Noahide Seven Commandments Torah classes
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IDOLATRY-14/ELoKiM Opened the Door for IDOLATRY
An inventory review
Last class we learned that by saying in plural l “Let Us Make An Adam in Our Form and Image,” ELKM changed His tone and the way He rules. Earlier He spoke in a Commanding tone, giving orders, whereas before making Adam He “Consulted, ” or became a King Who Consults. In Hebrew it is self evident, since ‘consulted’, nimlach, is the same word as ‘enthroned,’ also nimlach. (In English too you say in plural ‘We, the King of England’ to designate that the king has a council, that he is not a dictator).
ELKM consulted, but the Torah does not specify with whom.
The rabbis said that ELKM consulted with the Torah, or better said: with whoever is mentioned in Chapter One, and made Adam.
Last class we discussed this idea in details. He consulted things mentioned before Adam. Like like the Six Days, the Beginning or the Wisdom in His Head by which He had created the world, and made a Smart Adam, a Homo Sapience. He consulted with the Angels of the Second Day to teach Adam modesty, how to rule by consultation.
Turning to things mentioned at the end of the Chapter, He consulted them to give Adam a direction for the future. Thus He consulted the Drive to Procreate (Sex Drive) and the Drive to Rule Over (wield Power) and made Adam. Then He blessed Adam with these two Drives, making them stronger than found in Nature. No wonder that these two Drives dominate our lives like no other Drive.
Then He consulted the Attribute of MERCY, Y-H-V-H Whose Name appears as an acronym at the end of the Chapter; at the junction between the Sixth and the Seventh Days, and made Adam accordingly.
Adam should unite YHVH and ELKM in his heart and ways. Adam should escort the Groom to His Bride, the khalah, where the Bride is either the Sabbath or the Attribute that reigns over it- YHVH. . Adam should therefore abide by ELKM’s Laws and follow Y-H-V-H’s ways of MERCY, COMPASSION and FORGIVENESS. This way Adam would become Very Good in ERLKM’s eyes and see the next Day, the Eternal Sabbath. Adam has a choice: escort ELKM to the Bride, khalah. or Khalh! Total annihilation! .
Accepting YHVH and Her features into our heart is not a luxury. Our future depends on this. ELKM would have already terminated our world to khalah, nothingness, had He not decided to offer our world a chance to survive and enter the next Day. It is Adam who can make the difference. .
To enable Adam to comprehend YHVH, ELKM invited Her to come over “from the Sabbath and share our world with Him.
Y-H-V-H entered our world as a Ray of Light, or a Shy Dove or a Modest, beautiful Cherub. You see Her acronym penetrating our Sixth Day from the Sabbath – the YH seeking to Rest and Dwell in ELKM’s world, the VH still Dwelling and resting in the Sabbath. The YH appears in many biblical names such as Jeremiah. Isiah.
Holding Wing against Wing, the two Attributes YHVH ELKM flew over CREATION like two Cherubs in Love and consolidated it by their Oneness. They made Adam like two Parents in Love, as it is said “And YHVH ELKM formed the Adam from dust” (Genesis Chapter 2)
ELKM would not plant in Adam’s heart YHVH’s features of MERCY, COMPASSION and FORGIVENESS , as natural reflexes. ELKM would not use the Evolution to plant in Adam’ s heart the features of the Merciful YHVH. After all, ELKM operates with Absolute Justice that knows no Mercy. The creatures He had created during the Six Days know no mercy. They eat and are eaten, inflict pains and suffer pains, “measure for measure. ” Yet these creatures are good in ELKM’s eyes. These creatures would not evolve on their own to comprehend the Merciful YHVH, even if they develop a smart mind. This is because YHVH has never participated in making them. .
ELKM therefore carved out a room in Adam’s heart capable of harboring YHVH. It would be up to Adam to RECOGNIZE YHVH, INVITE AND ACCEPT Her into his heart then spread Her Light into the World, . .
