Ask The Rabbi

Ask The Rabbi

category:  Chassidut

Idol worship today?

The Rav Name: Rabbi Yitzchak Arad

Hashem made two of ten commandments about worshipping other than Him. He also repeatedly, through prophets, warns that in the End Times this idol/god worship will still be going on. I don’t see any Israelites worshipping baal or asherah. However, I do see a MAN made thing that is being put before God EVERY SINGLE DAY. That is the law. God should come first! God Himself repeats this in the Tanakh over and over.

Shalom and thank you for your question! Yes, there is idol worship today. In a nutshell, every time we make a choice to do something against G-d’s will, it is a form of idol worship. Why is this? Worshipping idols means viewing the world as though someone other than G-d is running it. So in the olden days, Biblical times,  there was a fierce urge to worship the idols of the nations. The Midrash tells a story of how the King Menashe, who was infamous for worshiping idols and causing his subjects to do so, (although he later repented,) came to a sage of a later generation in a vision. The sage asked him how he could have done that terrible thing? He answered “Were you to have been in my generation,  you would have lifted up the hems of your robe and RAN to worship idols…”

Today however, we have no need to lift the hems of our robes and run anywhere. We are holding on to our electronic devices right now, and bombarded with every possible and seemingly impossible distraction from serving G-d and keeping His commandments in ‘joy and good mood’ as the Torah instructs us to. We open our eyes in the morning to the entire global village, right there on our bedside table. How many likes did we get?

If the above doesn’t describe you, you are one of the fortunate ones! However,  we all lose our temper sometimes, or at least become annoyed with our fellow person.

The sages of the Talmud teach us that ‘All those who become angry …it is as though they worshipped idols.’  Yes there are times when we would have to be superhuman not to become angry,  but our job is to do our best. The Torah states “For the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart to do it…” and the sages teach “It is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, neither are you free to desist from it…”

HaShem does not expect perfection,  but rather awaits our sincere effort.

 As I mentioned above, when we are subject to our own whims and desires without taking into account G-d’s will, this is a form  of idol worship. We are here in every generation to deal with the challenges of that generation- the forms of idol worship relevant to that generation, and do the best we can to live our lives with G-dly values and purpose, according to the instructions of the Torah.

 Idols in the simple sense do exist today. In our community for example,  there is an Israeli woman who traveled to the far east in her younger years,  and brought home to Israel a collection of idols that are still worshipped there in our times. When she began to study Kabbala and then Halachic Judaism,  she made a bonfire in her backyard and burned the idols. It is important to know that also today, we are prohibited from using products that were used for idol worship. A few years ago there was a question about  wigs made from Indian hair, because the women who sold their hair may have offered it to the idols first. I believe the problem was taken care of. We should definitely refrain from possession of objects that may have been used for religious worship of a religion which is not ours.


In summary,  as you rightly point out, G-d should come first! When each of us does the best we can to internalize and practice the commandments of the Torah if we are Jewish,  and the Seven Noahide Laws if we are not, and encourage those around us in a loving and positive manner to do likewise, we are bringing close the time when “All the earth will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the sea…” and then as the Rambam (Maimonides) explains,  there will be no more hunger, war, or strife of any kind.

Good luck, may we all do our best to make it happen!

Sources

תורת שמואל תר”מ, חלק א עמוד א. ספר התניא פרקים כ”א – כ”ב. ליקוטי שיחות חט”ז, שיחה לפרשת יתרו.