Ohr Hachayim Numbers: Pinchas

Personal, Pure, Public

Pinhas the Priest grabs a spear and personally skewers an amorous Israelite prince and his prohibited heathen paramour in a public display of zealotry that has been recorded for eternity (Numbers Chapter 25). God is then effusive with his compliments and gratitude and eternally rewards Pinhas for his extreme actions. Pinhas has since been lauded by Rabbinic commentators throughout the generations as the paradigm of successful (and hard to emulate) zealotry.

[the rest of this Torah Insight is at http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/personal-pure-public/]