Going against your father's way

One of the most remarkable features of Pinchas's momentous decision to kill Zimri was that he acted in a way dimetrically opposed to everything his father represented. Aharon was a man of peace, of conciliation, who, bent over backwards, even effacing his own identity to bridge rifts and imbue husband and wife with renewed trust. 

Pinchas, seeing an unbecoming act, did not flinch, spearing Zimri, the Prince of Shimon and the Midianite princess, Cozbi, thus ending a plague that had killed twenty-four thousand Israelites. 

Pinchas acted very differently from his father, and yet, in being precisely who he was, saved perhaps tens of thousands of Israelites who otherwise likewise would have been smitten. 

Many a son has faced a similar dilemma. Most recently, Rabbi Kanievsky consciously eschewed the method of learning desired by his father, the Steipler. 

The Jewish way, is in essence, to be yourself - to shape your unique abilities through the guidance you've received from your parents, but just as prominently, to forge your own identity.