It’s a fascinating question when we delve into the story of Moses and the war against Midian. You see, Moses, the great leader of the Israelites, didn’t personally lead this particular battle. Why?
The Talmud (Yevamot 61a) tells us he was mindful of a proverb: "Cast no stone into the well from which thou hast drawn water." In essence, don't bite the hand that feeds you. Think about it: Moses, fleeing Egypt, had once found refuge in Midian. He’d even married there, started a family there. How could he then turn around and wage war against the very people who had sheltered him? It wouldn't sit right, would it?
So, if not Moses, then who? The mantle of leadership fell to Phinehas.
Now, there's a beautiful logic to this as well. The Midrash (Sifre Numbers 157) points out a crucial detail: "he that beginneth a good deed shall also complete it." Phinehas had already taken a stand against the Midianites, remember? He was the one who bravely struck down Cozbi, the Midianite princess, and Zimri, her Israelite lover, when they brazenly defied God's law (Numbers 25). Thus, completing the war against Midian naturally fell to him.
But there's more to Phinehas's connection to this war, a deeper layer of historical justice at play. According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, Phinehas, as a descendant of Joseph, had a "special reason for wishing to take revenge upon the Midianites." Remember the story of Joseph? As we know from Genesis 37, it was Midianites who ultimately sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt.
So, this war wasn't just about territorial disputes or religious differences. It was about historical wrongs, about a debt owed from generations past. Phinehas, driven by both righteous zeal and ancestral memory, stepped up to complete what he had started, and to settle a very old score.
Isn't it remarkable how these ancient stories grapple with such human themes? Gratitude, responsibility, justice, revenge… all intertwined in a single narrative. It makes you wonder, doesn't it, how our own past experiences and relationships might be shaping our actions today, in ways we don't even fully realize. What "wells" have we drawn water from, and how do we honor those debts in our own lives?