Is Idolatry Obsolete?

Idolatry: Article No. 1

 

Torah Class IDOLATRY-1/The essence of IDOLATRY

Know your CREATOR, know yourself, and know the difference

1: Man is born to withstand IDOLATRY

Today we start learning about the First Noahide Commandment, IDOLATRY. As we said in the last class, it was given to ADAM and Eve in Eden, among the ‘primordial’ Six Commandments.

Since Eden is the cradle of Mankind, this means that Man was made to withstand the Six Commandments' trial. Man was born with a “desire to abide by them” or “to violate them,” as the Rabbis have said.
More specifically, Adam was formed in Eden equipped with the talent to be attracted either to G-d, or to idols.

Is IDOLATRY still relevant?
If we define IDOLATRY as the prohibition to worship idols and statues made of wood and stone, we may ask ourselves whether the Commandment is still relevant to our modern lives. After all, this type of spiritual errors has been eradicated from us. Even nations in the Far East, who seem to still worship their idols, are actually carrying their parental tradition. They do not believe anymore in the idols’ power. Hence, is IDOLATRY obsolete?

Modern idols
The answer is given by the idea stated above, that Man was made in Eden to withstand the IDOLATRY trial forever, as long as he lives.
It means that we too have our own modern idols. What is an idol, after all, if not something or someone that stirs us away from adoring and worshiping our true CREATOR?
Hence we should admit: we too are carried away by forces which attempt to diminish the power of G-d in our eyes. For instance:
We tend to adore a political party or political leader, worshiping them like G-d.
We may pursue wealth and power to the point of forgetting morality and G-d.
We tend to believe in science’s power to solve all of our problems, replacing G-d.
We may surrender our life to pursue Art and make it our idol.
We tend to surrender our life to drugs and alcohol, making them our idols.
Hence there were ancient idols which have but disappeared from us, and modern idols which we still face every day.
Yes, the IDOLATRY Commandment is very, very relevant to us.

2: IDOLATRY in the Garden of Eden

What constitutes IDOLATRY? Adam received it in Eden then carried it to Earth.
What did IDOLATRY mean to Adam in Eden?
Surely Adam and Eve would not be foolish to carve out statues of wood and stone in Eden and worship them. Surely they would not bow to the Sun and the Moon and worship them. They lived too close to the CREATOR, to make such a gross mental error.
But they could do one thing that would constitute IDOLATRY: Disobeying G-d’s Command.
Let’s recall the verse where G-d gave Adam the Six Commandments. Having formed the Adam from dust, the CREATOR immediately said to Adam:

“And He (G-d) commanded on the Adam, saying: from all the Tree of the Garden you can eat, but from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil you should not eat, since on the day that you eat it you’ll die!”

Here the word “Commanded” is superfluous. The Rabbis saw that as a hint for the Six Commandments. Hence in addition of forbidding Adam to eat from the Tree’s fruits, G-d also commanded on him the Six Commandments, among them IDOLATRY.

Listen to me!

What G-d was saying to Adam is: Listen to me! I am your CREATOR, and your Father In Heavens. I have the authority to COMMAND on you: Do not eat from this tree.
Let’s note that this was not ADVICE, but rather a COMMAND.
Who may issue a Command? Someone with authority. Hence He spoke to Adam not only as Adam’s CREATOR, but also as Adam’s FATHER IN HEAVENS, and also as ADAM’S KING, or better: as the KING OF THE UNIVERSE.
Note that when we attribute KINGSHIP to G-d we don’t mean to say that He wears a golden crown or ride a beautiful horse. We mean rather that He rules His CREATION, and that He moves things around, taking care of it. He is OUR KING, conducting OUR lives.

Hence the most basic, primordial meaning of IDOLATRY is: Man, listen to your CREATOR’S will, to your FATHER IN HEAVEN'S wishes. Obey your KING’S Commands!
We transgress IDOLATRY whenever we violate His Commandments.
Thus when Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden fruit, they disobeyed their CREATOR-FATHER-KING's command and violated IDOLATRY.
And when Eve, a married woman, cohabited in private with the cunning Serpent, she violated ADULTERY. But she transgressed IDOLATRY as well.
IDOLATRY underlies all the Commandments. Whenever we transgress G-d’s commandments, we violate IDOLATRY as well.

