Rav Kook (Shemonah Kevatzim 8:259)

You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did in the matter of Baal-peor, that the Lord your G-d destroyed from your midst every person who followed Baal-peor; while you, who held fast to the Lord your G-d, are all alive today.

As we have not yet attained the supernal rectification that is the unity of all of life’s different currents and all of their different propensities, a world of chaos (lit. עולם תוהו) stands in front of us. As long as a single perspective, value, or approach rears its head and declares “I will rule and there are none beside me,” there can be no inner peace and G-d’s name cannot be proclaimed upon us. For “Shalom” [which means completeness] is itself a Divine name (Gemara Shabbat 10b), and the light of Truth can only come from and through such Name.

Each of us inhabits a particular stream of values and thoughts whose truth resonates with us – but each of our streams nourishes an infinite ocean of a greater, all-encompassing Truth, a Truth that emerges from the totality of all ideas, inclinations, and potentialities. Instead of pushing away that which seems foreign or does not resonate with us, we must strive to integrate it within the ocean of the Ein Sof, within which everything is unified, everything is elevated and uplifted, everything is sanctified.

A true servant of G-d will never be contented with his limited portion of truth. His holy yearning for a harmonistic, all-encompassing Truth brings him pangs of spiritual pain, but he bears this pain with love. These afflictions refine his soul and bring him – and through him, the entire world – to holy inspiration (lit. רוח הקודש), revelation of the supernal Shechina, and true communion with G-d, in the light of He whose Life is the source of all life (lit. חיי כל החיים).

“You, who held fast to the Lord your G-d, are all alive today” (ואתם הדבקים בד’ אלהיכם חיים כולכם היום). [I.e. every part of you lives, pulses with vitality, and contributes its particular life force to the greater Divine Truth.]

Printable PDF available here. Last year’s piece on Va’etchanan is available here.

Rav Kook (Pinkasei ha’Reiyah, 1:45)

Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Ba’al Pe’or, for every man who went after Ba’al Pe’or, the Lord your G-d has exterminated from your midst. (Devarim 4:3)

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 Pe’or, 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.’ (Gemara Sanhedrin 64a)

The root .פ.ע.ר means to ‘open up’ or ‘bare.’ According to the Talmud, worshippers would bare their backsides and defecate in presence of the idol.  This seemingly bizarre manner of worship demands an explanation. And is there anything about the Torah’s condemnation of Pe’or that is relevant to our own lives?

To answer these questions, we must understand that Pe’or is not simply another idol in the panoply of pagan deities. It represents the highest form of vileness and the utter corruption of man’s righteous and ethical character. The ideology behind Pe’or takes its guidance from man’s physical nature. In the physical world, when someone’s body is in a state of sickness, the body restores itself to equilibrium by expelling the waste or source of sickness. Pe’or worshippers maintained that the same is true in the spiritual realm. If a person is tempted by desires – no matter how how debased or unrefined – they can only find healing by giving their yearnings outward expression.

In this light, Pe’or worship is far from a matter of historical curiosity or merely a bizarre practice that died out in the ancient world. Even if our modern era, we can discern echoes of Pe’or worship if we listen closely. How often are we told that every human thought and desire is legitimate, that suppressing them can only result in sickness and suffering, and that a truly healthy society allows people to give expression to their desires?

As Torah Jews, we know that the exact opposite is true. It is true that our physical health requires the body to expel waste and sources of sickness. But when it comes to the spiritual realm, our guiding principle is as taught in Pirkei Avot (4:1) – “Who is mighty? He who conquers his desires.” The filth of a person’s dark and impure yearnings should not be given outward expression, but conquered and illuminated with the light of Torah.

