The concept of idolatry would appear to be an anachronism in our day and age, with no practical relevance in most countries. It recalls primitive societies of times long gone when paganism was rampant. For rational humans to worship artificial images fashioned by their own hands is so self-evidently absurd that one wonders how this could ever have happened.
In reality, however, it is not so simple. For one thing, even nowadays one can still find remnants of such practices. Secondly, idolatry is not limited to man-made images, but may alternatively involve natural bodies such as celestial constellations, stars and planets, even animals and vegetation, or even fellow-humans, who are believed to be endowed with divinity. People, even in ancient times, developed sophisticated rationale to justify these practices.
Maimonides presents an anthropological analysis of how idolatry evolved: initially there was no denial of the reality and supremacy of the One G0d and Supreme Being, Who created everything. Then people assumed that their submission to G0d obligates them to honor those natural forces (such as the sun, moon and stars) through which G0d benefits the world and which “minister” before Him. Gradually this deteriorated to perceiving these forces as powers authorized to act independently of G0d, and the world’s dependence on them would imply a rationale to worship them on their own – even while still recognizing the supremacy of G0d. The whole or partial worship of these forces eventually degenerated to a “substitute” worship of images that represent or symbolize them, and eventually led to these images themselves, on their own, becoming objects of worship.
Nowadays this appears to be a vestige of ignorance and naivety. Thus it seems strange that the eternal Torah should be so concerned about idolatry, to the point that it was found necessary to mandate so many cautions and prohibitions about its practices with all their corollaries, and about anything that savored of idolatry.
Avodah zarah is not restricted to religious service of anything apart from the G0dhead. It includes any assumptions of there being self-contained beings or forces that are not totally dependent on God and His Providence. This will be understood with the following example: when driving in a nail with a hammer, the immediate agent of activity seems to be the hammer. In truth, however, it is not the hammer itself but the hand that holds it and the energy used by the hand. So, too, everything in the universe is forever altogether subject to G0d and His will.
To put one’s faith into a belief that planetary constellations determine events and human fate (astrology), or that certain occurrences are indicative of predetermination, or to engage in any form of enchantment or sorcery (thinking that thereby one can manipulate future events), or consulting “spirits” (like séances), necromancy and other forms of divination – all these imply that there are other powers in existence which work on their own, independent of the continuous Divine Providence governing the totality of creation. Thus all of these are classified as avodah zarah.
1. Maimonides (Rambam), Mishneh Torah Hilchot Avodah Zarah ch. 1, quoted at length below in Chapter 1, topics 4-6.
3. Enosh was a grandson of Adam. The practice of avodah zarah started in his generation; see Targum Yonatan on Genesis 4:26;.
5. See Maimonides, ibid., Preamble (list of the precepts preceding ch. 1), and ibid., ch. 6 and 11.
6. This explains the numerous statements to be found in the Torah tradition drawing a moral equivalence between certain attitudes and idolatry. For example, pride and arrogance are regarded as tantamount to idolatry (Tractate Sotah 4b), as is losing one’s temper (Zohar I:27b; Maimonides, Mishneh Torah Hilchot De’ot 2:3), avoiding the giving of charity (Tractate Ketuvot 68a), dishonesty and deception (Tractate Sanhedrin 92a), and so forth. All these cases imply some form of self-worship, and even when acknowledging God, also assuming a sense of self-sufficient importance (which thus constitutes dualism).
At the very center of this world is homo sapiens, the human being Divinely endowed with intellect. This intellect allows us analytical thought and examination of ourselves and the world around us. Without Divinely-endowed criteria for truth and moral values, however, our critical thinking is abstract and theoretical at best, and obviously susceptible to error.
Thus God revealed to mankind knowledge of His inscrutable Will by means of His prophets and the Torah, to know what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil. The Divine revelation of the Torah at Mount Sinai, and the Divine designation of Moses as the foremost prophet for all time, set forth the ultimate test for the truth of future prophets, i.e., compatibility with the Torah and its eternal commandments. Even so, this legal and moral code is meaningful only when applying the other special gift endowed upon humans, namely freedom of choice to follow or reject proper conduct.