Adam’s anniversary
Thus G-d appeared to Adam and Eve in Eden; G-d as “Our Father, Our King,” (Avinu Malkeinu.) Once a year, on the anniversary of Adam creation (Rosh Hashanah,) we address G-d as Our Father, Our King. We also enthrone Him as the KING of the Universe and we pray for the end of IDOLATRY. We re-stage the basis of the story of Eden.
Hence our study follows mainstream Judaism. We do not use esoteric teachings.

3: IDOLATRY in the Ten Commandments

In Eden, IDOLATRY meant: Listen to your FATHER and KING. But IDOLATRY is more than that. Yet nowhere in the Book of Genesis is IDOLATRY spelled out in details. It is there, of course, operating behind the scene, but nowhere described in the text.
Adam knew it, Enosh knew it, Noah knew it, Abraham knew it, and so did Isaac and Jacob and all the righteous people. They all knew it and fought against it. Abraham even sacrificed his life in order to eradicate it. But what are the details of IDOLATRY?
Only in the Book of Exodus, on Sinai revelation, G-d gave Israel the IDOLATRY Commandment in details. Let’s read the first two Commandments of Sinai from the text:

The First of Moses’ Ten Commandments
”I Am the Lord (written YHVH) your G-d (written ELoHiM) (what are these Names?)
Who took you out of Egypt Land.
The Second of Moses’ Ten Commandments
”Thou shall not have another G-d over my face
Thou shall not make yourself any carved idol (statue) or any image
of anything in the Heavens above and in the Earth underneath,
and in the waters that are under the Earth. Thou shall not bow to them and shall not serve them…”

The Classical IDOLATRY Commandment
As we see, Moses’ Second Commandment forbids the idols and spells them out in detail. It is considered the classical source for the IDOLATRY Commandment.

Miraculously, the idols listed here are all the POSSIBLE idols that Mankind has ever conceived. They are referred to as:
1. Other ELoHiM
2. Over My Face
3. Images of impressive items in nature
4. Images of natural powers
5. Images out of our wild imagination
6. Everything we bow to
7. Do not serve them the way you do to G-d
We’ll learn about them in due course.

Know your CREATOR
We can also see that the above is preceded by Moses’ First Commandment, in which G-d presents His Names. It is an introduction, but also a separate Commandment which orders on us to KNOW Him by these Names.

Two separate Commandments?
Indeed, the RaMBam (Maimonides) counts the First and Second Commandments as separate ones and even list them in different chapters of his book. Thus the Second Commandment he lists among the Laws of IDOLATRY, while the First one he lists among the Laws of Principles.
But a closer look suggests that these two are in fact one continuum:

The First Introduces the Speaker, G-d, whom we should worship (a positive part)
The second introduces the Idols, whom we should worship not (a negative part)
We need the two of them.
It is not enough to know and worship the true G-d. We must also avoid worshiping idols.
And it is not enough to avoid worshiping idols. We should worship

G-d.
The two present the two sides of IDOLATRY: Positive and negative ones.

Spoken to only Israel?
Now we may ask, should Noahide learn about IDOLATRY from the Ten Commandments?
The late Vendyl Jones, may he rest in peace, once said: “The Ten Commandments are a love letter sent from G-d to Israel.’ This implies that no one else but Israel should open this love letter.  This seems logical. G-d spoke to people whom He had just redeemed from Egypt. Noahides had never been enslaved by Egypt. They are not the target of G-d’s words.  Yet the Talmud thinks otherwise. It gives the following rule of thumb:
”A Commandment given to Noah and then repeated on Sinai to Israel, applies to BOTH.” (Tract. Sanhedrin)

For instance:
The BLOODSHED Commandment was first given to Adam in Eden. After the Flood was enforced to Noah in the Rainbow Covenant (as we’ll learn soon). Later Moses repeated it on Sinai to Israel saying: “Thou Shall Not Murder.” According to our rule, BLOODSHED pertains to both Noahides and Israel.