Food for Thought

Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch (Bamidbar 25:3): And there was also Baal Peor, a god of shamelessness, who was worshiped by giving brazen prominence to the most bestial aspects of human life. Hence, Hoshea says: “They came to Baal Peor and dedicated [va’yinazru – from the same root as “nazir”] themselves to shamefulness” (Hoshea 9:10) – i.e., they sanctified/designated themselves for shamefulness. The cult of Pe’or is an illustration of the type of Darwinism that glories in man’s descent to the level of the beast, where, stripping himself of his Divinely-given nobility, he comes to regard himself as merely a highly-developed animal.

The Appeal of Baal Peor (and Darwin) (KolhaSeridim.com): Ever since the sin of Adam and Chava, the human psyche has been forced to operate under the ever-present surveillance of the conscience. The fear, shame, and guilt that are generated by the conscience are virtually inescapable. Although the conscience was given to us for our benefit, as a counter-force to keep man’s instinctual nature in check to help mitigate the consequences of the cheit, it has also given rise to a number of difficulties – some of which are objective (e.g. shoulds and religious guilt), and others of which are subjective.

One of these subjective difficulties is the fact that it is impossible for us to simply enjoy pleasure, like an animal does. Instead, we are compelled to justify our pursuit of pleasure within the parameters of value systems to which we subscribe. When we partake of a pleasure in a manner that runs contrary to our value systems, we experience cognitive dissonance – usually in the form of fear, shame, or guilt. The easiest way to get out of this state of conflict is through rationalization. Rather than confronting the causes and effects of our “moral failings” it is much easier to hastily explain away our misdeeds by coming up with excuses. If such moral lapses become habit, we tend to alter our value systems in order to legitimize our new pattern of behavior. Ultimately, morality yields to habit and desire…

Baal Peor – “the god of shamelessness” – was so attractive is that it granted license for the unbridled indulgence in physical pleasure by sanctifying the rejection of the conscience.  In other words, the appeal was two-fold: (1) Baal Peor worshipers were granted the freedom to gratify all of their basest animalistic desires, and (2) their rebellious flaunting of shamelessness – epitomized in the hallowed ritual of public defecation – was imbued with religious value, thereby allowing them to bypass the cognitive dissonance that they ordinarily would have experienced.

This dual-allure of Baal Peor worship carries tremendous power. Imagine informing a lazy student that neglecting his homework and tearing up his tests will earn him an “A” in his least favorite class, or telling an alcoholic that nightly binge-drinking will win him free booze the next day. Similarly, if a priest of Baal Peor tells people that there is a god who wants them to abandon themselves to their hedonistic tendencies, and that the path to freeing oneself from shame is to revel in shamelessness, then he is bound to attract a multitude of followers….

We can now understand why the worship of “the god of Shamelessness” was accompanied by the sexual corruption which is emphasized by the Torah as the leading cause of Bnei Yisrael’s downfall. On the surface it would seem that there is no relationship between fecal rites and sexual promiscuity, but in light of Rav Hirsch’s explanation, the connection is clear: the licentiousness of the daughters of Moav was sanctioned by the religion of shamelessness. Their unrestrained sexual depravity was fueled by their worship of Baal Peor, who – in their minds – found favor in acts of wanton debauchery…

The take-away… [is] as follows: beware the seductiveness of a belief-system which caters to the desire to live like an animal, unsaddled by the yoke of conscience and unbound by confines of objective morality. These doctrines will appear to be legitimate, due to their authoritative veneer – whether it be the religious appeal to the spiritual mind, or the rational appeal to the scientific mind – but know the terrible cost of hearkening to their siren song…

Thus, the account of Baal Peor isn’t merely a historical record of a sin committed by our ancestors. It stands as a contemporary warning about the ever-present threat of moral degeneracy masquerading as an elite ideology…

Rod Dreher (a contemporary Christian intellectual): A friend of mine describes America today like this (and he’s talking about right wingers as well as left wingers):

(1) I am my desires

(2) Justice is the fulfilling of my desires, injustice is the impeding of my desires

(3) You are either the ally or the enemy of my desires

(4) If you are the ally, I will tolerate you; if you are the enemy, I will seek to destroy you.