You see that in the verses. At first ELKM announced His PLAN – “Let Us Make An Adam in Our Form and Our Image.” Since neither ELKM nor YHVH has any Form and Image, He was referring to an “Image and Form” that He had on His Mind about Adam, an Ideal Adam. Adam would be made to become this ideal “ Image and Form” that ELKM had about him.
Then it says –
“And ELKM created Adam in His Image, in the image of ELKM He created him.”
The verse repeats the idea twice, that ELKM did not make Adam in YHVH ELKM’s Image and Form, but rather in His Image.
By this ELKM gave Adam the precious gifts of Self Consciousness, Free Will, a Smart Mind and a Sensitive Heart full of Passions and Desires. Such gifts would make Adam a king over his habitat. But this Adam could become ‘good’ at most, never Very Good in ELKM’s eyes. .To be Very Good, Adam would have to do more than emulating ELKM. Adam would have to do things that ELKM by Himself wold not do – spread YHVH light.
The way ELKM carved out a room in Adam’s heart is seen by the fact that after the Midday Trial of the Sixth Day, when the Dinosaurs were wiped out, the tiny mammals began to proliferate. What distinguishes mammals from previous creature is the Compassion that mammal mothers show towards their offspring. This natural reflex in the mammal’s heart has entered Adam’s heart to become the ‘room’ into which Adam can admit YHVH and Her features,
So Adam was not made an ideal creature. Adam is made to grow -as individuals and as a species – to become the Form and |mage that ELKM had on His Mind at Adam conception.
But ELKM in his kindness would not leave Adam to reach that fascinating goal by himself. ELKM would give Adam a guidance, a Torah, that would help Adam to reach ELKM’s goals,
Thus we have arrived at a deeper meaning to the verse saying:
“Let Us, you Adam and me, make an (ideal) Adam, together, in Our Form and Our Image.”
Adam would have to improve himself, by himself, with the help of the Torah. .
What is the Torah if not a Ladder of Moral Commandments, on which Adam should climb up and improve himself, individually and as a species, to be Very Good? .
As a first step, ELKM would give Adam (and Eve) in Eden Six Commandments. They would serve as a stalk of the Tree Of Life from which ALL OTHERS COMMANDMENTS WOULD BRUNCH OUT.
These primordial six are
I: IDOLATRY
II: ADULTERY
III: BLOODSHED
IV: THEFT
V: JUSTICE
VI: BLASPHEMY
These Six pile up on each other. Adam would climb up on them to become Very Good in ELKM’s eyes.
Now the first one is IDOLATRY. How and when did ELKM allow IDOLATRY to exist?
But before we learn about that in the text, let’s return to the Ten Commandments where IDOLATRY occupies the first two Commandments as follows . :
1: The IDOLATRY Prohibition in the Ten Commandments
The first two of Moses’ Ten Commandments say: :
2. “YHVH your ELoKiM (His Attributes in Oneness
3. “Who took you out of Egypt Land…” (His Kingship)
2. “Other ELoKiMs
3. “ Over my face
4. “Thou shall not make for yourself any image or statues
5. “Of anything in the Heavens above and in the earth below….
6. “Thou shall not bow to them
The First Commandment introduces the Speaker, G-d, whose Names we should know and whom we should worship
The Second Commandment introduces the IDOLS to their kinds, whom we should know and worship not.
As you see, Man stands in between the Commandments. We either look up and worship the true G-d of Israel, or look at the ‘other side’ to the idols and worship them. No neutral option of worshiping no one. Man is born to withstand that trial.
Line 3 of the First Commandment, designating G-d’s Kingship, is what separates the First from the Second Commandment. Man either accept G-d as our KING, or the idols as our kings. What is an idol if not something or someone to whom we surrender our lives instead of surrendering to the true G-d of Israel?
We’ve exhausted the learning the First Commandment: including the Self (line1), the Attributes YHVH and ELKM (line 2) and the concept of His Kingship (line 3).
We are now ready to move on to the Second Commandments that lists the IDOLS. As we’ll see, this miraculous list covers ALL THE POSSIBLE IDOLS ever conceived.
