There's probably some surfers still around that remember the "good fight" to save Maalaea on Southern Maui! "Good", because it was a cause that united anyone concerned with preserving a wave that many would classify as the fastest on Earth. How many surfers in their lifetimes get a chance to see an image of Creation so stunning as to be breathtaking-not to mention EVEN paddling out in the most insane overdrive freight-trains that exist! The old-timers still recall the performances of the likes of Les Potts, Sam Hawk, Owl Chapman, Jeff Hakman and others at this most coveted South swell spot in the world.
Yet, as amorphic and indifferent as surfers generally are as a group ( that is, about everything BUT the surf!), there was a consensus about one thing: Save Maalaea! The then nascent "Save Our Surf" initiated the first shot fired over the bow, followed by other surfers and organizations. For many Maui locals, the very concept of dredging the harbor and destroying the miraculous reef at Maalaea was nothing short of sacriligeous!
Just how zealous could one be? Reports of surfers chaining themselves to Army Corps of Engineers tractors and trucks, lying down in front of huge earth movers, and harrassing "developers" involved, were common. The word was out: no compromise, no giving up, no means were to be spared in this absolutely necessary, just, good- even moral, cause!
But where did the surfers get their precedent for such a zealous initiative? This week's Torah portion (Parshat Pinchas) gives us a clue. Strangely enough, the zealot in question, Pinchas, a holy priest, is awarded a "covenant of peace" after slaying the head of one of the tribes, whose debauchery nearly caused the destruction of an entire people! Yet we could hardly call this zealotry "peace"!
The "katanot Ohr" tells us, nonetheless, that this zealotry, seemingly the antithesis of peace, if done for a just, true cause, is certainly an act that promotes peace! Perhaps in a microcosmic way, the "heavyhandedness" of the Maui locals, their zealotry in promoting the preservation of one of the wonders of Creation, managed to truly create a type of peace for us all!
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