Based on The Lubavitcher Rebbe (Chabad.com): For forty years, the people of Israel had enjoyed a wholly spiritual existence. They were fed, clothed and sheltered by daily miracles, leaving them free to pursue the divine wisdom of Torah without the distractions of the material state. Most telling of their state was the fact that the manna, the “bread from heaven” on which they lived, was wholly absorbed by their bodies, engendering no waste. They inhabited a spiritual idyll, in which the waste of creation was unknown.

But now they stood at the threshold of a new era: they were to settle the land, till its soil, engage in commerce and politics—i.e., to live a physical life sustained by physical means. For the first time in their history as a nation, they were to be in direct contact with the nether levels of the chain of evolution—with that part of the cosmic digestive tract which separates the waste from the body of creation. For the first time, they were called upon to differentiate between vital matter (matter that nourishes a spiritual end) and dead matter (matter as an end in itself).

Not all were equal to the challenge. There was an outbreak of Peor worship in the Israelite camp, as many were enticed by the pseudo-pleasures to be found in the undesirable byproducts of creation….

Questions for Discussion

1. Can you think of any contemporary applications of Rav Kook’s analysis, where Torah Judaism differs from modern society on what thoughts/desires are legitimate to give expression to?
2. At the end of the piece above, Rav Kook talks about “conquering desires” but also about “illuminating them with the light of Torah.” Are these the same thing? If they are different, how are they different?
3. See the above excerpts in “Food for Thought.” Are they saying the same as Rav Kook?
4. Would Rav Kook agree with Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch that Pe’or worship is connected to Darwinism?
5. Rav Kook claims that the physical and spiritual worlds do not always operate on the same principles. What are some areas where they function the same way?
6. Is the ideology of Pe’or a total aberration as far as idolatry is concerned? Or is it just an extreme formulation of ideas that are common to all idolatry?

Printable PDF available here.

Ein Ayah (Gemara Shabbat 12a)

And you shall bind them as a sign (lit. אות) upon your arm, and they shall be for ornaments between your eyes. (Devarim 6:8)

Rabbi Akiva says: One is exempt from wearing tefillin on Shabbat and Yom Tov, because the Torah says that tefillin are meant to be a “sign” (lit. אות). The implication is that on Shabbat and Yom Tov, which are themselves a ‘sign’ [1] the mitzvah does not apply. (Gemara Menachot 36b)

Broadly speaking, religious life unfolds on two different dimensions. The first is the outer world of action and activity, structured through mitzvot ma’asiot and the intricacies of halachic observance. The second is man’s ‘inner world’ – intellect and consciousness, emotion and feeling.

Obviously, these two worlds do not exist in isolation. Outward activity is the catalyst for inner kedushah. G-d’s Torah contains many mitzvot and ritual activities whose purpose is to deepen our inner world. The Torah commanded these acts because G-d, in His wisdom, knows that man would not achieve maximal spiritual growth without them.

However, the demands of the world of action are not static. They change in response to spiritual crisis, when our inner fortitude and commitment is challenged or even compromised. At such times, both individual Jews and the collective Israel must take on additional acts to preserve and protect their inner kedushah. As Jews, we can see this clearly in the history of the galut and our response to its spiritual calamities.

In particular, let us examine how exile affects Torah law. In our land, the Sanhedrin was the final authority and we had clarity in matters of Torah law. In exile, matters of doubt proliferate and parts of the Torah are forgotten. [2] There is no central authority to resolve halachic disputes. The inevitable consequences are a tendency towards stringency (lit. חומרה), establishment of boundaries around permitted matters, and an increased emphasis on the particulars of halachic observance – in other words, a general expansion of the outer dimension of Jewish life. [3]

