Parshas Pinchas: A thought on one of the first Rashi commentaries

“And God spoke to Moshe saying: Pinchas the son of Elazar, the grandson of Aharon the kohain, has turned my anger away from Bnei Yisroel by his vengeance for me among them, so I did not destroy Bnei Yisroel in my vengeance.”

~ BaMidbar 25:10

“And the name of the slain Israelite man, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu.”

~ BaMidbar 25:14

The name of the Israelite man, etc. In the place where the lineage of a righteous person is mentioned for praise, the lineage of a wicked person is mentioned for shame. 

~ Rashi on BaMidbar 25:14

This small comment by Rashi has a lot to say to us.

As observant Jews, we may decry the sensationalism and scandal-obsession of our news media. And indeed, there is much to dismiss in the preoccupation of reporters, newspapers, and websites. But underscoring all this is a very real and worthwhile human drive – the need to constantly define our moral values, in a communal (and very public) manner. This need is accomplished by identifying those that transgress important boundaries and commit repulsive acts.

We see the explicitness of the Torah, in recounting the sins of Zimri, and in accounts of other deplorable acts described in the Navi’im (Prophets) and in the Gemara (Talmud). It appears that – while concerns of Tzni’ut (modesty) and Shemiras HaLoshon (proper speech) are quite salient – there will always be a place in our tradition for publicly calling out people behaving badly.

And yet there is a vital bit of context that is evident here, which we must not overlook. The episode of Pinchas & Zimri bears a similarity with the episode of the spies, in that in both situations the Torah takes pains to show us who acted righteously in contrast to the sinfulness of others (with the spies, it was Caleb and Yehoshua). Rashi’s comment suggests that our sociological/communal need to define our shared values is served well only when we make sure to also identify those deserving praise whenever we call out those who should be condemned.