In this week's parsha we read the continuation of the story of Pinchas. The Torah tells us that Pinchas was overcome by zeal to rectify the breach of illicit relations that the Jewish People were engaged with. Our sages tell us that Pinchas risked his life and went against the "trend" to defend the honor of G-d.

The Ramchal tells us that zealousness in an expression of love. When someone loves someone or something and they witness some affront to that which they love the natural expression is one of zeal to rectify the situation. This is why when a parent see's their child hurt in some way they react with great zeal. They don't have the same zeal when they see their friend's child hurt because they don't have the same level of love for the other child.

We all have certain ethics or morals that we feel very strong about. We all have beliefs that we have "love" for. When we see these beliefs or morals being breached even if the trend is to breach them we need to react with zeal. A person obviously needs to weigh if their beliefs are actually correct and how important it is to uphold these beliefs, but when a person is faced with these breaches they should not be afraid to stand up for those beliefs.

Shabbat Shalom,

Heath