It may seem ironic that the reward for a violent killing should be "a covenant of peace."

The word in Hebrew "Shalom" not only means peace, but also connotes completeness and perfection - any peace which lacks completeness and perfection is not really peace. And just as there can only be One Completeness and One Perfection, so too there can only be one real peace - Hashem's peace, for only "He who makes peace in His exalted realms, He will make peace for us and for all of Israel...."

If something is immoral, then appeasement is not peace and doesn't lead to peace. On the other hand, an act of zealotry divorced of pure intentions can be a crime in itself. For this reason the Torah points out that Pinchas acted "for his G-d" - i.e., he had no motivation whatsoever other than to do the will of the Almighty. Only when intentions are entirely pure can zealotry lead to "a covenant of peace."

'He expressed the anger that was Mine to show.' - Rashi

Rashi explains the meaning of the expression "he avenged My vengeance" to mean: "He expressed the anger that was Mine to show." It was specifically because Pinchas did something that was really Hashem's to do that he merited such a great reward.

The same idea applies to tzedaka, charity. Turnus Rufus once asked Rabbi Akiva how it was that "If Hashem loves the poor why doesn't He feed them?" Rabbi Akiva answered that the poor give us more than we give them - for through giving them tzedaka, they save us from gehinnom (purgatory).

Rabbi Akiva was saying that, of course, it's Hashem's 'job' to feed the poor, but He allows us to feed them instead. And by doing 'Hashem's job for Him,' we earn a far greater reward. We are like the little boy setting the table for Shabbos. Of course, Hashem can feed the poor Himself, but He gives us the job to do, even though, we're really not 'helping' Him at all.

When Zimri, prince of the tribe of Shimon, committed an act of gross indecency with Cozbi, princess of Moav, everyone including Moshe was frozen in disbelief. Everyone, that is, except Pinchas. Pinchas didn't hesitate to avenge Hashem's honor and execute the pair.

The Midrash tells "that because of Moshe's hesitation, no man knows the place of his burial."

What can one thing possibly have to do with the other? Why did Moshe' hesitation mean that his burial place is unknown?

The reason is as follows: Skeptics claim that Moshe couldn't have been as great as the Torah's description of him. For if had he been so great, if he had really gone up to Heaven and spoken face-to-face with the Divine Presence, he should have merited eternal life. Instead of dying a human death, he should have ascended alive to Heaven like Chanoch and Eliyahu. So, claim the skeptics, the Torah of Moshe must be nothing more than a panegyric of self-glorification.

This claim, however, is laughable. For if Moshe had wanted to write himself a fictitious final scene, he could certainly have written something like "And Moshe ascended to Heaven alive in a fiery chariot." That would have been a real curtain-closer!

But what does it say in the Torah? "And Moshe died...."

Can there be a stronger proof of the Torah's truth than those few prosaic words: "And Moshe died..."? How easy it would have been for Moshe to write himself a glorious supernatural exit to rival the biggest Hollywood blockbuster - and add immeasurably to the luster of his memory!

However, the strength of this proof relies on one other factor - no-one knows Moshe's burial place! Because, if it were known, then Moshe could never have claimed that he ascended to Heaven alive - his grave would be there for all to see.

Now we can understand the words of the Midrash: "Because of Moshe's hesitation, no man knows his burial place." If Moshe had stepped in and executed Zimri, had he "avenged the vengeance of Hashem," necessarily he would have merited the reward that Pinchas in fact received - an eternal life without death.

But if Moshe had lived forever, he would never have been able to confound the skeptics and prove the truth of the Torah by those few words "And Moshe died...."