Parashat Pinchas opens with God's approval of the zealous act that Pinchas performed, related at the end of the previous parasha. The Netziv, in his commentary on Chumash, the Ha'amek Davar, explains why God told Moshe that He would give Pinchas "a covenant of peace" (Bamidbar 25:12). Pinchas killed people. Within its context, this was a heroic act, and saved many people from the plague that was landed upon them on account of their misbehavior. However, the act of killing is a brutal act, and has the effect of making one cruel. Good intentions affect the moral aspect of an action; they do not control the psychological inner workings of one's personality. Therefore, it is theoretically possible that through well-intended behavior, in extreme circumstances, one may develop a cruel character. God said that He would give Pinchas "a covenant of peace". This means that Pinchas's good nature would not be spoilt by the act of cruelty that he had committed.
The reason, the Netziv explains, why Pinchas's character would be spared, was that he acted "leshem shamayim", "for the sake of heaven". He was blessed with a peaceful personality, in spite of the character-harming act that he had committed, because he acted out of good intentions. This point complexes the issue somewhat. Are we now to understand that well-intended behavior never actually poses a threat to one's personality, because God rewards it with a blessing of peacefulness? Or, should we rather notice the moral warning in the Netziv's analysis? Does God's canceling out of the threat to one's character, in the performance of mitzvot that involve unavoidable cruelty, mean that mitzvot are never dangerous to one's character, in the final analysis?
The Netziv makes reference to his commentary on Devarim 13:18, in relation to the ir hanidachat, a city destroyed because of rampant idolatry. We are told that no part of the spoil may be gathered, "in order that God may repent of His anger, and give you mercy, and be merciful towards you". Here also, the Netziv explains that the giving of mercy relates to the canceling out of the harm to one's personality that the fulfillment of the commandment would naturally affect. However, the verse made this promise conditional to one's taking care that the tiniest part of the spoil does not "stick in you hands" ("velo yidbak beyadkha meuma min hacherem"). It is not enough to do the right thing for the right intentions; one must become extreme in the purification of the act.
The next verse reads, "When you listen to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep all of His commandments…to do that which is straight [or, "upright"] in the eyes of the Lord your God." The Netziv continues his argument: Listening to the voice of the Lord is the study of Torah. One must study Torah with the aim to keep God's commandments, and also in order to do that which is upright, that is: by aspiring to emulate the divine attributes. If one does so, the merit of the Torah saves one from character decay resulting from cruel behavior. The Netziv says that this is a condition! While generally we say that one who is involved in the performance of a mitzva need not worry about being harmed (physically, or, according to the Netziv, in his personality either), here, the extremeness of the situation makes such a guarantee impossible ("shekhichi hezeika"). One must therefore act to counter the imminent danger to one's character.
The Netziv understands that God's blessing of peace, restoring the calmness, and refined nature, of a character that has had to perform ethically positive but cruel acts, is not automatic. One must actively work to counter the potential moral decay. Firstly, one's actions must be completely clean of personal gain; they must be purely for the sake of heaven. Secondly, one must study Torah with the aim of infusing its message into one's life. We live a complex existence in a perplexing world. We must sometimes perform missions involving actions, the external and direct meaning of which, is cruelty. By refining our behavior to our utmost, and studying Torah with the intention of imbuing ourselves with its message, we respond to this inherent danger, and God blesses us with "a covenant of peace".
Courtesy of Yeshivat Har Etzion - www.etzion.org.il