How Can War Bring About Peace and Healing?

Parashat Pinchas

What is the Difference Between Shalom and Peace?

As a teenager, in the aftermath of the American counterculture of the sixties, my friends and I used to wear badges saying, “Make Love, not War!” Today, almost half a century later, as an observant Jewess, peace, and love, are still central to my beliefs. We are constantly greeting each other with Peace, aka שָׁלוֹם/Shalom, and wishing everyone we meet true peace and wholeness in life. Being so connected with this concept, I called my youngest son, Netanel Shalom which means, “G-d has given peace.” The word “shalom” is on my lips daily, not only when calling my son, but also, through the words of the prescribed prayers. Every Jewish prayer ends with Shalom: from Grace after Meals to the Silent Amida Prayer. The Blessing of the Kohanim, recited daily in synagogues in Israel, also culminates in שָׁלוֹם/Shalom, to bless us all with peace. My concept of peace, for which I yearn, has changed over the decades. ‘Shalom’ and ‘peace’ are not identical. Whereas the latter is defined as ‘freedom from disturbance’ or ‘absence of war,’ true shalom is a positive term, with its own value, rather than the absence of something undesirable, like disturbance and war. ‘Shalom’ derives from the Hebrew term שָׁלֵם/shalem, which means ‘complete’ or ‘whole.’ It is a state in which the opposing forces ofאֵשׁ /eish – ‘fire,’ represented by the ש/shin and מַיִם/mayim – ‘water’ represented by the מ/mem, coexist in perfect harmony. The greater the divergence and opposition, the greater the opportunity for true shalom. Not, that I want to get involved in a political discussion, but the new government in Israel, which comprises the greatest spectrum ever of parties, from the farthest right to the most extreme left, and includes an Arab party, has the greatest opportunity to engender true shalom. This unexpected unity government is truly from Hashem. Who understands His ways of bringing us our prayer for peace, healing, and redemption?  

Who Doesn’t Want Peace?

Western society emphasizes the competitive mode of self-preservation, encompassed by the seventh of the Ten Sefirot, נֶצַח/netzach – ‘victory.’ Simultaneously, it is inclined to tolerate and even empower adversaries, who are often viewed as victims. In that spirit, Israel is continually being condemned for the crimes of apartheid, and subjugation of so-called ‘refuges.’ This trend is rampant not only in Europe and North America, but even in Israel itself, represented by the Shalom Achshav – ‘Peace Now’ movement. The yearning for peace is definitely a beautiful trait, that harbingers the dawn of the messianic age. However, the leftist Shalom Achshav movement does not have a monopoly on desiring peace. Their most ‘hawkist’ opponents are no less adamant proponents of peace. Who wants to live in a place where rockets rain down daily, and our boys are killed and maimed in war? Who yearns more for true shalom and global healing than the followers of Torah? The difference lays not in the end goal shared by us all, but rather, in the method of attaining true peace. The question is whether giving in to terrorists and relinquishing land will ever afford us the peace that we all seek.
 
King Solomon as the Model of Peace
When we look at Jewish biblical history, we notice that King Solomon’s reign is a model for peace. This is why his name was Solomon, which in Hebrew is שְׁלֹמֹה/Shlomo, from the word שָׁלוֹם/Shalom. This prompts the midrash to describe Shlomo as “the king to whom shalom belongs” (Midrash Shir HaShirim Rabbah 3:19). It is interesting to notice, that the king who engendered the greatest world peace, was known for his military strength. As soon as he ascended the throne, King Solomon got rid of his foes by liquidating his opponents ruthlessly. In addition to infantry, he had at his disposal impressive chariotry and cavalry, through which he carried out successful military operations in Syria (See II Divrei Hayamim, Chapter 8; https://www.britannica.com/biography/Solomon). The neighboring countries were kept under strict control through heavy taxes, and no one dared to lift as much as a rock, against the Kingdom of Israel, under Shlomo’s rule. Without any terrorists or countries threatening warfare, Israel experienced the greatest peace. This is due to the fact that it is against Jewish nature to attack. Our current army is called IDF – ‘Israel Defense Forces’ because its purpose is not to attack but rather to defend. Yet, King Solomon’s reign proves that the greatest peace is achieved through showing a strong hand to potential enemies. 

Make War Not Love!

