In Parshas Shemini the Torah tells us the incident of Nudev and Avihu, who were very righteous men the sons of their holy father Aharon Hakohen. They died after they took upon themselves to sanctify God’s name in public by bringing קטורת incense on the altar for Hashem without being told to do so by Hashem.
The question many asked is why did they get punished if after all they brought their offering for Hashem and to show their love for Hashem?
Wouldn’t it make sense for them to get a great reward for taking upon themselves to do an action for Hashem’s sake?
After all, nowadays, we are encouraged by society to take upon ourselves as many stringencies as possible, and the more layers one takes on, the more righteous you may feel and the more respect you get from society.
Yet, we see that this led the children of Aharon to be cut off from this world for doing so.
The answer is that any action one takes upon themselves, even for the sake of Hashem, which is not written in תנ”ך- תורה נביאים כתובים (Tenach) is called by the Torah- Avoda Zara.
What is Avoda Zara? Avoda Zara simply means a foreign work, anything that is not commanded to us by Hashem and not written in the Tenach.
The first time we see this concept of Avoda Zorah in the Torah is in Parshar Shemini 10:1-2 which talks about how Nadav And Avihu brought קטורת FOR HASHEM. The words the Torah used are
ויקחו בני אהרן נדב ואביהוא איש מחתתו ויתנו בהן אש וישימו עליה קטרת ויקרבו לפני יהוה אש זרה אשר לא צוה אתם
And Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, each took his pan, put fire in them, and placed incense upon it, and they brought before the Lord foreign fire, which He had not commanded them.
ותצא אש מלפני יהוה ותאכל אותם וימתו לפני יהוה
And fire went forth from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.
Nadav and Avihu brought the קטרת in honor of Hashem. Why were they punished when they brought it לשם שמים for the sake of Hashem? Hashem sent the fire down, but instead of taking their sacrifice, the fire consumed them. Hashem wanted to show all of Klal Yisroel that we cannot add anything to the Torah, EVEN when we to do it for His honor.
Any Mitzvah or holiday that is not mentioned in the Torah or any mitzvah that is not part of the 613 that is added is Avoda Zara.
When we think of Avoda Zara we think of the people who worship idols, such as the ones Avraham Avinu broke in his father’s shop or those who pray to the sun, moon, trees or the like.
However, no person in their right mind will go over to an object of any size or shape and worship it by saying this dumb piece of gold, stone or wood is a god who created heaven and earth and can help them. People were never that stupid.
We see this with the Jews in the desert when they made the עגל golden calf, a god of gold. They did not say that this statue is a god, they believed Hashem sent His spirit the “שכונה הקדושה” which entered into the עגל which will continue to lead them where Moshe left off.
We see this in Shemus chaper 32: 4 the Jews said:
אלה אלהיך ישראל אשר העלוך מארץ מצרים
“These are your gods, O Israel, who have brought you up from the land of Egypt!”
The Jews saw the golden calf being created. Did they think that this Avoda Zara took them out of Egypt 3 month before it was created? Of course not! They believed that the spirit of Hashem who took them out of Mizraim was now inside the calf.
Sadly, Avoda Zara is alive and well today and many people are worshiping idols without putting thought to it or realizing it.
Think about this: When you go to a tomb stone of a deceased person (no matter how great the person was while he was alive) do you think that the actual gravestone can help you? Of course not! Do you think that the person’s soul is in the stone? No, you know the person’s soul is now in Gan Eden.
Maybe you are thinking along the lines of the Jews in the desert that the deceased person’s spirit is inside the cold hard stone.
The same is with people who wear a neckless with a פתק or קמיע inside. Ask them if they believe that actual paper inside the neckless has any power, they will say of course not the paper has no value on its own. However, they believe in the spiritual power of the author and the words written inside can protect them.
There are countless things being done that fall into this category, such as people selling stones or bracelets with words to help with birth. Do these people assume that this dumb stone or band will assist them in easier childbirth? Of course not! They think the spirit placed into these by a holy person will bless them in their time of need. This notion as we see from the Torah is call Avoda Zara.
A very common form of avoda zara which is not so prelevant anymore is the red string segula from kever Rochel.
Some people assume that the deceased person can pull some stings “up there” by Hashem more than you can with your prayers down here. This cannot be further from the truth, and we were forbidden to do so as the Torah warns in Devorim Chapeter 18: 10-11 that we should not be דורש אל המתים one should not inquire from the dead. We are forbidden to engage with the deceased.
Going to the tomb stone of the dead and ask them to intercede on our behalf is violating this prohibition of דורש אל המתים.
לא ימצא בך מעביר בנו ובתו באש קסם קסמים מעונן ומנחש ומכשף
Let no one be found among you who consigns his son or daughter to the fire, or who is an augur, a soothsayer, a diviner, a sorcerer,
וחבר חבר ושאל אוב וידעני ודרש אל המתים
One who casts spells, or one who consults ghosts or familiar spirits, or one who inquires of the dead.
Furthermore, if for some reason you think that you are not “worthy enough” or “holy enough” to speak to Hashem himself, you need to strengthen your Emunah and connection with Hashem as He wants to hear from you, no matter how much you sin.
Remember that it was Yishi Hanotzri (Jesus of Nazereth), who implemented the notion that people cannot go straight to Hashem, but rather they need a pipeline, or a middle man. He said that his Christian followers have to come to him as the son of God to assist and plead on their behalf. This is avoda zara and not a Jewish concept.
