Covenant of Shalom Restored
בענין השלום שניתן לפינחס ובמד' אין כלי מחזיק ברכה אלא שלום
Regarding the covenant of shalom that was granted to Pinchas, and the Midrash that states there is no vessel that holds blessing other than shalom.
The Sfas Emes opens his theme: Pinchas received shalom, and shalom is the only vessel capable of holding blessing.
דכ' ה' עוז לעמו יתן כו' יברך את עמו בשלום
As it is written, "Hashem will give strength to His people; Hashem will bless His people with shalom" (Tehillim 29:11).
He brings the verse pairing strength and shalom as the framework for the whole piece.
והם ב' הבריתות ברית הלשון וברית המעור
These correspond to the two covenants: the covenant of the tongue and the covenant of the bris (the protective sign of the milah).
Strength and shalom correspond to two covenants of the body: the tongue and the bris of milah.
והם ב' האותות תפילין למען תהי' תורת ה' בפיך
And these are the two signs: tefillin, "so that the Torah of Hashem shall be in your mouth" (Shemos 13:9).
These two covenants align with the two signs of tefillin, which keep the Torah in one's mouth.
ואין עוז אלא תורה ואין עוז אלא תפילין יברך את עמו בשלום הוא ברית המעור שמחבר ומקשר כל הרמ"ח אברים ובפנימיות הרמ"ח מ"ע
And "strength" refers to nothing other than Torah, and "strength" refers to nothing other than tefillin; "Hashem will bless His people with shalom" — this is the covenant of the bris, which joins and binds together all 248 limbs, and within the 248 limbs are the 248 positive mitzvos.
Strength is both Torah and tefillin; shalom is the bris that unifies all 248 limbs, which carry the 248 positive mitzvos within them.
ושס"ה גידין ול"ת
And the 365 sinews correspond to the 365 negative mitzvos.
The 365 sinews of the body parallel the 365 negative mitzvos.
והשי"ת חקק באיש ישראל הכח בפה ולשון להמשיך אור התורה
Hashem engraved within the Jew the power in the mouth and tongue to draw down the light of the Torah.
Hashem placed within every Jew the capacity, through mouth and tongue, to draw the Torah's light into the world.
ובברית לקשר כל הקומה אחר אור התורה
And in the bris He set the power to bind the entire stature of the body to follow after the light of the Torah.
And through the bris, He gave the power to align the whole body to follow that Torah light.
וזהו נק' שלום כדאיתא במדרש בפסוק התהלך לפני והי' תמים ע"י המילה עמ"ש שם
This is what is called shalom, as it is brought in the Midrash on the verse "Walk before Me and be wholehearted" (Bereishis 17:1) — that this is achieved through the milah, as is explained there.
This unifying state is called shalom, achieved through milah, as the Midrash teaches on the command to Avraham to be wholehearted.
והוא המקום ששורה בו הברכה כמו בגשמיות שעושה פירות וברי' חדשה כן הוא בפנימיות
And this is the place in which the blessing rests — just as in the physical world a thing produces fruits and a new creation, so it is in the inner realm.
Wherever this shalom rests, blessing dwells — producing fruitfulness and renewal, physically and spiritually.
ושורש הברכה בעולם ביהמ"ק כדכ' שם צוה ה' את הברכה
And the root of the blessing in the world is in the Beis HaMikdash, as it is written, "For there Hashem commanded the blessing" (Tehillim 133:3).
The root of blessing in the world is the Beis HaMikdash, where Hashem commanded the blessing to rest.
ובנפש המילה
And in the soul, the root of blessing is the milah.
Within the human being, the corresponding root of blessing is the milah.
ובזמן השבת והכל אחד
And in time, the root of blessing is Shabbos — and all of them are one.
In the dimension of time, the root of blessing is Shabbos, and all three roots are ultimately one.
וע"י שפינחס קנא על הברית זכה לשלום והיא היו"ד שנתוספה לפינחס דאיתא י' באיש וה' באשה כשמתנהגין בקדושה השכינה שרוי' ביניהם ואם לאו אש אוכלתן
And because Pinchas was zealous for the bris, he merited shalom, and this is the letter yud that was added to the name of Pinchas; for it is brought that there is a yud in the word ish (man) and a hei in the word ishah (woman) — when they conduct themselves with kedushah, the Shechinah dwells between them, and if not, a fire consumes them.
Because Pinchas guarded the bris with zeal, he merited shalom, shown by the added yud; when a couple lives with kedushah the Shechinah rests with them, but without it the divine fire turns destructive.
וכמו שהוא בפרט שחקק השי"ת היו"ד בברית וכפי השמירה כך מאיר האות שחתם בבשרינו
And just as it is on the individual level, where Hashem engraved the yud in the bris, so too, according to one's guarding of it, so does the letter that He sealed in our flesh shine.
On the personal level, the more one guards the bris, the more the divine letter sealed in the flesh shines.
וח"ו להיפך איתא הבא על הכותית נמשכה ערלתו ולא מבשקר לי' ע"ש פ"ב דעירובין וכמו כן בכלל כשחטאו נכסה זה האות
And, Heaven forbid, in the opposite case, it is brought that one who is intimate with a gentile woman, his orlah (foreskin) is drawn over, as is explained in the second chapter of Eruvin; and likewise on the collective level, when Bnei Yisrael sinned, this letter was covered over.
