Acquiring Perfection Through Mesirus Nefesh

הנני נותן לו את בריתי שלום

"Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace" (Bamidbar 25:12).

The piece opens with the pasuk in which Hashem grants Pinchas His covenant of peace as reward for his act of zealotry.

דאיתא יש קונה עולמו בשעה אחת

For it is brought down: there is one who acquires his entire World in a single hour.

It invokes the teaching of Chazal that a person can earn his entire share in Olam Haba in just one hour.

והוא ע"י מסירת נפש וזהו נקרא שעה אחת להיות כל הרצונות שבו בטלין לרצון אחד לעשות מצות הקב"ה כמו שהי' בפינחס שמסר נפשו לקנאות קנאת ה' צבאות

And this comes about through mesirus nefesh — and this is what is called "a single hour": that all the desires within a person become nullified to one single will, namely, to perform the mitzvos of the Holy One, Blessed is He — just as it was with Pinchas, who gave over his very life to be zealous with the zealotry of Hashem, Master of Legions.

That "single hour" is achieved through mesirus nefesh, when all of a person's conflicting desires are subsumed into one pure will to fulfill Hashem's mitzvos, exactly as Pinchas did when he risked his life for Hashem's honor.

לכן ניתן לו כל השלימות

Therefore the whole of his perfection was granted to him.

Because of that complete devotion, Pinchas was granted his full spiritual perfection all at once.

כי האדם נקרא מהלך שצריך לילך ממדריגה למדריגה עד שמוציא מכח אל הפועל כל השלימות מה שנברא עליו ומלאך נק' עומד כי הוא מתוקן ועומד על מה שנברא

For a person is called a "walker," one who must journey from level to level until he brings forth from potential into actuality all the perfection for which he was created; whereas a malach is called a "stander," for he is fixed and stands fast upon that for which he was created.

A human being is a "walker" who must rise level by level to actualize his potential, unlike a malach who is a "stander," already fixed in his completed state.

וכאן כתיב ויקם מתוך העדה שנתקן כל הקומה שלו

And here it is written, "And he arose from amid the assembly" (Bamidbar 25:7), for his entire stature was made complete.

The Torah's phrase that Pinchas "arose" hints that in that moment his entire spiritual stature was brought to completion.

וכן כתיב ויעמוד פינחס ויפלל שנעשה מלאך ה' צבאות וזכה אל השלימות בשעה אחת

And so too it is written, "And Pinchas stood up and prayed" (Tehillim 106:30), for he became a malach of Hashem, Master of Legions, and merited that perfection in a single hour.

The pasuk in Tehillim that Pinchas "stood" shows he became like a malach of Hashem, attaining his perfection in that single hour.

ובאמת הוא מדה במדה מי שמוסר כל נפשו וכל מה שהי' ראוי לחיות עוד הכל מוסר לשמו ית'

And in truth this is measure for measure: one who gives over his entire soul, and all that he was fit to live yet further — all of it he hands over for the sake of His Name, may He be blessed.

This is a precise measure-for-measure reward: one who gives over his whole life, and even the future years he might have lived, surrenders everything for Hashem's sake.

נותנין לו משמים לתקן בשעה אחת מה שהי' מוכן לו לכל ימי חייו

From Shamayim they grant him to set right in a single hour that which had been readied for him across all the days of his life.

In response, Shamayim grants him the ability to accomplish in one hour all the perfection that was meant to unfold over his entire lifetime.

ושעה אחת הנ"ל נמצא בכל איש ישראל כמ"ש אין לך אדם שאין לו שעה רק שצריכין לייגע עצמו כל הימים לזכות לאותה שעה ובמס"נ זוכין לה מיד כנ"ל:

And that "single hour" mentioned above is found within every single member of Bnei Yisrael, as is stated, "There is no person who does not have his hour" — only that one must labor over himself all his days to merit that hour, yet through mesirus nefesh one merits it at once, as explained above.

Such a defining "hour" exists in the potential of every Jew, as Chazal teach, but most must toil their whole lives to reach it, while through mesirus nefesh it can be seized immediately.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains the covenant of peace given to Pinchas through the teaching that a person can acquire his entire World in a single hour. That hour is reached through mesirus nefesh, when all of a person's scattered desires collapse into one pure will to serve Hashem, as Pinchas did when he risked his life out of zealotry for Hashem's honor. Whereas a human being is a "walker" who must climb level by level to actualize his full potential, and a malach is a "stander" fixed in his completion, Pinchas in his moment of total devotion attained the fixed perfection of a malach all at once — measure for measure for surrendering even the years he might have lived. This defining hour lies latent within every member of Bnei Yisrael; most must labor a lifetime to reach it, but through mesirus nefesh it can be won immediately.