Summary of the Parasha
God declares that Pinchas, through his zeal, turned His anger away from Israel; He gives him “My covenant of peace” and an eternal priesthood. The Torah then names the two offenders: Zimri son of Salu, a prince of Simeon, and Kozbi, daughter of a Midianite chief, and commands an attack on Midian. According to the Midrash, “Pinchas is Elijah”: the same zeal runs through the generations.
God orders a second census in the plains of Moab: tribe by tribe, family by family, 601,730 men are counted. None of them had been counted in the first census, except Caleb and Joshua. The land will be divided according to the size of the tribes and by lot. The Levites are counted separately.
The daughters of Tzelofchad (Machlah, Noa, Choglah, Milkah and Tirtzah), whose father died without sons, ask for their share of the inheritance. Moses brings their case before God, who answers: “The daughters of Tzelofchad speak rightly”, and sets the laws of inheritance.
God tells Moses to go up the mountain and see the land before he dies. Moses thinks only of the people: “Let Hashem appoint a man… so that the congregation of Hashem will not be like sheep without a shepherd”. God designates Joshua, “a man in whom there is spirit”; Moses lays his hands on him before Elazar and the whole congregation.
The parasha ends with the list of offerings: the daily tamid, Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot (70 bulls over seven days, for the seventy nations, says Rashi) and Shemini Atzeret. These are the texts of the festival Musaf. At every brit milah, Elijah’s chair is prepared for the one who was zealous for the covenant.
Summary of the Haftara
“V’Yad Hashem Haytah El Eliyahu” (“The hand of Hashem was upon Elijah”)
Text in I Kings 18:46–19:21
After his victory at Carmel, Elijah is threatened with death by Queen Jezebel. He flees to the desert, sits under a broom tree and asks to die. An angel wakes him twice with bread and water; with that strength he walks forty days to Mount Horeb (Sinai). There God asks him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answers: “I have been very zealous for Hashem”. A strong wind passes, an earthquake, a fire, but God is not in them; then comes “a still small voice” (kol demamah dakah). God sends him to anoint new kings and Elisha as prophet in his place; Elijah throws his mantle over Elisha, who follows him.
Parasha-Haftara Connection
Pinchas and Elijah, whom the Midrash identifies with each other, are the two great zealots for the covenant. And in both texts the aging prophet receives a successor: Joshua for Moses, Elisha for Elijah. The haftara also reminds us that the Divine Presence is not found in the uproar but in the silence. This haftara is read only in years when Pinchas comes before the 17th of Tammuz; otherwise, Matot’s haftara is read.