Grappling with heart-rending dilemmas—Then and now

There are times when we are forced to grapple with moral dilemmas of such epic proportions that what we decide in the end may have consequences for years and even generations to come. Such was the dilemma facing Phinehas (Pinchas), and such is the dilemma that we face today in the negotiations with Hamas.

At the end of Parashat Balak that we read last week, the Torah tells us that the Israelites camped at a place called Shittim close to the border of the Land of Canaan. After settling there for a while, the Israelites began whoring with Moabite women who then invited them to join them in the worship of Baal-peor, the local deity. God was incensed by this moral outrage and desecration of His name and He sent a devastating plague to kill all those involved. But to make matters worse, just when Moses and the people were bewailing the plague and beseeching God at the entrance to the Sanctuary, Zimri, the chieftain of the clan of Simon, and Cozbi, the daughter of the tribal head of the ancestral house of Midian, engaged in some sort of provocative sexual act (see Rashbam, the JPS commentary and others. Ibn Ezra understands this differently) right in front of everyone. Yet no one, including Moses, did anything to stop them.

Now, let us try to understand the gravity of the situation. The Israelites were on the verge of entering the Land where they were meant to express their exclusive loyalty to God. Of the many rules and regulations in the Torah, there are none more fundamental than the prohibition against the worship of other gods and against prostitution, especially if such prostitution is done in the presence of God at the Israelite cultic center. Furthermore, since the act was perpetrated by a leader of one of the twelve tribes, and since Moses failed to intervene (perhaps because he himself was married to a Midianite woman) the people might have come to believe that this kind of behavior was acceptable. Thus, the very foundation and fabric of the Israelite faith and religion, and their continued existence as God’s people, were at stake. Something had to be done, then and there, before it might be too late. Although there is no greater crime than the deliberate murder of another human being, let alone a Jewish leader along with the daughter of the leader of a rival nation with all the political ramifications that might ensue, Phinehas decided to take a spear and stab them both to death.

Was this the right thing to do under the circumstances? Did Phinehas act appropriately in this agonizingly difficult situation? Although we are told of the subsequent elimination of the plague which would suggest divine approval, it isn’t until this week’s parasha—Parashat Pinchas—that we hear of God’s clear and unequivocal validation of Phinehas’s actions: “Phinehas… has turned back My wrath from the Israelites by displaying his passion for Me…therefore, I grant him My pact of friendship…” (Numbers 25:11-12).

Nevertheless, by delaying the reading of this divine blessing by a week, it is as though the Rabbis who divided the Torah into parshiot (portions) were trying to impart the lesson that sometimes we have to wait a week, or perhaps much longer, to find out whether our decisions in such earth-shattering, heart-rending moral dilemmas are justified or not. It is also worth noting that, despite God’s blessing, some of the Rabbis more than two thousand years later expressed reservations about Phinehas’s act and some even argued that he would have been excommunicated if not for the divine decree (see the Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin 9 (27b)).

Shifting our attention to the current dilemma, some are adamantly opposed to the proposed deal with Hamas (although many of the details are still unknown) on the grounds that it will leave Hamas in power which, after their vicious attack of October 7, would amount to an admission of defeat. Furthermore, they argue that the release of terrorists with “blood on their hands” will further embolden Hamas, just as it did when Israel released Yahya Sinwar—one of the two masterminds of October 7th—as part of the Shalit deal, which will inevitably cause more bloodshed and death. Finally, withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor—the main pipeline for Hamas arms supplies— will enable Hamas to rearm and rebuild the terror infrastructure that has been, and is still being, methodically destroyed by Israel. Thus, if the deal is approved, Hamas will still have the determination, the personnel and the weapons to launch many more attacks similar to October 7. Thus, after a war that has lasted for over 9 months, and that has resulted in the tragic deaths of so many soldiers who sacrificed their lives in order to defeat and destroy Hamas, the prospect of such a deal is deemed unconscionable.

On the other hand, those in favor of the deal argue that the lives of the hostages hang in the balance, and that with every passing day their lives are increasingly at risk. Furthermore, they claim that failure to reach a deal means not just the continuation of the war in Gaza but most likely a full-blown war against Hezbollah in the north as well, one that will almost certainly exact a far higher toll on Israel in terms of national morale, rockets fired throughout the country, military and civilian casualties, the continued displacement of Israelis from their homes along with many more, a regional conflagration involving Iran and its many proxies, and increasing international isolation even from our most important allies. In addition, after a war that has lasted for more than 9 months in the south and that has taken a profound emotional and psychological toll, our soldiers may no longer have the ability to fight yet another war, even if we did have enough soldiers (which we do not). Finally, they argue that since Israel’s military leadership supports the deal and believes that Israel has the wherewithal to contend with any military flair-ups that might arise, the deal should be supported.

So what should Prime Minister Netanyahu do in this excruciatingly difficult situation? Should he approve the deal or not? And whatever he decides, how will we know whether his decision was ultimately the right one?

I suppose that, just as in the case of Phinehas, we might have to wait a while and see, and perhaps if we are lucky, God, in the end, will grant His “pact of friendship” to us as well.