"I hereby give Pinchas My covenant of peace. And it shall be to him and his descendants as an eternal covenant of the Kehunah" (BaMidbar 25). When men from Klal Yisrael fell into immorality with the Moabite women, Pinchas ended the tragedy by putting to death Zimri and Kosbi, who were consorting together. The Tomer Devorah reveals, "Pinchas merited the Kehunah because he acted with kindness towards HaShem." Yet, a questions arises: Pinchas' act of putting Zimri to death, seems to be an act of judgement, not "kindness"? Rather, the answer is that sin blocks the gates of HaShem's blessings from coming into the world. As long as Klal Yisrael engaged in immorality, HaShem's blessings were held back in abeyance. By putting Zimri to death, Pinchas effectively put a halt to the sinful behavior. He thereby, reopened the gates of HaShem' blessings, just as the Kohen's Divine service brings down divine blessings. Pinchas' sole intention was to act kindly to HaShem and kindly to Klal Yisrael, so that HaShem's blessings and compassion would flow again upon Klal Yisrael.
In order to neutralize the widespread, horrendous sinning, and its deadly consequences Pinchas had to act with great severity. Only in earlier generations, a great person like Pinchas, was allowed to act zealously. In our times, we also have the opportunity to do kindness with HaShem and with His creations. By influencing others to return in repentance to HaShem, we awaken HaShem's blessings to flow upon Klal Yisrael.
Envision Avraham Avinu influencing the people of his generation to believe in HaShem and emulate his ways of compassion. Reflect on the fact that the more people that you draw close to the Torah, the more the holy Shechinah will be revealed to the world.
(Based on Tomer Devorah of Rav Moshe Cordavero, Chapter Five)
