Aug 19/06 - Parashat Re'eh

Commentary by Rabbi Alan Green

“If your brother—your mother’s son—or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your best friend entices you in secret, saying, “Come, let us worship other gods”—whom neither you nor your parents have known—from among the gods of the peoples around you; either from nearby, or far away—from one end of the earth to the other: do not listen, nor pay any attention to him. Show him no pity or compassion. Do not shield him. You shall kill him. Let your hand be the first to put him to death. Later will come the hand of the rest of the people.” (Deuteronomy 13:7-10)

One wonders why the Torah puts such a dramatic emphasis on this particular mistake; or why the worship of other gods is a sin for which we should be willing to mete out the ultimate punishment. It doesn’t sit well with our modern, liberal sensibility—the one that insists that it is not only true that all religious paths lead to the same mountain top; but also that without those paths, there would be no mountain (Dr. Raimundo Pannikar).

Even the rabbis of eighteen centuries ago were very much aware of the spiritual integrity of other religious paths. As much as they were opposed to the polytheism of Hellenistic civilization, the rabbis insisted that God judged a person according to his deeds, and not according to his or her religious origins. So, it was only natural that for the rabbis of old, the doors of Paradise should be wide open to good people of all spiritual orientations.

However, the Torah comes from a much earlier layer of Jewish civilization, and addresses a far more dangerous period of Jewish history. 1200 BCE was a time of tremendous ferment in the ancient world. Arnold Toynbee called it the Volkervanderung—a time of vast migration in North Africa, Southern Europe, and the Middle East. This was about the time of the Exodus from Egypt—our own barbarian invasion of the land of Israel.

The message demanded by this time could not be, “All religions are created equal.” Therefore, in the book of Deuteronomy, we see Moses girding the loins of our people for an intense physical and spiritual battle with the established, advanced civilization of the Canaanites.

We now know that this didn’t turn out to be a quick or easy struggle. In fact, it went on for centuries. And long after the Canaanites and Philistines were militarily subdued, their spiritual influence continued to be a threat. How so? The least that can be said about the worship of other gods in ancient Israel is that it threatened the Jewish continuity of those who engaged in it.

But there was more. In the eyes of the Torah and the later prophets, polytheism makes a profound spiritual mistake that has grievous consequences in the real world. Polytheists worshiped God as He is IN creation—in the stars, planets, trees, animals, and other human beings. Certainly, there is no question that the wonders of both the natural and human worlds are worthy of veneration. One would have to be blind or unconscious not to be awe-struck—at least on occasion—by the grandeur of the world in which we live.

But Judaism has always worshiped God both IN and BEYOND creation. This was the critical difference between the ancient Israelites and all the surrounding civilizations of the region. God BEYOND creation was an ethical and just god, who employed His infinite creativity and power IN creation, exclusively for moral purposes. But God IN creation is a God exclusively of nature, where strength, beauty, and power operate free of any moral constraints.

This is why Jewish civilization valued justice and equity above all, while the Canaanites, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans valued art, architecture, philosophy, technology, and the building of empire above all. Questions of justice and ethics certainly played a role in these civilizations. But they never prevailed as first priority. This is why Jewish civilization has continued to survive until today, while the empires of the ancient world ceased to exist long ago.

Now we can understand what the Torah is saying about the consequences of worshiping other gods. One who worships, or entices others to worship other gods—which is to say, God IN creation, to the exclusion of God BEYOND creation—destroys himself and others. The very act of worship, or enticing to worship such a God is spiritual murder.

History has shown that the spiritual destruction of a civilization always precedes its physical destruction, and physical destruction, according to the Bible, is God’s ultimate judgment of that civilization. Therefore, Jewish survival down through the ages is the ultimate vindication of the viability of the Jewish spiritual path, and the truth of its perception that God lives, and is active both in and beyond creation.

Shabbat Shalom.