For thousands of years, the Jewish people have prided themselves on being unique, on following a different path, on having a mission. In order to, please Hashem soon, fulfill our ultimate goal of being a mamleches kohanim, a nation of priests – a nation that leads the world in matters of spirituality and holiness (and thus ethics) - we need to hold ourselves to different standards; and that is often really very hard. Living in galus, the imperfect state of the world, has forced us to be surrounded and, thus, influenced by nations and peoples who have different goals. It is up to us to navigate that path between.
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Ra’eh, there is a seemingly short
and simple pasuk that could easily be overlooked as a simple wrap up to the
subject being discussed but is far more impactful than might be realized. Pasuk
12:4 states: “Lo ta’asoon ken la’Hashem E-lo-kay’chem. Do not do thus to Hashem
your Gd.” The pasuk follows instructions to Bnei Yisrael that upon entering the
Promised Land they should make certain to destroy all the places where the
other nations had worshipped false gods. Indeed, the pasuk before says: “And
you shall tear down their altars, smash their monuments, burn their asherim
with fire, cut down the graven images of their gods, and destroy their name
from that place.”
The preceding pasuk, however, is exactly what makes this
pasuk so curious. It seems as if the Torah is telling Bnei Yisrael not to tear
down or destroy anything that is part of the avodah to Hashem, but that seems
like an obvious statement. The entire focus of the Torah is getting to the
Promised Land to fulfill the ultimate means of serving Hashem, so who would
even think to tear down Hashem. That would seem to fall under prohibitions
against blasphemy and rebellion and the like.
Perhaps it is this conundrum that has led a great number of
wise scholars to interpret this pasuk as meaning that one should not worship
Hashem in any way that is similar to the worship of Avodah Zara. It isn’t as
simple as don’t carve images or designate holy trees. Taking Jewish worship and
shaping it to reflect modern standards is a slippery slope. Just look at where the
introduction of an organ led… And it is tempting. Seeing outsiders in the
throes of their own faith could very well lead one to wanting to bring that
passion or joy to Jewish prayer. If you’ve ever seen gospel, it is full of
energy and joy that is aimed at God. But it is not for us. We can be inspired
by that to inflect more energy and joy into our own avodah, but we should not
transform our avodah to mimic theirs.
Don’t worship like the others and don’t destroy the places
or vehicles of avodas Hashem - one verse with two very different understandings,
and yet they are both relevant comments on life in our modern day galus. These two
instructive interpretations merge in that much of popular culture seems to thrive
on erasing religion. For thousands of years of history, one could not have imagined
a world where so much secularism reigned. Jews avoided the ways of worship of
other nations – to the point that it is common to avoid even giving directions
using a church as a landmark – but now we must be wary of the penchant for the
world around us to diminish, if not erase all together, the Creator of the Universe.
There is one more powerful aspect to this verse: “Lo ta’asoon
ken la’Hashem E-lo-kay’chem. Do not do thus to Hashem your Gd.” The power is in
our hands. Hashem instructed us on how to connect to Him, and He commanded us what
to do or not do according to His “Creator’s Manuel,” His omniscient view of all
things. The word La’asot, as in ta’asoon, means to do or make. It is a powerful
word that implies just how much bechira, free will, each of us has. Hashem gave
us control over our relationship with Him, because, ultimately, that is the
only way we will be able to fulfill our role as a mamleches kohanim.
I wish you all a beautiful Shabbas, a good start to the new
school year, and an upcoming chodesh tov.
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