Ki Tisa – A Focus on Faith

Rabbi Ezra Friedman

    Faith in a superior power is the most basic foundation of almost every religion. A large percentage of the world’s population over the centuries has had the belief in an ultimate being who had created our world. Judaism’s most elemental principle is the fact that Hashem created this world and controls everything according to his will. Many centuries ago, many different types of non-monotheistic religions existed, such as polytheism, Paganism and other different types of idol worship. These religions were practiced throughout many different cultures and in many different countries.

Judaism views the practice of almost any type of non-monotheistic religion as a severe sin. The reason being, as mentioned above, is that Hashem is the one and only Hashem and Hashem alone controls the world. In addition, because Hashem is not a material entity, although he controls the physical world, a principle in Judaism is that since Hashem is all-powerful, he in essence must transcend above the physical world. The prohibition of idol worship is one of the most severe transgressions in Judaism. This is apparent from some of the laws regarding idol worship or polytheism.

In practically all transgressions, there is no obligation (in most cases) to give one’s life in order not to transgress a sin. For example, if one is gravely ill on Shabbat, the importance of saving one’s life transcends the keeping the holy Shabbat. As such, one may drive to the hospital even on Shabbat. However, there are three cardinal sins for which a Jew must give his life rather than transgress.

One of these three cardinal sins is idol worship. The Torah tries so hard to distance Jews from idol worship that it is even a transgression to gain any benefit from anything used for polytheism. Even entering a place of worship that is associated with polytheism is restricted in most situations. It is clear that Hashem is very concerned with Jews associating in any way, shape, or form with foreign gods. Why is this such a concern? Because in today’s day and age, idol worship is much weaker, one would also assume that such a basic religious tenet would be much easier to keep and that the need or desire to serve other gods would be weak.

In comparison to other sins, there is no explicit prohibition against observing a battle during war. Because of the severity of the sin of murder, Hashem should have explicitly prohibited even the sight of something violent in order to distance us from committing a severe sin, such as murder or vicious activity. However, concerning immoral sexual activity there are many protective decrees. That is because of the fact that there is an increased desire by human beings to engage in sexual activity. Although, there is no strong desire to believe in polytheism. In order to shed light on this prohibition, we will examine an interesting episode in this week’s Parsha.

The Torah tells us of one of the most severe sins in Jewish history, the sin of the Golden Calf. Anyone who has never studied the intricacies of this devastating moment in Jewish history might be perplexed. A few weeks ago, we read about Am Yisrael receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai, and being witness to the revelation by Hashem. In just a short time after receiving the Torah, how could Am Yisrael sin in such a severe manner?

This difficulty is discussed by many Jewish philosophers and I will relate one of the answers. When Am Yisrael saw that Moshe didn’t return from his journey up the mountain, Am Yisrael felt a need to find an additional intermediary to reconnect to Hashem. As such, they made the golden calf as a means to get even closer to Hashem.

The Kuzari, a Jewish philosophical masterpiece written by Rav Yehuda Halevi, discusses this issue in detail. In ancient times, there was a strong presence of idol worship and the worship of intermediaries, such as the sun and the moon. Am Yisrael felt it needed to get closer to Hashem, that they needed additional tools in order to expand their spirituality. The servitude to the Golden Calf was not meant to replace Hashem. Rather it was meant to enhance the people’s connection with him. When attempting to understand this perspective, we can see a different way of looking at this episode. The sin of the Golden Calf does not seem as severe as it initially seems, because it came from a partially sincere desire to serve Hashem. However, if we subscribe to this opinion, why was the punishment so severe and why does the Torah describe this as such a devastating event? The answer is that no matter the degree to which Am Yisrael‘s intentions were good, no matter how much the culture of the time was accepting of this kind of worship, Am Yisrael is on a different spiritual level. The people of Am Yisrael, especially after receiving the Torah and considering the spiritual plane they were on, deserved a stern punishment. Because of their elevated spiritual level, this act was accordingly very severe and the collective punishment was well deserved. In many areas of our society, we accept the fact that our leaders are held to a higher standard than the average person.

An important lesson that we can learn from Rav Yehuda Halevi’s perspective is that especially when faith is strong, idol worship can sprout. The Rambam describes how after Adam passed away, idol worship spread. He mentions that at the beginning, it was a way to increase one’s spirituality. The Torah was very concerned that we might be persuaded to find alternative ways to reach Hashem. Once this way of thinking would go too far, we would eventually forget Hashem completely and proclaim allegiance to other gods. Jewish philosophers discuss that the distance between idol worship and monotheism in the most basic sense is very close. Their source derives from the desire for spirituality, as well as the importance of faith in a higher being and all the virtues that come along with it. Although, even with faith, when these kind of actions continue the consequences can be lethal.

The Rambam mentions that even though Christianity and Islam differ from Judaism and that these religions are prohibited (Christianity is much more severely prohibited than Islam according to the Rambam), the fact that they are based on a system of faith helps humanity come closer to redemption. The Rambam‘s words should be understood with caution. Polytheism is explicitly prohibited, however a lack of any faith is much worse. In modern times, there is a new phenomenon, atheism. An idea where there is no superior power, a movement that has no set moral code or any ideals for the future, this is truly frightening. The basic principle of faith, if used correctly, can propel the human race to a higher level, to create, build, and help one and other. Even through the hardest of times, we must always keep faith in Hashem, not just on a personal level but on a wider level as well. Apathy and selfishness are symptoms of movements like atheism. Our role as the Jewish nation is not just to show the world the power of Hashem‘s nation, but to bring the world closer to faith.

In the 21^st century, when our nation is blossoming in its land, Eretz Yisrael, when Jews are not afraid to proclaim their eternal connection to Hashem, in a time where Torah learning is flourishing at full speed, we must increase our connection to our religion and through this; we hope that the principle of faith will spread throughout the world.