Idolatry

One of the topics in this week's section, called Re'eh (Observe), deals with the laws of idolatry. Moses warns the Jewish people, about to enter the Land of Israel, not to learn from the customs of the peoples who inhabit it, since they are all idolaters.

In the midst of describing these laws, the Torah states (Deuteronomy 13:1): "Whatever I command you [...] do not add to it or subtract from it." Furthermore, if a prophet who was tested as such were to say that we should go and serve another god, the Torah commands us not to listen to him. In other words, the Torah protects itself from being altered.

Regarding rabbinic decrees and commandments, the Torah establishes that we must observe a boundary around it to avoid transgressing it. It commands us to listen to what our sages say, and above all, a rabbinic decree is not a biblical mitzvah. That is, if a sage were to say that what he says as a decree is part of the Written Torah, he would be transgressing the commandment "do not add to it." But if it only has the status of a rabbinic decree as a boundary and protection, it is not considered an addition to the Torah. The same applies to customs; they are not additions to the Torah because no one says that a particular custom is a mitzvah commanded by the Torah.

Returning to idolatry, our sages explain that if God had not removed the desire to commit idolatry, it would be very difficult to resist the temptation. Therefore, it is difficult to understand today why the Torah warns so vehemently against idolatry. However, every issue in the Torah is timeless because it is part of something eternal, and thus, beyond the legal application of the concept (such as idolatry and its laws), we must find some meaning for daily life, at any time and in any place.

The central concept of idolatry is placing importance on something other than God. For example, a person might consider God to be the "God of all gods" but believe there are other gods and that it is appropriate to serve them to gain some benefit. In simpler, more practical terms, idolatry is fundamentally about giving importance to something that, in reality, has no importance. Some are servants of money, others of physical beauty, honor, or power—all forms of idolatry. (It should be clarified that I am referring to the concept of idolatry, not to the mitzvah itself, which has its definition and rules in the Code of Jewish Law.).

From a deeper perspective, idolatry in Hebrew is called avodah zarah, which means "strange work." This indicates that anything foreign to Judaism is, in some subtle way, idolatry. Even self-service—that is, someone who is a prisoner of their own temptations, who surrenders, for example, to their own pleasures—is, in some way, an idolater, whose god is themselves.

That is why the Torah warns so strongly against idolatry, because it is not merely an ancient practice of peoples that no longer exist, but something modern, current, and extremely difficult to eradicate.