Parashat Pinchas opens with Hashem’s endorsing and extending the covenant of peace to Pinchas because he stopped the plague, by killing a couple engaged in sexual immorality (Bamidbar 25:7-8). For the Westerner reading about Pinchas’ killing a couple engaged in lovemaking, these verses can be jarring, especially for the proponents, even the ex-proponents of “make love, not war!” Nevertheless, it was explicitly this hawkish act that brought peace and healing to our people:
 

ספר במדבר פרק כה פסוק יא פִּינְחָס בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן הֵשִׁיב אֶת חֲמָתִי מֵעַל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּקַנְאוֹ אֶת קִנְאָתִי בְּתוֹכָם וְלֹא כִלִּיתִי אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּקִנְאָתִי: (יב) לָכֵן אֱמֹר הִנְנִי נֹתֵן לוֹ אֶת בְּרִיתִי שָׁלוֹם:(יג) וְהָיְתָה לּוֹ וּלְזַרְעוֹ אַחֲרָיו בְּרִית כְּהֻנַּת עוֹלָם תַּחַת אֲשֶׁר קִנֵּא לֵאלֹהָיו וַיְכַפֵּר עַל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל: 

“Pinchas the son of Eleazar the son of Aharon the kohen has turned My anger away from the children of Israel by his zealously avenging Me among them, so that I did not destroy the children of Israel because of My zeal. Therefore, say, ‘I hereby give him My covenant of peace. It shall be for him and for his descendants after him [as] an eternal covenant of kehunah, because he was zealous for his G-d and atoned for the children of Israel’” (Bamidbar 25:11). 

Due to falling prey to the Midianite enticement of sexual immorality meshed with idolatry, Hashem had caused a plague upon the Israelites, which killed twenty-four thousand people (ibid. verse 9). The deadly plague ceased as soon as Pinchas took the spear in his hand, driving it through the prince of the tribe of Shimon, as he was engaged in illicit relations with the Midianite woman, the daughter of the national leader of a paternal house in Midian. 

Healing Hod by Distinguishing Friend from Foe

Pinchas, a grandson of Aharon, who is known for pursuing peace (Pirkei Avot 1:12), was awarded the eternal covenant of kehunah (of being a priest), specifically through killing a couple engaged in lovemaking. By the same token, he was granted the covenant of peace, as it is the perpetual role of the Kohanim to bless Israel with peace. The attribute of peace is connected to the eighth of the Ten Sefirot, הוֹד/hod – ‘empathy/recognition.’ Each of the lower sefirot is attributed to one of our seven shepherds, from Avraham to David, and the sefirah of hod is attributed to Aharon. Rabbi Ginsburg, in his book Body, Mind & Soul, connects each of the sefirot with one of the physiological systems. The immune system is associated with הוֹד/hod. He explains that when the sefirot of the left side – including the sefirah of hod – become estranged from the sefirot of the right – including the sefirah of Netzach – disease manifests through malfunction of the immune system. A healthy immune system annihilates destructive, foreign intrusions into the body, whereas an unhealthy immune system turns on the body itself. Hod is related to the Hebrew word תּוֹדָה/todah – ‘thanks and recognition.’ A messed-up immune system results from an inability to recognize and distinguish friend from foe. Not only in our Western culture is it hard to recognize that sometimes making love is detrimental to peace. Therefore, only one person: Pinchas, who had mastered the quality of hod – as bequeathed to him from his grandfather Aharon, was able to recognize the peril to healthy peace and carry out this recognition into action.

 

Healing our Immune System

Balance is always the key to ultimate health. In a Netzach-focused society, we need to reclaim our hod to attain balance and health. I believe that the reason why we struggle today with several diseases connected to the immune system, including a number of auto-immune illnesses, is because we have become so alienated from our true sense of hod. When a person has AIDS (G-d forbid), the virus kills the immune system, instead of the immune system killing the virus. Seasonal allergies are caused when a person’s immune system misconceives healthy pollen seeds for invading enemy cells. 

ספר ישעיה פרק ה פסוק כ

:הוֹי הָאֹמְרִים לָרַע טוֹב וְלַטּוֹב רָע שָׂמִים חֹשֶׁךְ לְאוֹר וְאוֹר לְחֹשֶׁךְ שָׂמִים מַר לְמָתוֹק וּמָתוֹק לְמָר

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that change darkness to light, and light to darkness; that change bitter into sweet, and sweet into bitter!” (Yesha’yahu 5:20).
 
We can heal our immune system by learning to cultivate a sense of thanks to all who are benevolent to us and acknowledge our indebtedness to them, both for their physical and spiritual gifts. Simultaneously, we must recognize the nature of our foes, against whom we must be strong. When we master linking to the ally and fighting off the foe, like Pinchas, we can bring about Hashem’s blessing of peace and ultimate healing for body and soul, both for Israel and the entire world.