EXTREMISM AND ITS PERILS - David Perlstein

A character in the Book of Numbers and a man who ran for President of the United States 60 years ago share something in common. I

n 1964, Senator Barry Goldwater (R. Ariz.) campaigned against Lyndon Johnson, who assumed the presidency after the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy. In his acceptance speech at the GOP convention in San Francisco, Goldwater proclaimed, “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!” (This was written by his speechwriter, Karl Hess.)

Goldwater’s supporters hailed his remarks, approving of extremism, which Goldwater did not define. Goldwater had his distractors among Democrats, and they were legion. Johnson won in a true landslide, polling 61.1 percent of the popular vote and, most important, crushing Goldwater in the Electoral College, 486–52.

A biblical extremist appears in this week’s Torah portion, Pinchas (Numbers 25:10–30:1). The Israelite men had whored with Moabite/Midianite women at the instigation of the Gentile prophet Balaam. What happens at the beginning of this portion has raised ongoing debate among Jews and non-Jewish scholars alike:

“Just then one of the Israelites came and brought a Midianite woman over to his companions, in the sight of Moses and of the whole Israelite community who were weeping at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. When Phineas [Pinchas], son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he left the assembly and, taking a spear in his hand, he followed the Israelite into the chamber and stabbed both of them, the Israelite and the woman, through the belly. Then the plague against the Israelites was checked” (Num. 25:6–8; translation: Jewish Publication Society).

Does Moses and/or God turn against Pinchas?

“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Phinehas, son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the Israelites by displaying among them his passion for Me, so that I did not wipe out the Israelite people in My passion. Say, therefore, ‘I grant him My pact of friendship [b’rit shalom, also pact of peace] (Num. 25:10–12).

God hails Pinchas’ slaying of Salu, son of a chieftain of the Israelite tribe of Simeon, and Cozby, daughter of a Midianite tribal head. Many of the Rabbis of the post-Second Temple period (1st- and 2nd-century CE on) disapprove. The revered Israeli biblical commentator Nehama Leibowitz (1905–97), expresses their and her dissatisfaction with Pinchas:

“In his zeal for his God, he slew a man on the spur of the moment, without trial, or offering previous warning, without legal testimony being heard, and in defiance of all the procedures of judicial examination prescribed by the Torah . . . His deed of summary justice, taking the law into his hands, constituted a dangerous precedent, from the social, moral and educational angle.…” (Studies in Bamidbar/Numbers, 329-30.)

Zeal that produces violence for a good cause risks proving bad policy as injustice and violence increase. The great Sage Hillel advised 2,000 years ago, “Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace” (Pirkei Avot 1:12).

In Washington and Jerusalem, extremism in the defense of homeland seems the order of the day. Freedoms erode, blood flows. May the words of Hillel be heard. Please pass on this post.

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