As they return from their mission, Moshe — in one of the few moments he frothed with anger — takes them to task for having allowed the Midianite women to survive.

He rhetorically demands, "Why have you kept all the women alive?"

He reminds them, "These are exactly the ones who were involved with the Children of Israel, at Bilaam's instigation, למסר מעל בד' — causing them to be unfaithful to G-d in the Pe'or incident and bringing a plague on G-d's community." (במדבר לא טו-טז)

Although the females are singled out as a target since they were the ones who seduced the Jewish men to sin, it appears that it was more related to their inciting the men to first worship their idol Pe'or — before agreeing to submit themselves to them — that they are being held accountable. 

The wording used here to identify their failure, למסר — literally, to give themselves fully over, מעל בד' — in 'embezzling' G-d, rather than the more common term, חטא — sinning, deserves attention.

Even more unusual is Moshe — knowing full well that the entire Midianite womenfolk were taken captive rather than killed — poses his query pejoratively, rather than just admonishing them directly and to the point.

Many ask why were they being accused of betrayal when they were never commanded by Moshe to specifically to decimate the female seductresses?

The Holy Shelah asks this question and answers: This matter [punishing the women] is something that simple logic dictates, without any need for a directive, since 'these are exactly the ones who were involved…'.

ומאחר שהשכל נותן, מחויב האדם להיות משכיל מעצמו — Being that 'seichel' — common sense — summons us, we are indeed obligated to implement what we comprehend [to be just] on our own! (השל"ה דרך חיים תוכחת מוסר מטות)

Our greatest asset is our intellect. The Avudraham teaches that the blessing we say thanking G-d for being the פוקח עורים — the Giver of sight to the blind, is referring to our instinctive שכל — intellect, we are gifted with.

It is evidently, as the Shelah teaches, the yardstick by which we determine the true will of G-d.

The Talmud describes the way the women succeeded in luring the men to worship Pe'or.

Balak, on the advice if Bilaam, made for them enclosures… and he sat prostitutes in them, with an old woman outside and a young woman on the inside. And at the time when Jewish people were eating and drinking and were glad and going out to stroll in the marketplace, the old woman would say to a Jew: Aren’t you seeking linen garments? He would enter the enclosure and ask the price, the old woman would quote him a price equal to its value, and the young woman would quote him a price less than its value. That scenario would repeat itself two or three times.

And thereafter she would say to him: You are like a member of our household, sit and choose for yourself the merchandise that you want. And a jug of Ammonite wine was placed near her, and neither Ammonite wine nor gentile wine had been prohibited yet for Jews. She said to him: Is it your wish to drink a cup of wine? Once he drank the wine, his evil inclination burned within him.

He then said to her: Submit to me and engage in intercourse with me. She then removed the idol that she worshipped from her lap and said to him: Worship this. He said to her: Am I not Jewish? I am therefore forbidden from engaging in idol worship. She said to him: And what is your concern? We are asking you to do nothing more than defecate in its presence. But he does not know that its worship is conducted in that manner.

Once he did so, she said to him: Moreover, I will not leave you until you deny the Torah of Moses your teacher. They devoted themselves to the disgrace of defecation and detested the name of G-d. (סנהדרין קו:)

I believe that the grave downfall of the sinners wasn't as much their succumbing to temptation per se, but rather the moment the seductress beckoned them to toss away 'common sense' and engage in the stupid and self-demeaning act of defecating in the presence of the idol, that 'seichel' went out the window, permitting in its absence the powerful instincts of man to succumb to temptation with ease.

The verb מסר implies total submission. Without our built-in GPS — common sense — we become mindlessly consumed by the forces around us.

The term מעל is most often utilized in the context of a sanctified object being unintentionally misappropriated for mundane use and its halachic consequences.

The great sage and linguist, Rav Yaakov Zvi Mecklenberg, claims the root of this verb is על, literally above, thus מ-על — from above, alluding to one's mind being 'above' and inattentive to the article — not mindful of that which deserves consciousness.

An adulteress woman is described as one who was מעל באשה — untrue to her husband. The Maharik famously derives from this usage in this context that even were the husband to have consented to her cavorting with others, or even if she was unaware of the prohibition to be disloyal, the very act cries out 'treachery', and she would be prohibited to stay in her marriage. Even when one claims to have been permitted or totally in the dark regarding it being forbidden, common sense determines it is simply not right.

It is thus no wonder Moshe poses the cynical question to the soldiers. He sought to raise their awareness regarding the most vital attribute man possesses — seichel.

"How could you have done this?"

Moshe goes on to isolate the critical moment that catalyzed the entire episode of the seduction of the Jewish men.

The instant man misappropriates his 'seichel' — engaging in a despicable and nonsensical defecation to an idol, even if he didn't put his faith in it — is the fatal beginning of descent on the slopes of sin.

That is the gravest sin — no seichel.

We are taught by the Holy Arizal that there are three areas where we have made a covenant between man and G-d.

The ברית המעור — the Covenant over our bodily instincts — shackling our basest desires to His will.  

The ברית הלשון — the Covenant over our tongues — controlling our mouths that represent the torrent of inner emotions expressed through that instrument.

The ברית העין — the Covenant over our eye's perceptions — judging the merit of undertaking any action, through the lens of seichel, natural intelligence.

Our emotions and carnal instincts must always be realized on the bedrock of common sense. That is the benchmark for success.

The Midianite women infiltrated into our soulsלמסר  — causing us to being given over fully to our impulses, losing our 'common-sense', and being מעל בד' — misappropriating the gift of seichel, remaining vulnerable to the pull of our unleashed emotions and physical urges.

The word מ-ע-ל represents the breakdown of these three forces: מעור, עין, לשון that can only operate properly when 'seichel' reigns.

This week I paid a Shiva call to the Beren family, dear friends who lost a beautiful and remarkable neshama, their daughter/sister, Faygel a"h.

Her mother, Rivky, lovingly shared a touching story about her at the Shiva.

When Faygel was a student in High School, her young and impetuous friends got wind of the news that one of their beloved teachers was expecting. In their excitement and joy for her good fortune — but mixed with a large dose of childish impulsiveness — one of the girls wrote on the blackboard, 'Our teacher is expecting'! When the teacher arrived and noticed the message on the board, she was taken aback by the breach of privacy and immediately retreated to the principal's office to compose herself. The principal, hearing of the incident proceeded to the classroom confronting the girls demanding that the one who wrote the message should confess.

This vulnerable moment, laden with a mix of guilt, regret, happiness, and immaturity, was a tinderbox ready to explode. Without some common sense infused into the situation things could turn ugly.

The beloved Faygel, known for her sensitivity, sensibility, and wisdom — despite not having been the culprit — immediately raised her hand to take responsibility.

Everyone knew it couldn't have been her. But everyone understood her message. These are well-intentioned adolescents deeply happy for their teacher, who in a moment of childish impulsivity made a mistake they all regretted. The principal left, the teacher returned, and through a remarkable dose of common sense, displayed by an inspired student, a moment of stress turned into a joyous expression of purposeful growth. יהי זכרה ברוך

באהבה,

צבי יהודה טייכמאן