The Gemara‟s (Sanhedrin 106a) account of the Pinchas story teaches us that the Jewish people did not sin with the Midianite women because they were inherently a depraved people; rather, there was a deliberate and diabolical effort made by the nations around them to erode their holiness by seducing the Jewish men to sin. A very good argument could have been presented that B‟nai Israel weren‟t responsible. They were pure, minding their own business, and were not looking to sin. The Moabites and Midianites were the ones who actively sought them out and se-duced them. Perhaps this is why, when Zimri brought Kozbi before Moshe and the elders and challenged their authority, the Torah records that "they were crying at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting" (25:6). Why were they just standing there crying instead of incar-cerating this sinner? Perhaps it was because they felt, "nebach," these poor men, are vic-tims of a concerted, evil effort to make them sin -- how can we take violent action against them, when they act out of no fault of their own? And this is where Pinchas comes in. Pin-chas, the Torah says, "saw" (25:7). What did he see? He viewed everything with a different perspective. True, the Jewish men were being preyed upon and victimized by an immoral environment. And yet, the Torah‟s laws are static. Pinchas realized that this was a trial for B‟nai Israel, and that even though it was a very difficult trial, every Jew was ac-countable for his own behavior, regardless of the oppressive circumstances. He unders-tood what the pasuk says about the Torah: "Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all of its paths are peaceful" (Mishlei 3:17). One can and must be at peace with the Torah at all times, because Hashem devised the To-rah so that it can be fulfilled by any Jew without impossible conflict. With this in mind, Pinchas took a