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Thought for the Day: Honoring the Stars as HaShem's Servants was Already the Beginning of the Problem

It is a bit strange that avoda zara (quite popularly mistranslated as "idol worship") could start at all. After all, Adam knew and spoke with HaShem. Noach knew and spoke with HaShem. How in the world did humanity get to where we are now? Many religions worshiping multiple gods. Even worse, it got to the point that, as Pharaoh said, "I don't know HaShem."

The Rambam explains (I got the following from Avodas Kochavim -- Chabad.org):

During the times of Enosh, mankind made a great mistake, and the wise men of that generation gave thoughtless counsel. Enosh himself was one of those who erred.

Their mistake was as follows: They said God created stars and spheres with which to control the world. He placed them on high and treated them with honor, making them servants who minister before Him. Accordingly, it is fitting to praise and glorify them and to treat them with honor. [They perceived] this to be the will of God, blessed be He, that they magnify and honor those whom He magnified and honored, just as a king desires that the servants who stand before him be honored. Indeed, doing so is an expression of honor to the king.

From there they started forgetting about HaShem and worshiping the servants themselves. Devolving in to rampant avodah zara where everyone had his own god. But still, with such noble intentions, how did it go so bad?

Because the original intentions were not so noble. True enough, HaShem created the stars and spheres with which to control the world. But the thought of "we should honor His servants" is already misplaced. Why? When POTUS chooses a chief of staff, why do we honor the chief of staff? We honor the chief of staff because he must be the best at running the military. The best. The chief of staff is an independent entity, who is recognized even by POTUS to be the best person for the job. If you are honoring the designee, you are implicitly saying that the designee is an independent actor and best for the job. That's avoda zara. Once the person has that perspective, of course he cozies up to the god that can serve him best.

What is the correct perspective? Looking at a building by a master architect. Each wall, room, fixture, and hallway reflect the genius of the architect. The stones that make up the outer wall, the tile through the entryway, the polished wooden furniture, and crystal chandeliers. Nothing gets respect for itself; everything inspires admiration of the genius of the architect.

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