We say in davining every day י”ג עיקרים the 13 principles of faith by the Rambam:
אני מאמין באמונה שלימה שהבורא יתברך שמו לו לבדו ראוי להתפלל ואין ראוי להתפלל לזולתו
I believe with complete faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is the only one to whom it is proper to pray, and that it is inappropriate to pray to anyone else.
We prohibited from praying to anyone else other than Hashem. No one, cannot help you, other than Hashem.
We see by Yeruvome ben Navot who brought a lot of Avoda Zara to the world. Hashem told him before his death that if he repents now, in the last hour, he will still merit to walk in Gan Eden with Hashem.
Hashem never gives up on us, even until our last breath. He is waiting for us to come close to him by learning His Torah and praying directly to Him, and not using a messenger to intercede on our behalf.
Another form of worship that the Torah warns us about is the fire of the Avoda Zara known as the Moilech that was known as the god of fertility to help couples who were not able to have children. Anyone who wanted to have a baby went to the Moilech they danced around the fire and then slept in the area and were blessed with a baby.
The Torah talks about the practice at the Moilech where parents took their children to the fire and the child was carried past the fire. They believed that this way the child was sanctified and became holy from the Holy Spirit of the idol, basically like the Baptizing done today by Christians.
The Jews followed this practice with fire. However, they did so “for the sake of Hashem” to sanctify their children with kedisha for Hashem, as Yermiya Chaper 7:31 says Hashem told Yirmiya to warn the Jews to stop this practice.
ובנו במות התפת אשר בגיא בן הנם לשרף את בניהם ואת בנתיהם באש אשר לא צויתי ולא עלתה על לבי
And they have built the high places of Topheth which are in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, to burn their sons and daughters with fire, which I did not ordain, neither did it enter My mind. We see from this that the Jews did so for Hashem, but this practice never entered His mind.
Today, on Lag B’omer 4/28/2021, the world was left reeling in tragedy when 45 people died and many others severely wounded in a stampede.
This is the first Lag B’omer that Meron was reopened after the Coronavirus of 2019 has taken the lives of millions of people around the world.
We need to wake up and see what Hashem is saying to us. Sadly, the Avoda Zara of Moilech seems to be alive and well today.
Think about this, how shocking: On Lag B’omer people singing the words:
לכבוד התנא האלקי רבי שמעון בר יוחאי For the honor of the Tannah my god Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
This shows that those people are worshiping Rabbi Shimon as they are actually calling him their god, this is pure idol worship Avoda Zara which needs to be eradicated.
Although we cannot change others, we need to stop this practice ourselves and our families by not going to Meron and not singing these songs proclaiming a deceased person a god. We need to speak to our children and strengthen our families’ connection with our beloved Hashem.
We see the practice done in Meron and around the world, dancing around fires on Lag B’omer. We see especially 3-year-old children being paraded around the fire. In addition, we see the same belief from the time of the Moilech that one who wants to have children must go on Lag B’omer to the gravesite of Rebbi Shimon.
Hashem is trying to wake us up, and we need to take the message and repent and stop praying to an idol such as a tomb stone of the deceased, no matter how great the person was while he was alive.
We know that in the days of Sfirah when the 24,000 students of Rebbe Akiva perished due to the lack of respect between one another. On the day of Lag B’omer no-one died. Therefore, we are allowed to listen to music.
This year, 2021, on Lag B’omer, however, the music is off again and the clothes of mourning are upon the Jewish nation as we suffered another huge blow when so many people died at the Kever of Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochi. One of the lessons we need to learn from this tragedy is to love one another, stop fighting, and stop dividing the Jewish nation with dress code.
Why did such a great tragedy befall specifically at the grave site of this great Tannah?
Maybe because people turned the day of Lag B’omer into Avoda zarah by dancing around the fire with their children while praying to Rabbi Shimon for help, instead of turning to Hashem Himself for our needs.
There is a very good question people ask if these practices are Avoda Zara how is it that so many people see yeshuos many people merit to see their prayers answered when doing zegulos and praying at a gravesite?
The answer is in the Torah Parshak Kisavo 13: 3
ובא האות והמופת אשר דבר אליך לאמר נלכה אחרי אלהים אחרים אשר לא ידעתם ונעבדם. לא תשמע אל דברי הנביא ההוא או אל חולם החלום ההוא כי מנסה יהוה אלהיכם אתכם לדעת הישכם אהבים את יהוה אלהיכם בכל לבבכם ובכל נפשכם. אחרי יהוה אלהיכם תלכו ואתו תיראו ואת מצותיו תשמרו ובקלו תשמעו ואתו תעבדו ובו תדבקון
Even if the sign or portent that he named to you comes true, do not heed the words of that prophet or that dream-diviner. For the LORD your God is testing you to see whether you really love the LORD your God with all your heart and soul.
Hashem says that He will give power to Avoda Zara in order to test people and their faith in Him. He will make it so that people see miracles after doing these sgulahs or prayers in order for them to have bechira the choice to believe in the power of the dead or in the sgulah, or if they will rather turn only to Hashem. “Follow none but the LORD your God, and revere none but Him; observe His commandments alone, and heed only His orders; worship none but Him, and hold fast to Him”.
