הזהירות הגדולה מלפגום באמונה
The great caution against damaging faith
לֹא תִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה לָהֶם וְלֹא תָעָבְדֵם כִּי אָנֹכִי ה’ אֱלֹקֶיךָ קֵ-ל קַנָּא פֹּקֵד עֲוֹן אָבֹת עַל בָּנִים עַל שִׁלֵּשִׁים וְעַל רִבֵּעִים לְשֹׂנְאָי: (כ, ה)
You shall not prostrate yourself to them nor worship them, for I am Hashem, your G-d, a zealous G-d, Who visits the sin of the fathers upon children, upon the third and fourth generations, for those who hate me. (20:5)
Rashi explains: A zealous G-d – He is zealous to exact punishment and does not bypass His attribute of strict judgment to forgive the sin of Idolatry. All expressions of קנא are ’a zealous outburst that leads to action’; He concentrates on being paid his due.
Rashi teaches us in these words that although one of the attributes of HaKadosh Baruch Hu is that He overlooks offenses, all of this applies to all other sins that a person has transgressed except for idolatry. But with regard to the sin of idolatry, this attribute does not apply, and He will necessarily punish a person because of it.
In ancient times this sin was an extremely difficult test. However, after the Men of the Great Assembly nullified the evil inclination for idolatry (see Yoma 69b), there is no longer anyone who stumbles in it. As related in the Gemara (Sanhedrin 102b), on one occasion Rav Ashi said to his students that on the following day they would speak in the yeshiva about Menasheh, king of Yehudah, and he referred to him as “Menashe our colleague.” That night Menashe appeared to him and protested that he had dared to refer to him as “our colleague.” Menashe first asked Rav Ashi whether he knew from where one begins to break the bread before reciting the blessing over it, and Rav Ashi did not have a clear answer. Menashe then said to him, if you do not know how to answer such a simple question, how do you dare to call me by the name “our colleague”? At first Rav Ashi asked Menashe to teach him this halachah, and Menashe taught him that one breaks the bread from the place where it is best baked. Afterwards Rav Ashi asked Menasheh, if you are so knowledgeable in Torah, and without doubt all the people of your era were also great sages, how did you stumble so greatly in the severe sin of idolatry? Menashe answered him, if you had been in our time, you too would have lifted up your garments so that they would not impede you from running after idolatry, because of the power of the inclination for idolatry. The next day, when Rav Ashi came to deliver his drasha, he said, we will open and speak about “our rabbis.”
This story expresses well the great difference between that era, when the inclination for idolatry existed, and the period afterward. Rav Ashi, who did not recognize Menashe, initially regarded him as one of the completely empty ones, and in the end, when he understood what it was about, he understood that he was considered like his rabbis.
This story teaches us that when the Torah spoke about the severity of idolatry, it did not intend idolatry alone. For our Torah is eternal, and its words were given for all generations, and it is impossible that there be within it any commandment that after some generations would become null. One must therefore say that the Torah also intended matters that are in the category of “the accessories of idolatry,” and it wished to reveal that they too are severe like it.
And as is indeed proven in the sefer Chayei Adam in its introduction, that the awe appropriate for the sin of idolatry is also appropriate for the sins that Chazal said are like those who serve idolatry. And these are his words: “And if I have been saved from idolatry, forbidden relations, and bloodshed in actual deed, who can say that I have merited, that my heart is pure from my sins, from their offshoots and from their dust, as Chazal said (Sotah 4b), ‘Anyone who is arrogant is as if he serves idolatry,’ and ‘Anyone who becomes angry is as if he serves idolatry’ (Zohar, part 3, page 119), anyone who alters his speech is like one who serves idolatry (Sanhedrin 92b), and many more like these.” End quote.
Regarding the matter of arrogance mentioned in Chayei Adam, which is in some measure similar to idolatry, one can explain the reason for this. For one who is arrogant demonstrates that in his view there is power apart from the Creator Yisbarach. For if not for this, he would not be arrogant about his qualities, because he would know that these are nothing but a gift from Heaven, and were it not for the will of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, he would have no quality at all.
The matter of anger also indicates an aspect of heresy. As is brought in the sefer Tanya (Iggeres HaKodesh, chapter 25), which explained why it is severe like idolatry. These are its words: “But this intent is absolute truth. And it is with the introduction of the statement of Chazal, ‘Anyone who becomes angry is as if he serves idol worship,’ etc. And the reason is understood by those who possess understanding, for at the time of his anger, faith departs from him. For if he believed that this came to him from Hashem, he would not be angry at all. And even if a human being, who has free choice, curses him or strikes him or damages his property, and is liable in human courts and in the Heavenly court for his evil choice, nevertheless upon the one who is harmed it has already been decreed from Heaven, and there are many messengers to the Omnipresent.
“And not only that, but even at this very moment when he strikes him or curses him, the power of Hashem clothes itself in him, and the breath of His mouth, Yisbarach, which gives him life and sustains him, as it is stated (Shmuel II 16:10), ‘כי ה‘ אמר לו קלל’ - ‘For Hashem said to him, Curse.’ And where did He say to Shimi? Rather, this thought that fell into Shimi’s heart and mind descended from Hashem, and the breath of His mouth, which gives life to all their hosts, gave life to the spirit of Shimi at the time that he spoke these words to Dovid. For if the breath of His mouth, Yisbarach, were to depart for one moment from the spirit of Shimi, he would not be able to speak at all, etc.” End quote from the Tanya.
From his words we learn that the severity of anger is because it is a blemish in faith, and therefore Chazal equated it to idolatry, which is denial of the living G-d. From here there is a lesson regarding all the principles of faith, that a person must be exceedingly careful with them, for he must be concerned lest HaKadosh Baruch Hu does not overlook offenses with regard to these sins.
The commandment of faith includes all thirteen principles, as well as faith in the holy Torah and in all its statements, as the Rambam wrote, he who established the thirteen principles (see at length in the commentary to the Mishnah by the Rambam, chapter ten of Sanhedrin): “And one who does not believe even in part, even in one matter of the Torah that was said to Moshe from Sinai, is as if he completely denies the Torah of Moshe.”
The Ramban (at the end of Parashas Bo) added regarding faith that one must also believe that there is no nature in the world at all, and that everything is only miracles. One should see there his language at length. Among his words he wrote that “one who does not believe that everything that appears as nature is G-dliness and miracles have no share at all in the Torah of Moshe.”
Therefore, a person must be exceedingly careful in the commandment of faith in all its details and fine points. He must also believe that everything is overseen with individual providence, and that it is in the category of a miracle, and that there is no nature in the world at all. He should place all the weight of his reliance on this matter of faith, for it is the essence of the Torah and its existence in the world.
