Idolatry Lite

The Torah portion that Jews worldwide will hear chanted this Sabbath contains one of the two versions of the “Ten Commandments” (better translated as the “Ten Statements”). The first actual commandment is a prohibition to worship “foreign forces,” the precise translation of elohim acheirim, usually rendered “idols.”

At one point in the portion, though, the term elohim, “forces,” is used without the second word, signaling, perhaps, a less radical, or at least less obvious, sort of idolatry.

And it comes when Moses tells the Jewish people that God will “scatter you among the nations.” There, he continues, “you will serve forces, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone…” (Devarim 4:27-28).

Could it be that the “forces” that Jews will come to worship in their exile from the Holy Land are not the sort of idolatries referenced elsewhere, like the sun or moon or stars; not Baal Tzafon or Pe’or; not things like the Egyptians’ veneration of the Nile.

Perhaps what is being hinted at is what might be termed “idolatry lite,” so to speak – ideas or ideologies that, while they may fall short of technical idolatry, are, for all intents, their parallels similar, as they can ensnare people into venerating them as worthy of worship, as, in effect, gods.

And descendants of those Moses addressees have, indeed, have been so ensnared, embracing a host of pie-in-the-sky movements, “isms” (as Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman famously called them) like Atheism, Communism, Socialism, Nationalism, secular Zionism...

Not to mention other actual religions. The famed Vilna Gaon is said to have identified the words “wood and stone” with Christianity and Islam (the cross and Kaaba, respectively).

We might well update the ism list to include Humanism, Feminism and Scientism. And Capitalism, Anarchism, Yiddish-ism, AnimalRights-ism, LGBT-ism, a Woman’sRighttoChoose-ism and QualityofLife-ism… Many are the bandwagons onto which Jewish individuals have idealistically hopped.

And then there’s what might be the most subtle but widespread, enticing and pernicious mini-idolatry: Materialism.

Not the philosophical theory that goes by that name but, rather, the behavioral illness, the hallowing of wealth, of beads and baubles. Pursuing and reveling in things like well-appointed homes, late model cars, designer clothes and “luxury goods.”

And it’s an ism that even Jews who are meticulous about heeding the Torah’s laws can be tempted to embrace. And, in some cases, have been. It can even present as actual elements of observance – acquiring the most expensive or elaborate container for the sacred scroll called a mezuzah, the fanciest tallis, or prayer shawl; for Hasidim, the tallest, most expensive shtreimel, or fur hat; or, for women, the most costly, elegantly coiffed wigs.

To be sure, there is a valid Jewish concept of hiddur mitzvah, “beautification of religious items.” But there is a fine line between cherishing a commandment and ostentatiousness.

The coming Sabbath has a name, based on the opening words of the Prophets portion – this one from Isaiah – read after the Torah portion. It is Shabbos Nachamu, the “Sabbath of Consolation.” The stated reason for that reading is that, since the three-week period of mourning of the ancient Temples and exile have come to an end, we are ready and hoping to be consoled.

But nichum, the root of nachamu, has another meaning besides consolation. It can also mean “regret” or “reconsideration.”

Perhaps, after our period of mourning our being “scattered among the nations,” we are not only consoled but counseled – to regret and shed our misguided fealties to “idolatry lites,” thereby setting the stage for the end of our exile.