ספר במדבר

More on the concept that Pinchas is ‎identical with or equivalent to the prophet Elijah.‎It is an axiom that man’s body as such is a long way from ‎getting involved in service of the Creator. The body, by definition, ‎is concerned with its own needs, and seeing that is it transient, ‎mortal, cannot be expected to concentrate on the likes and ‎dislikes of its Creator, were it not for the fact that it is inhabited ‎by a soul of divine origin. Naturally, this soul, which feels as if in ‎prison while it inhabits a mortal body, longs for a return to its ‎origin. Seeing that the body does not share the soul’s lofty ‎aspirations, it is condemned sooner or later to return to the dust ‎from which it was formed, i.e. its destiny is the grave, interment ‎in the earth.‎This condition of the body, however, is not absolute. If the ‎body too had been involved in service of the Lord willingly, it ‎would not be mortal. Such a situation existed in Gan Eden ‎before man committed the first sin.‎Actually, (according to our author) Pinchas by his deed, had ‎deliberately risked death, as the sages said in Sanhedrin 82, ‎i.e. his body had not warned him that he was embarking on self ‎destruction. As a reward, his body had become immortal, similar ‎to the body of the prophet Elijah which departed from earth on a ‎journey heavenwards (Kings II 2,1-11) According to a ‎‎Midrash referred to by our author, Pinchas’s success in ‎killing Zimri was due to his body having made itself invisible at ‎the time.‎[I must confess that the statement attributed by the ‎editor of the version of the Kedushat Levi that I work from to ‎‎Sanhedrin 82 is not to be found there. Maybe the author had ‎a different source in mind when quoting: “our sages have said.” ‎Ed.]‎ ‎