RAV KOOK ON parshat Balak part 2: Eliminating Idolatry
The Weird Worship of Peor
After failing to curse the people of Israel, Balaam devised another plan to make trouble for the Jewish people. He advised using Moabite and Midianite women to entice the Israelite men into worshipping Baal Peor. How was this idol worshipped? The word Peor means to 'open up' or 'disclose.' According to the Talmud, the worshippers would bare their backsides and defecate in honor of the idol. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 64a) illustrates the repulsive nature of this particular idolatry with the following two stories:
"There was once a gentile woman who was very ill. She vowed: 'If I recover from my illness, I will go and worship every idol in the world.' She recovered, and proceeded to worship every idol in the world. When she came to Peor, she asked its priests, 'How is this one worshipped?' They told her, 'One eats greens and drinks strong drink, and then defecates before the idol.' The woman responded, 'I'd rather become ill again than worship an idol in such a [revolting] manner.'"
"Sabta, a townsman of Avlas, once hired out a donkey to a gentile woman. When she came to Peor, she said to him, 'Wait till I enter and come out again.' When she came out, he told her, 'Now you wait for me until I go in and come out.' 'But are you not a Jew?' she asked. 'What does it concern you?' he replied. He then entered, uncovered himself before it, and wiped himself on the idol's nose. The acolytes praised him, saying, 'No one has ever served this idol so consummately!'"
The Weird Worship of Peor
After failing to curse the people of Israel, Balaam devised another plan to make trouble for the Jewish people. He advised using Moabite and Midianite women to entice the Israelite men into worshipping Baal Peor. How was this idol worshipped? The word Peor means to 'open up' or 'disclose.' According to the Talmud, the worshippers would bare their backsides and defecate in honor of the idol. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 64a) illustrates the repulsive nature of this particular idolatry with the following two stories:
"There was once a gentile woman who was very ill. She vowed: 'If I recover from my illness, I will go and worship every idol in the world.' She recovered, and proceeded to worship every idol in the world. When she came to Peor, she asked its priests, 'How is this one worshipped?' They told her, 'One eats greens and drinks strong drink, and then defecates before the idol.' The woman responded, 'I'd rather become ill again than worship an idol in such a [revolting] manner.'"
"Sabta, a townsman of Avlas, once hired out a donkey to a gentile woman. When she came to Peor, she said to him, 'Wait till I enter and come out again.' When she came out, he told her, 'Now you wait for me until I go in and come out.' 'But are you not a Jew?' she asked. 'What does it concern you?' he replied. He then entered, uncovered himself before it, and wiped himself on the idol's nose. The acolytes praised him, saying, 'No one has ever served this idol so consummately!'"
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