The 613 Mitzvot by Eisenberg Ronald L

Author:Eisenberg, Ronald L. [Eisenberg, Ronald L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shengold Publishers, Schreiber Publishing
Published: 2012-08-05T16:00:00+00:00

Bowing Down to/Worshiping Idols (5-6)

“You shall not bow down to them or worship [serve] them ” (Exod. 20:5) is the verse from which are derived the commandments forbidding (5 ) bowing down to and (6 ) worshiping idols. Jews were prohibited from paying homage to an idol by any of the forms of Divine service—(a) bowing down, (b) sacrificing, (c) bringing offerings or pouring libations of wine or other liquids upon an altar, and (d) burning incense. They also were forbidden to perform any rite generally associated with a pagan god.

By rabbinic law, a person is forbidden to bend down before an idol either to remove a thorn lodged in his foot or pick up coins that have fallen in front of it, or to bend down and drink from a spring flowing in front of an idol, if it would look as though he were bowing down to it. Similarly, “one should not place one’s mouth on the mouth of human figures that act as water fountains in the cities, for the purpose of drinking, because he may seem as kissing the idolatrous figure” (Av. Zar. 12a).

The Torah provides a reason for these prohibitions in the next phrase of the verse, “for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.” The term “jealous” is used only with reference to idolatry and to the claim of a suspicious husband that his wife was unfaithful (Pos. Comm. 223). Idolatry is the most heinous sin, and the Mechilta quotes God as saying, “For idolatry, I zealously exact punishment, but in other matters I am gracious and merciful.”11

According to Nachmanides, the prohibitions against making, bowing down to, and worshiping idols (respectively, Neg. Comm. 2, 5, 6) should not be considered distinct negative commandments, but rather as merely explanations of how to abstain from having “other gods” before the Lord (Neg. Comm.1).12

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