Body, and Soul, on Kibbutz Hannaton – the only mikveh in Israel open to all humans to immerse as they choose – where she officiates and creates immersion ceremonies and facilitates immersion workshops. A spiritual companion, Haviva works with a variety of clients, including many rabbis and rabbinical students, and uses dreamwork and other Gestalt modalities in her work when appropriate. Haviva’s books include fiction and memoir. Over the years, Haviva has been an activist on the issues she has felt most urgent at the time, including: women’s rights, human rights, democracy, religious pluralism, interfaith relations, and Palestinian-Jewish relations. She still believes in peace. You can learn more about her work and books at https://rabbihaviva.com/.
Our Torah portion begins after the story of Pinchas, who kills an Israelite man, Zimri, for having sexual relations with Cozbi, a Midianite woman (whom Pinchas also kills), which ends a divinely ordained plague where the Israelite men who were participating in an idolatrous orgy with Midianite and Moabite women, were dying. God praises Pinchas for his zealotry and appoints him to lead a war of vengeance against the Midianites, where the Israelites are to kill every Midianite, including women and children. And when women and children are spared, God instructs the Israelites to kill the male children, and all the females except those who are not old enough to have had sexual relations; those, they are to “keep for themselves.”
Steven Pinker, in his book, "The Better Angels of our Nature", writes about this war and others in the Bible, as examples of how brutally violent the ancient world was – not because these stories are necessarily historically accurate, but because they were written as examples of how one should behave. He then posits that today we do not use the Bible as our moral compass, but, rather, “religious people today compartmentalize their attitude to the Bible. They pay it lip service as a symbol of morality, while getting their actual morality from more modern principles.”
Pinker’s thesis is that society has progressed since ancient times and has become much less violent and barbaric. And when such barbarism – like rape as a weapon of war – is meted out today, it is condemned. This book was written in 2012. I wonder what Pinker would say today.
I wish I could say now that Pinker’s statement about “religious people today” was true. But the zealotry of Pinchas that is praised in the Bible is still not only alive and well in our culture today, but it seems to be in charge at the moment in our region and in many other parts of the world. That is terrifying.
What is also deeply troubling are the voices using religion not only to promote vengeful violence, but also to silence those who dare to speak out against it, accusing them of causing division in a time of war. Invoking the Talmudic read of history that it was senseless hatred among Jews that led to the fall of the Israelite empire during the Second Temple Period, rather than zealotry, is a clever tactic to let the zealots keep their power and continue their destructive work of pushing for more war, death, and destruction.
This is in contrast with those who prioritize another biblical source: "Who is the one who desires life, loves living, and desires to see good? [...] Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it" (Psalm 34:13-15).
We citizens who do fit Pinker’s description of “religious people today” – especially rabbis who are the religious and spiritual leaders of that population – must speak out against those elements who choose to use these biblical passages as a moral guide, rather than read against the text, as even the talmudic sages often did. I am proud to be part of an organization like Rabbis for Human Rights who is at the forefront of doing that holy work.
We are told that God makes a “covenant of peace” with Pinchas. Rashi interprets this as a promise to deal favorably with Pinchas and his descendants, in reward for their zealotry. In the spirit of Pinker’s optimistic read of history, I will choose to interpret that “covenant of peace” as a divine promise for a peaceful future ahead, when cycles of violence will not be the way we solve conflicts among peoples. But this future will only come if we speak out against those same forces of zealotry these passages praise.
Pinker may call this paying lip service to the Bible. Others may call it apologetics. I call it reinterpretation with full disclosure and pride, and with open eyes and hearts.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Haviva Ner-David is a rabbi, author and activist. She is the founding rabbi of Shmaya: A Mikveh for Mind, Body, and Soul, on Kibbutz Hannaton – the only mikveh in Israel open to all humans to immerse as they choose – where she officiates and creates immersion ceremonies and facilitates immersion workshops. A spiritual companion, Haviva works with a variety of clients, including many rabbis and rabbinical students, and uses dreamwork and other Gestalt modalities in her work when appropriate. Haviva’s books include fiction and memoir. Over the years, Haviva has been an activist on the issues she has felt most urgent at the time, including: women’s rights, human rights, democracy, religious pluralism, interfaith relations, and Palestinian-Jewish relations. She still believes in peace. You can learn more about her work and books at https://rabbihaviva.com/.