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(abomination) can be understood as an acronym of the words “to’eh
atah bah (you are astray in this).” As the Igros Moshe explains (Or-
ach Chaim Vol.4 #115), “.... It is incomprehensible that any desire for
homosexuality should exist, for man was created without any inborn
desire for having relations with another male. The Torah therefore
refers to to’evah as meaning, ‘you are astray’ [The verb to’eh is used in
this sense in the pesukim,‘A man found him and behold he was (to’eh)
wandering in the field’ (Bereishis 37:15) and ‘I wandered (ta’isi) like a
lost sheep’ (Tehillim 119:176).] There is no [natural] desire whatsoever
for this sin of homosexuality and the lust for it arises wholly from
its being a deviation from the natural way onto a different path. This
type of evil inclination comes about solely because this behavior is
forbidden, like sinning for the sake of provocation, chas veshalom
[Heaven forefend]… and it is written in parshas Haazinu ‘They an-
gered Him with abominations’ (Devarim 32:16), which Rashi explains
means ‘with abominable conduct, such as homosexuality.’ About this
the Torah writes, ‘they angered Him.’ Evidently then, homosexuality
is an abomination practiced for the sake of provoking Heaven.”

It also says in the Torah,“Yisrael attached themselves to [the idol]
Baal Peor” (Bamidbar 25:3), about which the Sages say, “[They were]
joined [to it tightly] like a sealed lid.” (Sanhedrin 64a) This is difficult
to understand – how could Yisrael attach themselves to Baal Peor,
when there is no more disgusting form of idol worship? As Chazal
said, “How is this idol worshipped? Its adherents eat spinach, drink
beer [i.e. laxatives] and defecate before it” (Sanhedrin ibid.). What at-
traction did this form of idolatry have? The gemara (ibid.) relates that
a gentile woman was very sick and she promised that if she recovered
she would serve every form of idolatry in the world. She indeed recov-
ered and went to worship every type of idolatry in the world. When
she came to Baal Peor she asked the priests, “How does one worship
it?” They told her, “One eats spinach, drinks beer and etc.” She said,
“Better I should become ill again rather than worship an idol in that
manner.” Yisrael however were attracted to this idol in particular
and firmly attached themselves to it. It is difficult to understand the
meaning of all this.

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