Of course, Noahides and Israel differ in the punishment they incur for having transgressed the BLOODSHED Law. Israel is treated more stringently. Yet in principle, the Commandment applies to Noahides and Israel.
This holds true in regard to the rest of the Six Commandments: IDOLATRY, ADULTERY, THEFT, INJUSTICE and BLASPHEMY. They were given to Adam then repeated to Israel, hence they apply to both.
Some Commandments of Sinai had not been given to Adam; therefore they apply to Israel only. For instance: The Commandment to observing the Sabbath (in a strict way) was given only to Israel.

Accordingly, since IDOLATRY was given to Adam then repeated to Israel on Sinai, it should apply to both. Noahides therefore can learn the details of IDOLATRY from the Ten Commandments.
Like in regards to BLOODSHED, the two groups differ in the punishment incurred for having violated IDOLATRY. Israel is treated more stringently and harshly. G-d would not send the Chinese to exile as a punishment for their IDOLATRY.

4: Withstanding opposite attractions

The first two of the Ten Commandments of Sinai, we have said, constitute IDOLATRY. Let’s read them again:

POSITIVE COMMANDMENT (Know your CREATOR)
“I am YHVH, your ELoKiM (The Names, the Attributes)
Who took you out of Egypt (His Deeds, His Kingship)
////////////////MAN////////////////
NEGATIVE COMMANDMENT (Know your idols)
“Thou shall have no OTHER ELoHiMS OVER MY FACE (what does it mean?)
Thou shall not make yourself a STATUE or any likeness,
Of that which is in the Heavens above or on the Earth below
Thou shall not bow to them nor serve them”
(Exodus 20: 2-3)

Man stands between two attractions
Moses depicts Man here as standing between the two aspects of the IDOLATRY Commandment:
The First Commandment above Man tells us that we should know G-d and His Names
The Second one, below Man, tells us about the idols.
Hence Man is depicted as standing between two choices:

He may look ‘upwards’ and worship G-d
He may look ‘downwards’ to the idols, on the OTHER SIDE, and worship them instead of G-d.
IDOLATRY is therefore a BATTLE between two opposing ATTRACTIONS:
To be attracted either to our TRUE CREATOR or to our idols.

No option of worshiping no one
Note that Moses leaves here no ‘neutral option’ of not being attracted to anything or anyone.
Moses assumes that Man is born to be attracted either to G-d or to the idols,
As Mankind grows in history in Wisdom and Knowledge, our idols change and become more sophisticated, yet they are dangerous idols nevertheless.
Moses assumes that if you don’t worship the True G-d, you’d fall a prey to an idol which would consume your life. There is no option of neutrality. Let us be aware of this and opt to be attracted to G-d rather than to our idols.

The ‘other side’ of G-d
Note that the idols are listed on the ’other side’ (Sitra Achra in Aramaic) of G-d.
This has led to the concept of the infamous Sitra Achra, a nickname for our bad inclination and our bad inner drive, that pushes us to worship an idol.
Note that the Sitra Achra is neither Satan nor a Devil. It is our own bad drives.

5: Know your CREATOR’S Holy Names

Let’s dig deeper into Moses’ IDOLATRY Commandment. It says:

1. “I Am (G-d presents His Self, His Essence)
2. YHVH (usually mistranslated as “Lord,”) Your ELoKiM (usually mistranslated as “G-d”)
3. Who took you out of Egypt Land.”

In this INTRODUCTION, which is also a commandment by itself, G-d presents Himself to the children of Israel by a series of Holy Names and Titles.
1. “I Am” refers to His Essence.
2. “YHVH your ELoHiM” refers to His Attributes. YHVH stands for “The Merciful,” while “ELoHiM” stands for “The Judge.”
3. “Who took you out of Egypt” refers to His deeds, His capacity as a KING.

