We continue with this week’s theme of whether or not we have a right to hate the wicked person. There are certain people that are zealots. They cannot tolerate evil, and they fume when they see any desecration of God’s name.
How do we know if this is sincere or not?
I saw a beautiful thought regarding Pinchas , the first zealot, who killed Zimri while he was in the act of a sin. It says, “He took a spear in his hand.”
One of the rabbis explains that Pinhas was not walking around with a spear, waiting to stab someone.
He was a regular man, minding his own business. But he saw something, so he went out, got the spear and did what he had to do.
Some people are walking around with a spear, looking for people they can stab in their zealousness, for desecrating God’s name.
That is not what we want. There is a famous comment from the Brisker Rav. He asks what the difference is, between a housewife and a cat. Both the housewife and the cat chase the mice out of the house.
But the difference is that the housewife wishes there were never any mice in the house to begin with. Now that there is a mouse, she has to chase it out. On the other hand, the cat wants the mouse there. He wants to pounce on it and eat it.
The Brisker Rav then explains that there are two kinds of zealots. One kind wishes that there were no sinners. He wishes that everyone was good and observant, but occasionally, when they aren’t, he has to protest and get involved.
The other type of zealot is really just looking for the action. He is just waiting to pounce on somebody. He wants to fill his zealous needs, and this person is just the mouse, fulfilling his desire to pounce.
We have to differentiate and be clear when we get heated under the collar. Is it because we really care, or are we just looking for someone to pounce on? When we see someone doing something wrong, do we say, “Oh! Gotcha!”
Where is the zealotry coming from?
This is yet another key ingredient to assess when it comes to being disturbed by a person’s wickedness.