Granted, the ultimate ideal is the deepening of Israel’s inner world, not the expansion of the outer, more practical aspects of Jewish life. However, this expansion is precisely what has preserved our inner kedushah, protected our inward faithfulness, and drawn our hearts closer to G-d during the centuries of exile. And as long as we have not returned to our pre-exilic spiritual state – with prophecy and ruach ha’kodesh, the Mikdash, a king, and a Sanhedrin to issue incontestable halachic rulings – the expansion of outer life is indispensable to our spiritual wellbeing. The consequences of tampering with these aspects of halacha are disastrous. They cannot be rolled back or rescinded until the Messianic future, which our Sages describe as “a day that is entirely Sabbath.”[4]

Rabbi Akiva is alluding to these profound truths in his above statement about being exempt from tefillin on Shabbat and Yom Tov. Tefillin is a paradigmatic outer mitzvah, for impacting our awareness and consciousness. As the Torah states explicitly, [5] “And it shall be a sign upon your arm and a remembrance between your eyes that G-d took you out of Egypt with a mighty hand, in order that the law of the Lord shall be in your mouth.” [6] The Torah exempts us from tefillin on Shabbat/Yom Tov to teach us that our inner, essential kedushah is primary. According to Rabbi Akiva, “Shabbat and Yom Tov are themselves a sign – meaning, they are times for a person to draw close to G-d with his very being, without a need for assistance from externals.

Until Shabbat comes, we need our tefillin and must keep them on. However, with the arrival of Shabbat, the external kedushah of tefillin is supplanted by an inner, essential kedushah. In miniature, we reenact what will happen with the perpetual Sabbath of the Messianic era. At that time, clear teaching will go forth from Yerushalayim [7] and matters of halachic doubt will be clarified. The Jewish people will shed many of the practices that they required to spiritually sustain them during exile. The outer dimension of Jewish life will contract, and the world of inward kedushah will expand, becoming deeper and richer in ways that we can scarcely comprehend.

“And the redeemed… shall return, and they shall come to Zion with song, with everlasting joy upon their heads[i.e., instead of the figurative tefillin shel rosh]; they shall achieve gladness and joy, and sadness and sighing shall flee.” (Isaiah 35:10)

[1] I.e, of Israel’s status as G-d’s nation and the Exodus from Egypt (רש׳י).

[2] Rav Kook references Gemara Shabbat 138b –“And they will wander from sea to sea, and… will roam to find the word of the Lord, but they will not find it” (Amos 8:12). According to R. Shimon bar Yochai, this means that they will not find clear halakha and clear teaching together (lit. הלכה ברורה ומשנה ברורה במקום אחד). [I.e. there will be an abundance of disputes among the Sages.]

[3] As examples, Rav Kook mentions Yom Tov Sheni and the obligation to separate challah outside of Israel.

[4] In both zemirot and the siddur (see after Mussaf in השיר שהלויים היו אומרים בבית המקדש), we mention the idea of Shabbat as a symbol or re-enactment of the Messianic era. This notion is mentioned explicitly in the gemara and midrash.

[5] Shemot 13:9, as interpreted by Ramban.

[6] R. Yoel Sirkes (או׳ח סימן ח, תרכ׳ה), one of the major halachic codifiers, derives from this verse that one doesn’t properly fulfill the mitzvah of tefillin unless they have in mind its specific purpose. He applies the same rule to tzitzit and sukkah.

[7] In the Hebrew Rav Kook alludes to Devarim 17:10 – “And you shall do according to the word they [i.e. the Sanhedrin] tell you, from the place that G-d will choose, and you shall observe to do according to all they instruct you.”

Food for Thought

Sefer haChinuch (Mitzvah 16): A person’s heart and thoughts are constantly affected by the actions he takes, whether for good or evil. Even if someone has a wicked heart, if he dedicates himself consistently to Torah and mitzvot, even if not l’shem shamayim, he will immediately begin to incline towards goodness… and defeat his yetzer ha’ra. Conversely, even if a person has a good and righteous heart, but spends his time engaged in worthless activities, his spiritual goodness will ebb away. This is the meaning of the teaching of our Sages in Gemara Makkot (23b) that רצה הקב”ה לזכות את ישראל לפיכך הרבה להם תורה ומצות – “G-d wished to confer merit upon Israel, and therefore He gave them an abundance of mitzvot.”

