QUESTION: In the Torah the name Pinchas is written with a "yud", and according to the Zohar (237b) Pinchas with a "yud" has the numerical value of two hundred and eight, as does the name of the patriarch Yitzchak. What is the connection between Pinchas and Yitzchak? ANSWER: The prophet Eliyahu encountered the false prophets of the idol Ba'al and challenged them to prove whose God was the true one. It was agreed that he and they would each prepare an offering, and the one whose offering would be consumed by a fire descending from heaven would be the representative of the authentic God. All their attempts to bring down fire were to no avail. When Eliyahu prayed, "Aneini HaShem aneini" - "Please God answer me" - a fire descended from heaven (see I Kings 18:19-40). These answers, while attempting to teach us a didactic lesson, nevertheless are somewhat fanciful. I personally like the answer given by a modern scholar by the name of Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed of Beit-El Yeshiva (Yeshiva.org.il) in Isra'el: One's intellect is the source of his moral character and personality. Only after one appreciates that that which is good is truly good, does he begin to yearn for it - and as a result act towards achieving that end. Human intellect is beyond emotion; in fact, it actually guides and even directs emotion. An act of "jealousy" on behalf of God, however, does not stem from the intellect. Man possesses a quality even higher than the intellect; it exists on the subconscious level, in the depths of one's spirit; it constantly strives to reveal itself and to appear via the intellect and emotion. The role of intellect and emotion is to neutralize those factors that block the manifestation of zealotry. [This model is used by Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook (of blessed memory) to explain the phenomenon of Emunah, or faith. He stresses that emunah exists on a plane above and beyond intellect and emotion]. It is from these depths that jealousy must spring; this jealousy - or zealotry - reveals itself once one puts aside all factors that inhibit the manifestation of his inner cleaving to the Creator of the Universe. This zealotry responds to any even slight manifestation of Hillul HaShem, or desecration of God's name. Zealotry that has its roots in an understanding of the Divine - inspires the "zealot" to reach a state of completion - or Sheleimut: "Behold, I am giving him My covenant of Peace (Shalom). In Tractate Sanhedrin, our sages enumerate the deeds, which, if done by a Jew, warrant "Zealots smiting him." For example, "One who steals a vessel for use in the Temple... one who has relations with a Gentile woman..." and - even a Cohen who serves in the Temple while in a state of ritual impurity - are legitimately attacked and killed by zealots. The reason for Torah-sanctioned vigilance in these kinds of cases? The direct offense committed by the transgressor, who himself has stricken at the heart of the bond between the Children of Israel and the Holy One, Blessed be He. Our sages explain that true zealotry may be defined as a situation in which the zealot does not inquire of a scholar how to act in the case at hand; in fact, should he make such an inquiry, a scholar would be bound not to instruct him to take action. Why? The very question as to how to respond indicates that the person has not internalized the level of zealotry required to permit his unilateral action. True zealotry flows naturally, from an inability of the person to tolerate the desecration of God’s name. A well-known Torah dictum states that in situations of desecration to God’s name, one does not allot honor even to a Rabbi. Zealous for the sake of God’s Holy Name. This was the supremacy of Pinchas’ fury. Even though what he did was not considered “peaceful” in our eyes, nevertheless the Almighty awarded him the peace prize as a cohen (priest).