Numbers 25:10 - 30:1
July 21st - 27th
Pinchas is one of the few Parashah named after an individual. To appreciate how unusual this is, there is no Parashah named Abraham, nor is there one named Isaac, Jacob, Rivka, (Rebekah) Rachel, Leah, Joseph, Moses or Aaron. Clearly, Pinchas was one of the all-time heroes of Jewish history. What was his claim to fame? In an act of tremendous self-sacrifice (and at great personal danger), Pinchas acted to stop a public display of immorality, which had triggered a plague that was killing thousands. Pinchas had stepped forward at a time when everyone else had given up, and for this he was rewarded by God with the "Covenant of Peace."