Pinchas: Judaism vs. Terrorism

Ism is all the talk – terrorism, racism, fanaticism, fundamentalism, extremism, Islamism…

And what truism can be gleaned through the prism of another ism, Judaism?

From our Torah and Haftorah reading of this week (as well as from the mystics), we learn that:

• The antidote to bloodthirsty fanaticism is found in the actions of two zealots, Pinchas and Elijah.

• The solution to terror is found in a bond of peace and a still small sound.

• The answer to the architecture of evil is found in the architecture of prayer.