To fully appreciate what Pinchas did, we need to consider the circumstances that surrounded him.

In last week's parsha (25:4), HaShem says to Moshe, "Take all the leaders of the people . Hang them (the people who worshipped the idol Ba'al Peor) before HaShem against the sun." Rashi explains that Moshe was to convene courts with these leaders and pass judgement and punish the sinners. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch comments that HaShem commanded the convening of these special courts because according to conventional Jewish law a court can only become involved if witnesses first warn a person against sinning and if their warning is ignored then the witnesses themselves bring the sinner to the Bet Din. However in this case no one was getting involved! No one was trying to stop the idol worship from being performed. Therefore HaShem instructed Moshe and the leaders to convene a special Beit Din/ Court and punish the sinners, without the standard halachic procedures.

As we know from last week's parsha, the idol worship was accompanied and inspired by immoral behavior with the Moabite women.

In the midst of all this, Zimri, the prince of the tribe of Shimon, takes a Midianite woman and outdoes the rest of the sinners by sinning with her in front of Moshe and the leaders.

At this point, when Pinchas considered punishing Zimri, he must of looked around himself and realized that society would not support his actions.

But Pinchas took a lesson from a halacha in Shulchan Aruch. In Hilchot Treifot, the Shulchan Aruch deals with the injuries that render an animal unfit to eat (see Yorah De'ah 58). To check a bird for a broken limb it can either walk or swim. But swimming can only determine that the bird is not unfit, only if the bird can swim against the current. A lame animal can be carried along with the flow.

Pinchas understood that to be spiritually sound one must be ready to swim against the current of society. Pinchas would not allow the corruption nor the apathy of the society around him to stop him.

There is another point to consider. Pinchas, at this point, held no special status within his people. On the other hand, Zimri was a nasi, the prince of the tribe of Shimon, which dictates that he had to have been a great person. Furthermore, many commentaries state that Zimri had sincere and even sublime intentions in what he did. How then did Pinchas justify to himself the decision to kill a leader of the Jewish people?

The answer is he consulted with his rebbe first. The Gemarah in Sanhedrin 82a states that when Pinchas saw what Zimri was doing he remembered a halacha, turned to Moshe and said, "Did you not teach me that one who commits such an act with a gentile, a zealous one may slay him? "Even those who are willing to stand up for the honor of HaShem cannot take things into their own hands. They must first seek guidance from their rebbe.

The Yalkut Me'am Loez asks an interesting question. How did Pinchas know how to use a spear? After all, he didn't come from a family of warriors. From where did he gain the ability to use a spear so well that in one act he speared two people at once? The Yalkut answers that once he began the mitzvah and was willing to sacrifice himself in performing it, Pinchas recieved Siyata D'shmaya, Divine assistance , to complete his task with success.

Pinchas had no experience in using a spear. But he knew that he had to do this mitzvah, as difficult as it may be. So he took the spear in hand trusting that HaShem would grant him the ability to accomplish his task.The Yalkut Me'am Loez concludes that this holds true of every mitzvah. Once a person begins a mitzvah, although it may be difficult, HaShem sends Siyata D'shmaya to bring it to success.