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\u201cBe very careful that you not forget the covenant that Hashem, your G-d made with you, and you make for yourselves a statue \u2013 the image of anything, that Hashem, your G-d has commanded you.\u201d (Deuteronomy 4:23).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The actual wording of the original Hebrew here is a bit awkward, because it may seem to imply that G-d had commanded us to make idols. Rashi, in his commentary here clarifies that the phrase \u201cthat Hashem, your G-d commanded you\u201d implicitly means that He commanded us not to make (idols).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, the phrasing is clumsy, and there is a long passage just before our verse that already explicitly warns against making idols (see verses 15-19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because of these considerations, R\u2019 Menachem Mendel of Kotzk offers a unique spin to our verse. He suggests that we\u2019re being warned not to make an idol or statue of the commandments that G-d gave to us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He means that we shouldn\u2019t take the external form of the commandment as the be-all and end-all of what G-d intended. Far from saying that the actual performance of the commandment is not important \u2013 the Kotzker is urging us not to view the commandments superficially. The commandments should not become objects of a checklist and mechanical discipline of obedience where we just go through the motions and take the commandments for granted. We need to actualize not just the letter of the law \u2013 but to go beyond the letter of the law and actualize the spirit of the law as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“You have been defiant with G-d…” (Deuteronomy 9:24).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is usually understood as ‘You have been defiant against G-d’.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But R’ Menachem Mendel of Riminov notes that we should not ignore the literal meaning. There are those who are defiant WITH G-d – they exploit and distort G-d for their own wicked agenda. Wrapping themselves in religion – they actually defy G-d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Von Rabbiner Michael Skobac<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a9 Copyright, alle Rechte vorbehalten. Wenn Ihnen dieser Artikel gefallen hat, ermutigen wir Sie, ihn weiter zu verbreiten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Folgen Sie dem Link f\u00fcr weitere \u201cVerse aus Tenach\u201d.\u201d<\/a> \u201cBe very careful that you not forget the covenant that Hashem, your G-d made with you, and you make for yourselves a statue \u2013 the image of anything, that Hashem, your G-d has commanded you.\u201d (Deuteronomy 4:23). The actual wording of the original Hebrew here is a bit awkward, because it may seem to imply […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":23543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-verse-from-tanach"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Mehr von Rabbi Michael Skobac<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"