Not to believe, but rather to know
Note that unlike what people often think, G-d -does not command us here to believe in Him, but rather to KNOW Him by these Names and Titles (Maimonides, RaMBaM.)
This makes sense, since no one can command someone else to believe in his existence; it simply makes no sense. But one can command someone else to KNOW Him and address Him in a certain way; if he has the authority to do this.
Here G-d, the Speaker, introduces Himself to Israel by saying: “I Am, YHVH, your ELoKiM, Who Took You Out of Egypt.” He therefore expects us to know Him and address Him by these names.
Why? For these Names are essential for our understanding of Him. They carry important moral messages that He thinks that they should not be overlooked or ignored.

Ancient Names
These Names were not conceived on Sinai. They had been coined by Adam and Eve in Eden. They appear in the story of Eden in the formation of Adam, as it says:

“And YHVH ELoHIM formed the Adam from the dust of the Earth…
And YHVH ELoHIM commanded on the Adam
Saying: from all the trees of the Garden you shall eat,
but from the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat…””

Hence G-d talked to Adam in Eden as follows:
“I Am YHVH ELOHIM,
your CREATOR, your FATHER and KING,
from all the trees…”
This He presented Himself in Eden, in the same way He would on Sinai.

For instance
To make more sense of what we’ve just said, let’s consider the following illustration.
Let’s assume that I, your teacher in this class, present myself to you saying: ‘Hallo, I Am Rabbi Doctor Zvi Aviner, and I teach Torah on the Noahide Virtual Yeshiva.’
Having heard me, you’d intuitively know that I’ve chosen my titles carefully, to send you specific messages.
First, I did not simply say “I am Zvi Aviner.” I would expect people to address me using my personal name only if they have already an intimate relationship with me.
I’ve added ‘Rabbi’ to convey the message that I am qualified to teach you Torah.
I’ve also added ‘Doctor’ to convey the message that I am also quite familiar with sciences and world affairs.
I’ve mentioned ‘Rabbi’ first, for it is more important for this class than my other title ‘Doctor.’
In my eye clinic, I would choose the opposite order. I’d present myself to my patients first as a Doctor, and I would rarely, if ever, mention Rabbi.
Hence the ORDER by which I’ve elected to present my title is important.
Moreover, I have ended my presentation by saying that I teach Torah on the Noahide Virtual Yeshiva. This is what I do: I teach Torah. And this last line is perhaps the most meaningful to you, since you know now that I’ve been authorized by your board to teach you, and that I am committed to your teaching.

These are my names, and this is what I do.
So when G-d presents Himself on Mt. Sinai by using these Holy Names, He sends us a message. He wishes us to KNOW that He created the world as a Merciful One and as the Judge. And that He still rules over history and moves things around, such as taking Israel out of Egypt Land. He is not only the CREATOR, but also our KING.

No distortions
Let’s go back to our illustration.
When I presented myself to you as “My name is Rabbi Doctor Zvi Aviner..” it would be rude from your side to address me in any other way.
It would be rude to address me simply as “Hi, Zvi!”
It would be offensive if someone among you would distort my name and titles. Suppose that he or she calls me Roobi instead of Rabbi. This would not only be rude, but also would betray his or hers ignorance of what Rabbi means. It would have destroyed my authority in his eyes.
In that same token, if a patient distorts my title Doctor and mispronounce it as Ductaroo, he would not only be rude, but would also reveal his ignorance of what a doctor is.

Do not distort YHVH and ELoKIM’s Names
So when the Speaker of the Ten Commandments expects us to address Him by these Holy Names, it would be rude to do otherwise. It would be equivalent of committing IDOLATRY.
And if we distort these Names and calls Him Jehovah or Yahwa, as is commonly done, we have not only been rude, but also have betrayed our ignorance of what these Names are.
Hence a person who calls YHVH as Jehovah (and the like) should not be allowed to teach Noahides. Take this and use it as a litmus test!
This holds true also for the Holy Name ELoKiM. If someone ignores it or replaces it by another Name such as G-d, he or she has destroyed one of the most basic messages of the Bible.

Blessings
We follow His Command and address Him in our prayers and blessings as follows:
We say: “Blessed are You, YHVH our ELoHiM, the King of the Universe, for bringing up bread from the Earth.”

So what exactly is the meaning of these titles? On that we’ll dwell in the next class.

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This article was orignally posted on http://www.noahidesevencommandments.com/default.asp 

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