Discovering Inner Peace with Pinchas

“I hereby give my covenant of peace.” What does peace mean and how do we get it? If Pinchas is any indication, we can learn from his actions, and what he stopped, in order to gain some perspective in this area. Peace is essential for the world, as the Mishnah in Oktzin 3:12 states, “Hashem hasn’t found a better vessel for blessings in this world other than peace.” We end every Shemonah Esrei with the blessing of peace, and so too, everything related to Judaism is wrapped in this idea. 

Peace is a spiritual characteristic used by Hashem Himself. And since it is spiritual it has no boundaries like anything physical. As we’ve spoken many times before, anything physical has beginnings and ends whereas spirituality isn’t about a result, it is about the task at hand. Loving someone or something is not about what we’ll be getting afterwards, rather it is the act of simple love that fills us with the most joy we may ever desire. 

The same is with peace, the solitude and serenity peace delivers is more valuable than any job and more worthwhile than anything temporary. Even though it may not last beyond the present moment, it is those moments of peace that we experience that fill us up for the future and give us what to look forward to in the future. The struggle many have is how to achieve it once more and this time for it to last even longer.

The covenant of peace is the ultimate blessing. It is when man knows that his purpose and destiny are within reach. He no longer has to fight for his life, reputation or recognition, he is assured with this blessing that it will all be ok. No longer is the person stuck in the spiral of doubt and confusion and no more is there any worry and stress, the man can rise up and confidently stride into the world with nothing hindering his path.

It is a spiritual feeling that transcends the boundaries and limitations we grow up with. Many people may find instances in their life that are peaceful, especially after accomplishing goals and tasks. They find that their effort has paid off and that now they can finally sit back, relax and be satiated with the fruits of their labor. But it is short lived because man without purpose is like a car with no engine, we need to constantly keep moving forward, and sitting back brings along new and unforeseen problems.

People who have never struggled with addictions, laziness or in many cases destructive behaviors find themselves in spirals of turmoil after they have finally reached their potential and fulfilled their hard and strenuous goal. How have they become this kind of person and where have they gone wrong. They think to themselves, “I am so accomplished, look at the things I’ve done, see the time and effort of so many years that I’ve put in. How have I fallen this low?”

Here is where principle comes into play. How do we keep ourselves in peace? Granted that one has the resources to lie back and relax, what are the behaviors a person should be involved in so that they don’t end up like this guy who is unrecognizable from a mere year ago? Pinchas and his blessing give us some insight, let’s see what he did and how this action actually gave him the ability to have the life all of us so desperately wish for.

The acts of Zimri in defiance of Hashem, publicly in the face of the nation set everyone’s heart into a frenzy. The leader of an entire Shevet had the audacity to do this? But like everything in the world, it takes just a few seconds until each person chooses their side and finds arguments to either defend or fight the reality. You can see it with the assassination attempt on Mr. Trump in recent weeks and how the leftists are already arguing that he may not have gotten shot. Someone died in the crowd that same second, bullets whizzed by and injured two more, but they have their agenda and they will go to the grave with their idiocy.

It is in the most horrifying and in the most obvious of times that the true colors of people show. Pinchas, in that moment, stood up for what was right. He took his dagger, entered the lair and stabbed them both through and through and carried them out into the open. His true colors were out in the open, the adrenaline rush didn’t give him any time to think, rather he reacted based on his instinct and did what was right in Hashem’s eyes. 

Imagine a person reacting foolishly based on instinct. We all have moments in our life that we get pulled into arguments or dragged into altercations that lead us to do the silliest and dumbest things. We know that they are wrong while we are doing them, but our programming has been so corrupted over the years and we never really took a moment to evaluate what our real and true purpose in this world is. Pinchas on the other hand, knew exactly what life was about and when the time came it was clear to all that he was acting purely and wholeheartedly.

We need to take time out of our day to think about ourselves in such situations. How would I react when someone stresses me out, what thoughts will allow my mind to entertain and what actions or reactions are the results. Can I be stronger than my weaknesses, are there any thoughts I can implement in my life that will have me ready for such occasions? It’s like an introvert who needs to psych himself up before entering a large gathering of people. “How will I keep my composure before so many strangers and what will I do once I get home?”

With such meaningful exercises we can ultimately achieve true peace in this world. Our accomplishments mean so much more, since they came about with meaning. We don’t step on anybody else as we work our way to the top and when we finally make it we attribute all the credit to the One above. We are filled with humility and acknowledge that we alone couldn’t have gotten here on our own. Everything about us is true and honest and our true colors fill our aura wherever we go.

We struggle a lot in many areas, some find certain subjects harder than others, but overall, we all have our parts in life that require introspection and awareness. Once we understand our weaknesses we must never forget our strengths, or else we may end up lost in oblivion. We need to have physical reminders of our accomplishments in order not to fall back, much like a degree or a certificate hanging on the wall.

“I hereby give my covenant of peace.” This bond between Hashem and Pinchas lasts for eternity. We can get there too, because after hard work of self recognition and by seeing ourselves react properly by instinct there is nothing that can sway or blur us from the truest reality. And such peace never ends and is truly eternal. 

David Lemmer is an orthodox Jewish author and hypnotherapist out of NJ. He can be reached at LemmerHypno@gmail.com