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becoming influenced by the defilement there. This caused him to forget
the halachah. But Pinchas stood up from among the people. He had not
been involved in this give-and-take and was therefore unsullied by Zimri’s
corruption. Pinchas saw the act and remembered the halachah. He
remembered that one must not gaze at the countenance of a rasha, due to
the detrimental side-effects.
Moshe was reluctant to go to Pharaoh; for fear that gazing at a rasha
would prove detrimental. Only after Hashem’s promise of protection did
he agree to go.
Rabbi Meir learned Torah from Acher by eating of his fruit (i.e., his Torah
knowledge), and discarding his rind. He did not gaze at the face of this
wicked man, compared to a fruit peel. Because he was able to discern the
good from the bad, he was called “Nehorai” (light), for he lit up his
colleagues’ eyes in halachah.
The author of Arvei Nachal asks how the angels could imagine sending
Moshe away from Heaven; he had come at the behest of Hashem Himself!
Mankind is the conduit by which blessing rains down from Heaven upon
Creation. The angels could not understand how a person could be charged
with this exalted mission. When Moshe explained that he wished to bring
down the Torah, which deepens the connection between all worlds, they
were mollified. Even the Angel of Death shared the secrets of the ketoret
with Moshe.

The angels were afraid that gazing at a physical face would reduce their
holiness. For that reason, they wished to consume Moshe. Hashem assured
them that Moshe had reached the level of an angel, transforming his very
countenance into a spiritual entity.

Hashem placed the face of Avraham upon Moshe, in order to remind the
angels of the repast they had enjoyed in Avraham’s tent. That had been a
one-time experience. What should Bnei Yisrael do, when they are
constantly bombarded with foolishness and fleeting frivolities? They
certainly need the Torah’s protection.