The similarity of the words Ba'al Peor and Balfour

לפני 3 שעות
זמן קריאה 2 דקות

Le'maan Achai Ve're'ai, In the margin of Rabbi Shimon Schwab's Chumash Devarim (RAV SCHWAB ON CHUMASH, 468):

'Ba'al Peor is related to the matter of לא תוסיפון, the restriction against adding mitzvos, because the very desire to denigrate idolatry and to shame it in a way that has not been commanded by the Torah brings to avodah zarah, and this was the sin of Ba'al Peor. People inherently possess a yetzer hara to invent new mitzvos that are contrary to the Torah.

Moshe Rabbeinu was buried on Har Nevo, opposite the Peor idol, to atone for this sin of Klal Yisrael's, which was an expression of this yetzer hara. The "yetzer hara for mitzvos" can destroy the whole Torah. Such a yetzer hara is the force behind every mashiach sheker, false messiah. The maʼapilim of the Torah, who wished to force their way into Eretz Yisrael, held that the mitzvah of settling Eretz Yisrael was greater than that of listening to Hashem and their Torah teachers.

The Balfour Declaration of 1917 established the right of Jews to return to the Holy Land. Some Zionists took this as an impetus to create new mitzvos, i.e., the settling of Eretz Yisrael above all other mitzvos. This they did despite Chazal's warning of לא ימרדו באומות-Don't rebel against the nations of the world (Kesubos 111a), trying to force the hand of Mashiach.

(And the Rav mused) "Is there any lesson to be learned from the similarity of the words Ba'al Peor and Balfour?"

And in another place where he discusses the topic:

In our own days, there are a great many of our contemporaries who believe deeply and sincerely that the rise of the Jewish State in Eretz Yisrael is the beginning of the Messianic Redemption. They believe this wholeheartedly, religiously and sometimes fanatically. And those who dispute this dogma are looked upon with suspicion, bordering on animosity. However … to all those who earnestly search for the truth of authentic Torah philosophy, it is obvious that our generation has fallen prey to a historic illusion. … Today's Jewish State is not even distantly related to the Messianic promise for which we yearn and pray (Selected Writings page 129).

Selected Insights from Rav Shimon Schwab zi"a, P. 1 — Selected Insights from Rav **Shimon Schwab** zi"a, P. 1

Footnotes

[1] See The Empty Wagon pg. 494-497

[2] Rav Shimon explained the words ופתחון פה למיחלים לך in the Yomim Noro'im Tefillos to refer to that when the Geulah comes the Torah-faithful will finally be able to express the full truth instead of having to hide it or "water it down".

[3] Heard from Rav Schwab by Rabbi Yaakov Schapiro, The Empty Wagon, p. 1293

[4] "ועוד מספרים שיש מדינה בארץ חמדה מעבר לים ששרי המלכות והשליטים והמחוקקים הם כופרים מינים ואפיקורסים המחללים את קדושת עם ה', וקראו שם המדינה והמלכות שלהם בשם "ישראל" על אף שדתיהם שונים לגמרי מחוקי התורה".

[5] עי' בספר "שיעורי דעת" להג"ר יוסף יהודה לייב בלאך, במאמר "דור ההלפגה". ועי' ספר "משיחי שקר ומתנגדיהם" פרק על "תיאודור הרצל" (ושם בעמ' 633 מביא דברי הגר"ש שוואב הנ"ל) שמאריך לבאר איך תנועת הציונית היא בעצם תנועה של משיחיות השקר.