hate and love that eclipse all else; reward is only when you go the extra mile

Kozbi bas Tzur was a Midianite princess.  Rashi writes that We see the degree of hatred Midian had for Bn"Y from the fact they were willing to sacrifice even their nobility to the goal of causing Bn"Y to be chotei.  R' Shtienman in his Ayeles haShachar points out that the people of Midian were maaminim. They accepted that Hashem would be angered at Bn"Y's actions and take care of them. If Midyan believed in Hashem and knew he would be angered by arayos, then doesn't it follow that Hashem would also be angry at them for hatching such a plan? 

We see that a person can be so bent on bringing someone else down that they lose sight of the fact that in doing so their own actions are a far cry from causing nachas ruach to Hashem.  Apply as you will to current events. 

 

We have almost the flipside of this attitude in the parsha.  Pinchas gets a huge reward for curbing Hashem's anger against Bn"Y and bringing a mageifa to a halt.  פִּֽינְחָ֨ס בֶּן־אֶלְעָזָ֜ר בֶּן־אַֽהֲרֹ֣ן הַכֹּהֵ֗ן הֵשִׁ֤יב אֶת־חֲמָתִי֙ מֵעַ֣ל בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּקַנְא֥וֹ אֶת־קִנְאָתִ֖י בְּתוֹכָ֑ם וְלֹֽא־כִלִּ֥יתִי אֶת־בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בְּקִנְאָתִֽי:  The Agra d'Kallah is medayek that 2 times the pasuk mentions ּ בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל, but in the middle it doesn't mention their name, it just says בְּתוֹכָ֑ם.  The pasuk could just as well have ended  וְלֹֽא־כִלִּ֥יתִי אותם, or could just as well have said in the beginning הֵשִׁ֤יב אֶת־חֲמָתִי֙ מעליהם.  Why  does it repeat the name of Bn"Y unnecessarily 2x and then leave it out?  He answers that the pasuk uses the full name בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל when speaking about Bn"Y being saved in order to emphasize that in essence, Bn"Y is pure and does not deserve punishment.  That's their identity.  When it comes to the middle of the pasuk where it speaks about בְּקַנְא֥וֹ אֶת־קִנְאָתִ֖י for what they did wrong, the pasuk switches to a pronoun, to a kinuy, because when it comes to doing wrong, that's not us, that's not our identity or who we are.  Then he adds an additional point:

 

עוד תתבונן בפסוק אהבת הבורא ית' לישראל, הגם שפנחס קינא קנאת הש"י, לא עשה הש"י מזה עיקר, רק להיות שנמשך עבור קנאתו הצלת ישראל, זה הוחשב לו לעיקר הזכות, וזה יורה באומרו השיב את חמתי מעל בני ישראל בקנאו וכו' ולא כליתי וכו' לכן אמור וכו' (במדבר כה יב), כי זה הוא העיקר אשר מצא חן בעיני, וחש הבורא ית' על כבוד בניו יותר מכבודו

 

The ַקַנְא֥וֹ אֶת־קִנְאָתִ֖י is not the reason for the reward of Pinchas.  The reason for the reward is הֵשִׁ֤יב אֶת־חֲמָתִי֙ מֵעַ֣ל בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל and וְלֹֽא־כִלִּ֥יתִי אֶת־בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל.  The קַנְא֥וֹ אֶת־קִנְאָתִ֖י is just the means to that end. 

Hashem kavyachol turns a blind eye to his own kavod and instead places the emphasis on Bn"Y being saved, because His love of Bn"Y kavyachol outweighs all else.   

Midian is all about hatred blinding a person to their lack of kavod shamayim.  Pinchas' reward speak about Hashem's love outweighing even kavod Shamayim.  Opposite attitudes.

 

2) Pinchas saved Klal Yisrael and got this great reward.  Tremendous!  But didn't Moshe do that for 40 years?  Didn't Aharon in parshas Korach bring a stop to a mageifa by offering ketores?  Where is the applause for them, where is the special reward of a bris? 

 

I saw a beautiful answer.  Moshe and Aharon were the leaders of Klal Yisrael.  As leaders, they are supposed to stand up for their constituents, for the people.  That's their job.  You don't get extra rewards for doing your job.  Pinchas wasn't even a kohen (according to some shitos) yet.  He had no responsibility to stand up for anyone.  For him to step forward and take the bull by the horns, risking his life along the way, is above and beyond the call of duty.  That's why he gets reward.