The thin line between holiness and paganism

One of the most astounding and powerful passages of Torah commentary that I have come across relates to the nature of attributing holiness to physical objects – a central theme in parashat Terumah – and the acute danger that this can lead to mistaken pagan theology.

What, we might ask, is the holiest most Godly physical object that our nation has ever possessed?

Quite probably the luchot – the stone tablets which were “written with the finger of God” and were to reside in the Ark – at the center of the Mikdash. Yet we also find that, in the aftermath of the nation sinning with the golden calf, Moshe smashed these tablets before their eyes. According to the Midrash, God congratulated Moshe for doing so.

In his Meshech Chochma commentary to the Torah, Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk understands that the error that underpinned the sin of the golden calf was an inappropriate attribution of holiness and divinity to objects other than God. Rather than viewing Moshe as a channel through which they could receive God’s word and thereby worship Him, Moshe himself was deified. When Moshe was absent, they then sought to deify a golden calf in his place.

Perceiving this error, Moshe realised that were he to present them with the divinely-formed luchot at that moment, they would simply transfer this error onto the stone tablets and revere or worship them too. It was therefore necessary to smash the tablets in front of the people in order to vividly correct their mistaken theology. To teach them that objects and places are not inherently holy but only serve, in accordance with God’s commands, as a means for man to worship God. In the words of the Meshech Chochma:

“Do not think that the sanctuary and the Temple are holy objects in their own right. Far be it! God dwells among His people, and if they are like Adam who violated the covenant, all their sanctity is removed … In conclusion: there is nothing in the world which is holy … only God is holy … for nothing in creation is holy in itself, only in terms of the observance of the Torah in accordance with God’s will … All sanctity is due to a command that the Creator commanded [us] to worship Him.”

Importantly, the broken tablets were placed in the Ark of the Covenant at the very heart of the Mishkan and Mikdash (where ancient temples would typically place their idols) in order to emphasise the message that the constructed “House of God” did not bear inherent holiness.

Judaism Reclaimed explores this theme further in its analysis of the concept of Shechina, drawing upon and critiquing provocative statements of Yeshayahu Leibowitz, who claimed that the Western Wall ought to be destroyed as an idolatrous shrine.

A further application of this principle was related by R Alex Israel in his recent podcast episode (featuring Samuel I chap. 4 linked in the comments). The chapter in question describes the aftermath of an unsuccessful battle against the Philistines:

“And the people came to the camp, and the elders of Israel said, "Why has the Lord beaten us today before the Philistines? Let us take to us from Shiloh the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and He will come in our midst, and save us from the hand of our enemies."

Drawing on the context of the preceding chapters, in which we are told that the priests were violating the covenant of God, R Alex comments that it seems that the nation was relating to the ark with a pagan-orientated attitude. Judaism does not view sacred artefacts as possessing inherent magical powers through which its enemies can be vanquished. Rather the ark represents the covenantal relationship between God and His people. In the face of a national tragedy – such as the military setback which had occurred – the people are called upon to examine how well they are keeping their side of the covenant before demanding and expecting God’s protection. As the narrative continues to relate, God can look after His own ark – but His protection of the nation depends upon them remaining loyal to their side of the covenant.

By viewing the ark as inherently holy and possessing protective powers, they failed to take note of the message of the broken luchotinside it. Just as Moshe had sought to teach this lesson vividly in the desert by breaking the luchot in front of the people, God now imparts the same message:

“the Philistines waged war and Israel was beaten… and the Ark of God was captured.”

Humans are physical beings, and the Torah recognises the need to channel our relationship with God through the worldly dimensions of time and space and using objects and rituals. We must be constantly reminded, however, of the fundamental theological lesson which Moshe taught us by breaking the luchot– a lesson which was placed at the very heart of “God’s abode on Earth”.

First posted to Facebook 10 February 2023, here.