Nachman summarizes this week’s portion in Likutey Halakhot I, p. 290-146a, “We read Parashat Pinchas and Parashat Matot during the Three Weeks, as these Torah portions reflect the themes of this time period. The destruction of the Temple began on the Seventeenth of Tammuz, when the Jews made the golden calf that concealed Divine Will. Phineas, through his zealotry for God, revealed Divine Will. Furthermore, Parashat Pinchas speaks of the sacrifices brought on the Festivals, which also reveal Divine Will by way of the miracles that occurred on those days. Parashat Matot speaks of vows, which allow a person to single-handedly transform what is permitted into what is prohibited. This shows the power of free choice, which one can use to reveal God’s Will.”
Numbers 25:11 reads, “Pinchas the son of El‘azar, the son of Aharon the cohen, has deflected my anger from the people of Isra’el by being as zealous as I am, so that I didn’t destroy them in my own zeal.”
Nachman states, “In fact, Phineas was a most compassionate person. His goal was not to destroy the entire nation, but only the instigator of the evil, which would be sufficient to turn away God’s anger and bring an end to the Divine judgments. By assuming the mantle of vengeance, Phineas actually eased the judgments from the Jews, so that God could say, “I did not destroy the Jews in My vengeance.” Phineas transformed ChaMaTI (חמתי, My anger) into MaChiTI (מחתי, I have wiped away), as in “I have wiped away your sins like a cloud” (Isaiah 44: 22) (Likutey Moharan I, 241).”
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