Open-minded and consistent reasoning readily leads to a realization that there must be a Supreme Cause for our most complex yet intricately precise world. Thus we arrive at the recognition and acknowledgment of God as Creator, Sovereign and Sustainer of the universe. This acknowledgment is not only an intellectual conclusion, but of itself has practical implications.
Noting that life, health and all human needs and blessings emanate unceasingly from the Creator, we must surely acknowledge this in thought, speech and action. We ought to express gratitude for the Divine benevolence on which we are continuously dependent, and make ourselves into worthy recipients thereof. This is the concept of worshiping God that applies equally to all, Jews and Gentiles alike.
The diametric opposite to this ideal of reverence for God is the crass and sinful conduct of deprecating God or His Sovereignty. This is referred to as blasphemy.
In common usage, the word “blasphemy” is generally defined as any form of uttered impiety, irreverence or sacrilege against God. These are acts of defiance seeking to impair the appropriate respect and reverence for God.
(a) Exodus 22:27 states, “You shall not curse God.” The Hebrew word used here is te’kalel, from the root-word kal. It means “to degrade,” to hold in light esteem and despise.
(b) Leviticus 24:10-17 relates the incident of one who violated the cited injunction of Exodus 22:27, and the Divine edict declaring this to be a capital sin. Furthermore, it states there, “ish ish (any man) who curses his G-d shall bear his sin.” Why the double expression of “ish ish” (literally: “a man, a man”)? To include all mankind, both Jews and Gentiles. Blasphemy thus is prohibited to Gentiles as a capital sin even as it is for Israelites.
This reiterates the earlier prohibition of the Noahide Code expressed in the all-inclusive verse of Genesis 2:16, “And HaShem [Y-H-V-H], G-d, commanded…”: the citation of the Tetragrammaton Name  in this verse alludes to the prohibition of blasphemy to Gentiles.
A Gentile would be guilty of this offence when uttering a blasphemous statement that invokes any of the explicit Divine Names in the Torah’s Hebrew text (those which are forbidden to be erased when spelled out in full, as explained [in The Divine Code, Part III, Chapter One], and of course the Tetragrammaton itself), or any appellation clearly referring to God (e.g., the Supreme Being, the Almighty, the Creator, the One Above, etc.), or “attributive” names – i.e., terms distinctly referring to the Divine attributes and identified with G-d (such as the Merciful, the Compassionate, etc.), in whatever language it may be.
The very idea of there being a Divinely ordained “Noahide Code” presupposes an acknowledgement of (a) the existence of G-d; (b) the authority of God as Supreme Being; (c) the reality of Divine Revelation instructing mankind with regards to proper conduct (the bond or covenant between the Almighty and His creatures); and (d) the principle of Divine retribution, i.e., that man is accountable for obeying or disobeying these instructions, because a legal code devoid of consequences is ineffective.
1. Ibn Ezra and Ramban, ad loc.; Rashi on Deuteronomy 22:23.
2. Tractate Sanhedrin 56a; Rambam, Hilchot Melachim 9:1,3.
4. Tractate Sanhedrin 56b; Rambam, Hilchot Melachim 9:1.
6. Section 432 (in ed. Chavel, section 430). Indeed one may add here that a Gentile ought not only attain the fear of G-d but also the love of G-d. Maimonides writes that the Israelite’s commandment to love G-d (Deuteronomy 6:5) includes also an obligation “to call upon all mankind to His service and to have faith in Him. For if you love someone, you will praise and extol him and call upon people to love him as well…” There is, then, an implication that all mankind ought to love G-d.
7. Sifra on Lev. 19:18 and Bereishit Rabbah 24:7.
The content of this page is reproduced from Asknoah.org, with permission.
Rabbi Moshe Perets is the Founder and Executive Director of the Noahide Academy in Jerusalem. Rabbi Perets studied medicine in parallel of his Rabbinical studies in Belgium until 2011. He has undertaken humanitarian missions in Africa, motivated by his concern for the physical well-being of all people in need. After his wedding in 2011, he went back to Israel. He conducted scientific research on stem cells at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem until end of 2016, while in parallel teaching the Noahide Code and developing the NCLI together with Rabbi Weiner and Rabbi Dr. Schulman. He currently lives in Jerusalem with his wife and children (may they be blessed), and continues passionately teaching and reaching out to give access to all to their essential connection with the Holy One Blessed Be He.