Someone Who Didn’t Get Rav Kook’s Message (Tablet Online Magazine, 2011): Janet Fuchs, a 44-year-old stay-at-home mother in Los Angeles, sends most of her four kids to Orthodox schools and attends an Orthodox synagogue. But she quietly stopped observing the second day of yom tov two years ago. “My husband announced it first,” she told me. “He couldn’t miss that much work, he decided, and he doesn’t like to daven.” At first the family continued observing the second day without him, going to synagogue and a celebratory meal. “But it wasn’t fun without him, so we stopped going to shul and were just going to lunches,” Fuchs said. “Then we stopped going to shul or going to lunch, and then I let the kids use electronic entertainment on second day.”

Rav Aharon Lopiansky (Jewish Action Magazine, 2019): There are oversimplified slogans that tend to come back to haunt their formulators. For the longest time, we have proclaimed religious superiority over Christianity and Islam with the following formula: “Those religions are all about believing, with action a mere appendage.”… [But] Judaism is about what you have done and accomplished. Even if you ‘believe,’ if you have transgressed and not accomplished you will go to Gehinnom.” This slogan was transmuted into the following caricature: “Judaism has no beliefs, just action.”… [However] the first [paragraph of Shema] is called “accepting the Yoke of Heaven”; the second is “accepting the Yoke of mitzvos.” They are not synonymous; they are complementary. The first paragraph provides the context for our world of mitzvos: acknowledging an all-encompassing G-d who is the sole Moral Force, and Whose moral proclamations are the source of all mitzvos. And only then do we commit ourselves to the fulfillment of the mitzvos themselves…Indeed, let us encourage keeping mitzvos, for as the Sefer HaChinuch writes, one’s inner self is affected greatly by his external actions. But let us never cease to remind ourselves that the world of mitzvos is preceded by the world of kabbalas ol Malchus Shamayim!

Rambam (Hilchot Melachim 9:1): Six precepts were commanded to Adam, and the prohibition against eating flesh from a living animal was added for Noach… These matters remained the same throughout the world until Avraham. When Avraham arose, in addition to these, he was commanded regarding circumcision. He also ordained the morning prayers. Yitzchak separated tithes and ordained an additional prayer service before sunset. Ya’akov added the prohibition against eating the sciatic nerve. He also ordained the evening prayers. In Egypt, Amram was commanded regarding other mitzvot. Ultimately, Moses came and the Torah was completed by him.

Questions for Discussion

1. Why is it difficult to observe mitzvot/halacha in a way that affects our inner spirituality? As individuals, families and communities, what can we do to address some of those difficulties?
2. For Rav Kook, tefillin are the paradigm for outward mitzvot Divinely designed to affect how we think and feel. What other mitzvot fit in this category?
3. How do you think Rav Kook would feel about Orthopraxy? (“The Orthoprax are an informal, incognito group of unknown size and scope who, for the most part, practice halachic norms but do not really believe in G-d (or that He chose us as the nation that would carry His moral message to mankind) or understand what they are doing. They might not even believe in the divine origin of the Torah, but identify themselves with the Orthodox community for social, ethnic, cultural or even aesthetic reasons.” (Rabbi Steven Pruzansky – The Rise of Orthopraxy))
4. Rav Kook does not elaborate about the dangers that result from tampering with the expansion of halachic observance and established stringencies like Yom Tov Sheni. What do you think he has in mind?
5. According to Rav Kook, the expansion of Jewish’s life’s outer dimension is necessary, but not ideal. Can you think of any other aspects of Torah law that are similarly necessary, but not ideal?