The namesake of this week's Torah portion is Pinchas, a grandson of the High Priest, Aaron.

Pinchas suddenly emerges as a bold new leader for this new generation of the Children of Israel, readying to enter into the Promised Land. Gone is the Generation of the Desert, characterized by passivity -- Pinchas is a man of action.

His bold and unprecedented strike against the heinous immorality calculated by the wicked Bilaam and King Balak to destroy Israel earned him a Divinely-appointed 'Covenant of Peace' and a covenant of 'Eternal Priesthood.'

This week’s Jerusalem Lights podcast focuses on the unusual step taken by Pinchas to save his people from the abyss of immorality.

Jim Long and Rabbi Chaim Richman connect the themes of the portion, and offer some deep insights into the spiritual roots of these annual ‘Three Weeks’ of mourning for the Holy Temple.