Conversely, sin covers the letter — both for an individual through forbidden intimacy and for the nation when it sinned with Moav.
ולכן ע"י פינחס שקינא חזר זה האות למקומו ונמנו בנ"י אח"כ החנוכי הפלואי שחתם בהם השם י' ה'
Therefore, through Pinchas who was zealous, this letter returned to its place, and afterward Bnei Yisrael were counted as the Chanochi and the Pelu'i, in which the Name — the yud and the hei — was sealed.
Pinchas's zeal restored the letter, so afterward the tribes were counted with Hashem's Name (yud and hei) sealed in their family names.
משמע שמקודם לא היה ניכר ע"י החטא בבנות מואב
This implies that beforehand it was not recognizable, on account of the sin with the daughters of Moav.
This shows the Name had become hidden through the sin with the daughters of Moav.
וזהו הרמז קריינא דאגרתא שפינחס שלא חטא ניכר לו האות עד שקינא לשמו ית'
And this is the hint in "the reader of the letter" (kriyena de'igarta) — that to Pinchas, who did not sin, the letter became recognizable, until he was zealous for the sake of Hashem's Name.
The phrase "the reader of the letter" hints that only to Pinchas, who stayed pure, did the letter become visible, prompting his zeal.
וכמו כן בכל אדם בפרט שצריכין לרגוז על היצה"ר בקנאת ה' שחקק בנו אות ברית קודש
And likewise within every individual person, one must be wrathful against the yetzer hara with zealousness for Hashem, who engraved within us the letter of the holy bris.
Every person likewise must rouse anger against the yetzer hara out of zeal for Hashem, who engraved the holy bris within us.
וכפי השמירה בקדושה כך מאיר האות וצריכין ליזהר שלא למחוק ח"ו הארת זה האות
And according to one's guarding of it in kedushah, so does the letter shine, and one must be careful not to erase, Heaven forbid, the illumination of this letter.
The letter shines in proportion to one's guarding it in kedushah, and one must take care never to dim its light.
ואיתא צדיק יצ"ט שופטו רשע יצה"ר
And it is brought that the tzaddik is judged by his good inclination (yetzer tov), and the wicked one by his evil inclination (yetzer hara).
The tzaddik is governed by his good inclination, the wicked one by his evil inclination.
בינוני זה וזה
The intermediate person is judged by both this one and that one.
The intermediate person is pulled by both inclinations together.
דכ' וייצר ב' יצירות
As it is written "vayyitzer" with two yuds, indicating two formations.
The doubled yud in "vayyitzer" teaches that man was given two formations or natures.
והם צורות ממש כמו שיש ציור הגוף כן יש צורה פנימיות
And these are literal forms — just as there is a form of the body, so too there is an inner form.
These two formations are real forms: an outer bodily form and an inner spiritual form.
והוא החותם שחתם בנו השי"ת
And this is the seal that Hashem sealed within us.
This inner form is the divine seal Hashem impressed within us.
וכשזוכין להסיר הערלה ומתגלה ציור הקדושה ומאיר (ומכלה) [*מכלה] כל הצורה הגשמיות [כמו שזכה פינחס להיות מלאך הברית והכל ע"י הברית שנק' ברית אש שמאיר ושורף החיצוניות] ולכן נאמר אח"כ צרור את המדינים כו'
And when one merits to remove the orlah, the form of kedushah is revealed and shines, consuming the entire physical form [just as Pinchas merited to become the angel of the bris, and all of this is through the bris, which is called "a bris of fire," for it illuminates and burns away the externalities]; and therefore it is stated afterward, "Harass the Midianites" (Bamidbar 25:17).
Removing the orlah reveals the form of kedushah, which shines and consumes the physical form — as Pinchas became the angel of the bris, a "bris of fire" that burns away externalities, which is why the command to harass Midian follows.
כשגבר פינחס ומתגלה הארת הברית יכולין בקנאה זו לגבור ולכלות כל הסט"א:
When Pinchas prevailed and the illumination of the bris was revealed, one is able through this zealousness to prevail and consume the entire sitra achra (the side of impurity).
Once Pinchas prevailed and the bris's light shone, that same zealousness empowers a person to overcome and destroy the forces of impurity.
Summary: The Sfas Emes explains that the covenant of shalom granted to Pinchas is the unique vessel that holds blessing, rooted in the verse pairing Hashem's strength with His shalom. Strength corresponds to Torah and tefillin, while shalom corresponds to the bris of milah, which binds all 248 limbs and 365 sinews of the body to follow the light of the Torah; this same root of blessing appears as the Beis HaMikdash in the world, the milah in the soul, and Shabbos in time, all of which are ultimately one. The yud added to Pinchas's name reflects the divine letter Hashem engraves in the bris, which shines in proportion to one's guarding it in kedushah and becomes covered through sin — as it did for Bnei Yisrael with the daughters of Moav until Pinchas's zeal restored it. Every Jew likewise carries an inner form, the divine seal, which is revealed when the orlah is removed, burning away the physical externalities. Through this zealousness for the bris, as Pinchas demonstrated, a person gains the strength to prevail over and consume the entire sitra achra.