Don't turn to idols or make molten gods for yourselves. I am Hashem your G-d.
The Ohr Hachaim explains this possuk with a play on words.
He first asks why this possuk is necessary. Have we not been commanded many times not to worship idols? What is the purpose of forbidding the specific turning towards idols? Additionally, he asks why the Torah forbids making molten gods לָכֶם – for you? What is the Torah adding with these words?
The Ohr Hachaim quotes the words of the Zohar that we mentioned earlier. When a person performs a Mitzvah, the Shechina rests on him. When he transgresses Hashem’s words, a spirit of impurity rests on him. This impure spirit serves as a מסך – a curtain – that separates the person from Hashem, preventing him from experiencing godliness as he could. The possuk (Yeshaya 59:2) writes, כִּי אִּם עֲוֺנֺתֵּיכֶם הָיוּ מַּבְדִּלִּים בֵּינֵּכֶם לְבֵּין א לוקיכֶם וְחַּטֺאותֵּיכֶם הִּסְתִּ ירוּ פָנִּ ים מִּכֶם מִּשְמוֹעַּ - But your iniquities have separated between you and your G-d, and your sins have hidden His face from you, that He will not hear. An aveira can serve as a curtain and separation between a Yid and Hashem.
The Ohr Hachaim now explains the word מַּסֵּכָה as being derived from the word מסך – curtain. A person should not perform those actions that serve as a separation between himself and the source of his life.
The possuk now reads like this: אַּל תִּפְנוּ אֶל הָא לִּילִּם – Do not turn to idol worship, because that would cause a rift between you and Hashem, וֵּאלֹהֵּי מַּסֵּכָה לֺא תַּעֲשׂוּ לָכֶם – and do not cause this rift to yourselves. If you are considering doing so, think about who it is you are separating from - אֲנִּי ה' א לוקיכֶם – I am Hashem your G-d.
Another explanation for this final phrase of אֲנִּי ה' א לוקיכֶם – I am Hashem your G-d – is that the Gemara tells us that anyone who denies the powers of idol worship and refuses to engage, is deemed as though he has accepted the entire Torah. When someone fulfills the first half of the possuk, he is considered someone who is under Hashem’s supervision and control. Hashem is his G-d.
The Ohr Hachaim then adds a homiletic idea. The Gemara says that is forbidden for a person to gaze at the countenance of a wicked man. If someone turns to idol worship, he becomes a אלֹהֵּי מַּסֵּכָה – a molten idol. He has done it לָכֶם – to yourselves. Do not do this to yourself. Do not turn yourself into someone that it is forbidden to gaze at, which is an attribute of idols.