2: Rejecting the First Commandment
Disregarding the First of the Ten Commandments is a sort of IDOLATRY. Thus –
1. Denying the existence of His Self (line 1) is IDOLATRY. referred to as “uprooting the Tree” (Midrsh)
2. Denying the existence of His Attributes (line 2) or distorting their meanings or mispronouncing them is a sort of IDOLATRY.
3. Denying the Attributes Oneness is a sort of IDOLATRY called “separating the glued ones.”
4. Rejecting His Kingship (line 3) is a rebellion, a sort of IDOLATRY. For instance saying that He does not intervene in human history.
3: When did He Open the Door for IDOLATRY?
How and when did ELKM allow IDOLATRY to exist? Let’s recall that before making Adam, ELKM consulted His Angels saying
Surprised, they asked: “Our King! Why do you consult us? Are we not your faithful messengers who fulfill your wishes without discretion?”
ELoKiM said: “I consult you, my Angels, to teach Adam modesty: that the superior should consults the Inferior.”
The Angels referred to ELKM as Our King since by speaking in plural, ELKM ‘stepped down’ from His High Pedestal as a Sole Ruler who rules “awesomely alone,” to become a Modest King Who Consults. He wished Adam to emulate Him and rule with modesty.
But the Midrash goes on to describe the dialogue as follows (Rashi).
Next, the Angels asked:
“Our King! Aren’t you afraid that by speaking in plural, saying Let Us, you’re opening the door for IDOLATERS to think they have more than one CREATOR?”
ELoKiM answered: “I take the risk, for teaching Adam modesty is paramount!”
Hence , by speaking in plural at our conception, ELKM opened the door for IDOLATRY to exist. Under His former mode of ruling awesomely alone, as a Dictator, no option of IDOLATRY would have been tolerated. He would have terminated any rebellion instantly with no MERCY. Speaking as a KING Who Consults, He allowed other opinions to be heard, including the ideas of IDOLATRY. .
Criticism and Free Will are the core of democracy .
IDOLATRY is therefore not just another Commandment of many. Man is born specifically to withstand that fascinating trial of fascinations, called the IDOLATRY trial. . . .
4: What might serve as an idol?
What then would serve as Adam’s idols? Since by speaking in plural ELKM opened the door for IDOLATRY, it turns out that whatever ELoKiM consulted with before making Adam is a potential IDOL.
In other words: The fact that ELKM Consulted an entity to make Adam, renders it a magical charm in Adam’s mind and heart,
So magic would these entities seen in Adam’s eyes that he would forever be attracted to adore them and even worship them, instead of adorning and worshiping the True CREATOR.
In other words: Since the Groom ELKM consults the Bride YHVH to make Adam, all other consultations would serve as False Brides, idols.
IDOLATRY is therefore a battle of attractions and fascinations. We either are attracted or fascinated by the True Bride, YHVH, or by the false ones, the idols.
No wonder that in the eyes of the prophets of Israel, IDOLATRY is a sort of ADULTERY; where Israel has betrayed the Love of the Groom to His true Bride, YHVH, and followed the false Brides to their kinds. .
Defining idols
In the eyes of the IDOLATERS, the false Brides or idols are either
1. Powerful ‘Partners’ of ELKM,
2. Powerful deities on their own right.
5: Who might be the False Brides?
As we’ve said, whoever ELKM consulted with before making Adam, could serve as a potential IDOLATRY Trap. Thus
Since He Consulted the Six Days and made Adam, Nature can serve as our IDOLATRY trap. .
Since He Consulted with His Wisdom and Science and made Adam, Science might become our IDOLATRY trap.
Since He consulted with His Angles to plant in Adam a strong self, our ego would serve as our IDOLATRY trap
Since He consulted the Drive to procreate and the Drive to Rule Over and made Adam, these Drives would serve as Adam’s powerful IDOLATRY trap.
Is this true? Let’s see.
END OF IDOLATRY CLASS 13