The Arc of the Zealot

July 22, 2022 – כ״ג תַּמּוּז תשפ״ב

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה קַ֚ח אֶת־כׇּל־רָאשֵׁ֣י הָעָ֔ם וְהוֹקַ֥ע אוֹתָ֛ם לַיהֹוָ֖ה נֶ֣גֶד הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ וְיָשֹׁ֛ב חֲר֥וֹן אַף־יְהֹוָ֖ה מִיִּשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (במדבר כה:ד)

“יהוה said to Moses, ‘Take all the ringleaders and have them publicly impaled before יהוה, so that יהוה’s wrath may turn away from Israel.’ ”  (Numbers 25:4)

The unique characteristic of zealots and fanatics is that they possess unchecked power to undo systems, cause irreparable damage, and deeply disrupt societal norms. A violent act committed out of passion, zeal, or a sense of righteous indignation can wreak havoc on society – and is incredibly difficult to prevent. Such acts are often beyond the pale; crossing formerly firm red lines (e.g. mass shootings and terrorist attacks). The September 11 attacks by religious zealots are, of course, the most egregious.

Even one person can justify acting violently to any perceived threat to his/her worldview. Pinchas ben Eleazar ben Aaron the Priest was a perfect example, as described in this week’s parashah Pinchas. Upon seeing an Israelite, Zimri ben Salu, being publicly intimate with a Midianite woman, Cozbi bat Zur, he followed them into their chambers and slayed them with a single thrust of a spear. To be clear, Pinchas likely did not believe that he was acting of his own accord. He was, as we might say today, “just following orders,” as he understood God’s command:

“יהוה said to Moses, ‘Take all the ringleaders and have them publicly impaled before יהוה, so that יהוה’s wrath may turn away from Israel.’ ” (Numbers 25:4)

The issue at hand was that through their relationships with foreign women,[1] the Israelites were becoming “attached” to the foreign god Baal-peor, which was unacceptable and required immediate action. Pinchas’ act was the quintessential example of a religious zealot responding to what he believed God commanded. The sequence of events suggests the justness of his act against Zimri and Cozbi. First, God brought about a plague, and second, God praised Pinchas and rewarded him with a Brit Shalom – a pact of peace and security.

This was not the first act of rage ending with the violent deaths of alleged wrongdoers. God previously destroyed the earth save for Noah and his family; killed 3000 Levites following the making of a Golden Calf; and caused the earth to swallow Korach and his followers, as described in our Torah portion two weeks ago. By the time Eliyahu the Prophet came and slaughtered the 450 Priests of Baal, this vengeful violence was no longer novel nor surprising.

In today’s world, it seems as though religious zealotry is taking over. In the United States, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade based upon Christian fundamentalist values, and zealous anti-liberal forces attacked the Capitol and sought to overturn the democratic election of a president.

Israelis also have suffered from violent religious and nationalist zealotry. Anti-Israel terror attacks, suicide bombings, knifing of soldiers and civilians have resulted in the murder of countless innocent people.

Israel Jews, too, have their own share of zealous fanatics. Baruch Goldstein’s 1994 mass murder of Palestinian Muslims at prayer and Yigal Amir’s assassination of PM Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 are extreme examples. But lately, we are seeing an increasing intolerance and religio-nationalist violence by Jewish settlers against innocent Palestinians in the West Bank. The skyrocketing popularity of extremist politician Itamar Ben Gvir, the disciple of Rabbi Meir Kahane, is sweeping the Religious Zionist community ahead of the upcoming November elections.

At the beginning of this month, as happens every month, Haredi protesters sought to disrupt the Women of the Wall’s monthly Rosh Hodesh service. But this month their hostility born of rageful righteous indignation spilled over to the Egalitarian section of the Kotel where American B’nai Mitzvah celebrations were taking place.

Joel Mann, the father of Seth Mann who became Bar Mitzvah that day, described what happened. He asked:

“Why are you here?” They held up signs in Hebrew that I did not understand at the time. They gave me a response to my question that shocked me. They said we were not Jewish. I attempted to explain to them that my son is being Bar Mitzvah’d, but they would not have anything of it. They continued to harass us. They attempted to get closer to our group, but our family members stood in a half-circle around my son as he chanted Torah and protected him from these hoodlums trying to attack us.

The police did little to nothing to stop the disturbance and sometimes violent attacks that occurred. They stood there and watched as these thugs attacked people doing nothing more than praying. The Israeli Police stood there as the Haredi teens attacked Jews.”

This attack on non-Orthodox Jews at the most sacred site in all of Judaism is both frightening and dangerous. We should be alarmed that these young Haredi Jewish teens felt religiously justified attacking other Jews reading Torah and celebrating becoming Bar Mitzvah. And we should be even more alarmed by the failure of the police to protect non-orthodox Jews against such attacks. The Haredi actions and the police failure could very well have long-term ramifications for those wishing to come to Israel to celebrate such lifecycle moments at the Kotel.

Who are the modern embodiments of the biblical Pinchas?

Are they those who carry out “price tag” attacks on Palestinians claiming they are doing the just and right thing as commanded by the Sovereign of the Universe?

Are they those who open fire on Muslims at prayer, assassinate Prime Ministers, and firebomb sleeping Palestinian Muslim families in the middle of the night?

Are they Hilltop Jewish youth rushing down terraced landscapes with rods and sticks to beat up Palestinian farmers trying to harvest their fields or setting up makeshift encampments with the hope of establishing new settlements and facts on the ground?

Are they young Jewish teens and pre-teen Haredi hoodlums who think it is acceptable to disturb the prayers of others, attack fellow Jews, and destroy a siddur – using its pages as tissue paper to wipe one’s nose?

While these acts of zealotry and fanaticism are becoming more frequent, they create a culture of extreme intolerance. We should worry that the incremental and gradual collective march towards extremism is incrementally tolerated by Israeli Jewish society.

When a Haredi pre-teen blows his nose with a page from a prayer book it is easy to dismiss that as a ‘wild weed,’ or a lone and unique case of a Jewish kid gone wrong. The danger here however is that a singular act of passion and rage moves the goal posts across red lines that once existed. Who knows what will come next? Will a liberal siddur be used as toilet paper?  Will it be burned publicly? Recall the prescient words of warning of the German poet Heinrich Heine (1797-1856):

“Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings.”

In his important essay, “How to Cure a Fanatic,” the late Amos Oz explained:

“…this is a battle between fanatics, who believe that the end, any end, justifies the means, and the rest of us, who believe that life is an end, not a means. It is a struggle between those who think that justice, whatever they would mean by the word, is more important than life, on the one hand, and those of us who think that life takes priority over many other values, convictions, or faiths.”

We are witnessing an increasingly violent battle between those who think that the fundamental rights of others come second to their rights, beliefs, principles, and deeds. There is seemingly little being done by Israeli police to protect the victims of religious and nationalist fanaticism. The Jews who further their extremist agenda through violence and intimidation against peace activists, Palestinian farmers, and non-orthodox Jews praying at the Kotel are rarely if ever, prosecuted or punished for their violence.

The principle that ‘what a society permits, it condones’ is a stark warning. When a nation tolerates religious and nationalist fanaticism and violence, there is no telling what becomes possible. If fanaticism of every kind is tolerated going forward, then we and Israelis will have no one to blame but ourselves.

Shabbat Shalom.

[1] “While Israel was staying at Shittim, the menfolk profaned themselves by whoring with the Moabite women,

who invited the menfolk to the sacrifices for their God. The menfolk partook of them and worshiped that god.

Thus Israel attached itself to Baal-peor, and יהוה was incensed with Israel.” (Numbers 25:1-3)