Notes: compare two incarnations of the same soul:
Pinchas: good zealot: dispassionate, checks halacha, asks Moshe, saves the people
Elijah: bad zealot: gets personally angry against the priests of Baal, angry and critical against the the children of Israel: loses mantle of prophecy;
comes to every Bris and Seder to soften his harsh attitude towards the Jewish people.
Contrarian attribute of Torah: just as during Chanuka time the Torah contrarianly points to Purim, and vice versa, during or around the three weeks, a time of mourning for the destruction of both temples and exile, we read Pinchas: which regales us with the laws of festivals and holidays. "Have faith," the Torah is saying. Learn these laws of rejoicing in the Sanctuary and Temple for their time will come again ...
