Pinchas: Chapter 77

Mem of Mavet flying in the air

Synopsis

Rabbi Shimon says that Elijah (Elijah being Pinchas in reincarnation) snatched the letters Mem and Vav from the word mavet, which means death, by means of the great pity he had for Yisrael and his determination that they should not be lost because of the sins of Zimri and Cozbi - this is how and why he killed the two sinners with a spear. Rabbi Shimon concludes by saying that whenever there is a righteous man in the world, the patriarchs come to help him.