#about an aggadah in Sanhedrin that sees his act as protest both against the people and against God's punishment

[torahgalus]

Pinchas

wage peace, with love and viciousness and certainty. lay your bleeding body prostrate before God and cry, is this what you wanted?

remember you cannot always wait for them to decide. remember-- they may not want to decide.

remember you are too fierce and too kind to stand waiting. every moment you stand still you stand with them. every moment you stand still you stand with them. can you feel them easing the spear from your clenched fists, can you feel how easy it would be to--

no. fight them jealously, lovingly. fight for God; fight God. still, standing. make your bloody peace. break their bloody silence.

#poem #poetry #jumblr #torah #Pinchas #Parshat HaShavuah #Poem HaShavuah #yeah yeah Bnot Tzlofechad's often the kicker in this one but I already wrote about that #thinking about the ways we cast Pinchas #about an aggadah in Sanhedrin that sees his act as protest both against the people and against God's punishment #about the way that God's pact with him is a pact of peace #his act is bloody and hard to reconcile and also singlehandedly ends the plague of which we'd previously seen no mention #thinking about times when it's worthwhile #when it's necessary #to see something taken care of officially #through official channels #to see change done in the way more people will condone #and the times when waiting for that only makes you complicit in the ongoing violence #the times when refraining is an inherently violent act that we paint as proper and peaceful #the times we waive responsibility because there's simply nothing to be done