Zimri becomes a symbol of spiritual redemption

Rabbi Sam Thurgood.

Beit Midrash Morasha, Cape Town

The Talmudic sage, Rebbe Yochanan (Sanhedrin 82b), identifies this Zimri (a man we seem not to have met before) with Shelumiel ben Tzurishaddai, the distinguished leader of the tribe of Shimon who brought inaugural offerings to the Mishkan (sanctuary) and is named as one of our great leaders.

Apart from the sobering lesson that even the greatest of us can make such a serious mistake, this Gemorah seems problematic in its implications of lashon hara. Without the statement of Rebbe Yochanan, the reputation of Shelumiel would have remained untarnished – but by his telling us that Shelumiel is Zimri, that he ends his life in public disgrace (a stark lesson in the dangers of the uncontrolled sexual instinct) Shelumiel remains until today a byword for one who brings shame on himself and his family.

So why did Rebbe Yochanan reveal his secret and uncover his shame? (It is worth noting that the Talmud itself asks this question regarding the identity of the “wood gatherer”, see Shabbat 96b.)

Rebbe Tzadok HaKohein of Lublin, the great mystic Sage of the 19th century, asks this question and gives a very powerful answer.

Rebbe Yochanan’s real question, he says, was not: “Who was Zimri?” (a Biblical “guess who”, if you like) but: “Why did Zimri not defend himself, or call for his kinsmen to protect him?”

His answer was that as low as Zimri had sunk, at the last moment, when he saw Pinchas approaching with complete faith and total commitment to what was right, Zimri realised the error of his ways and surrendered himself to death for the honour of Hashem, to make up for the desecration of G-d’s name for which he had been responsible.

Rebbe Yochanan is teaching us not that the esteemed Shelumiel became the wicked Zimri, but that disgraceful Zimri returned, at the last moment, to being the righteous Shelumiel. Not simply a warning to human weakness, Zimri becomes a symbol of spiritual redemption – a person who, having surrendered his spirituality completely, reclaimed it in a final moment of glory. It is never too late, we are never too low. True greatness is always within our grasp.

Shabbat Shalom!