Despising Single Stones
"You shall not erect for yourself a pillar. This is something which the Lord your G‑d despises". (Deut. 16:22)
The most basic biblical commentator, Rashi1, explains this as a prohibition
against erecting an altar of a single stone, even if the intent was to use this
altar as a place where offerings were presented to G‑d. Though the Torah
elsewhere (Ex. 15:22)
clearly allows the existence of altars made of stone in the Holy Temple in
Jerusalem and in the Tabernacle in the desert, Rashi explains that this is only
true of altars made of many stones, not of a single stone.2
Yet one wonders about the logic of distinguishing between an altar built of many
stones that is deemed desirable by G‑d vs. an altar built of a single stone
which the Torah defines as an object of G‑d's hate. Does it really make a
difference whether you present an offering on an altar of one stone or of many
stones?
...once the Canaanites adopted this practice...G‑d rejected them.
Rashi explains that the difference is not intrinsic but historical. In the times
of the Patriarchs, Rashi writes, they would build single stone pillars for the
sake of presenting offerings to G‑d, and "it was beloved by G‑d." However, once
the Canaanites adopted this practice and began building single-stone altars for
idolatrous offerings, G‑d rejected them.
Yet the question remains, why did the Canaanite idol worshippers embrace the
single-stone altar? Logically, the converse should have occurred: An altar of
many diverse stones seems consistent with the polytheistic approach —
worshipping many diverse gods — while an altar made of one piece is more
reflective of the monotheistic Jewish faith that insists all worship must be
directed to a single, universal G‑d. Why did history dictate that the pagan
polytheists embraced the single-stone model?
Shunning Diversity
What this prohibition against the single-stone pillar may be teaching us is that though there is one G‑d, the altars constructed by man to serve Him need not — indeed should not — be of one stone, of one color, or one dimension, shape and quality.
Perhaps the greatest challenges facing humanity today is the ingrained belief by many a Muslim that those of us who do not embrace Islam as a faith and a lifestyle are infidels who need to be converted or killed. Many Muslim leaders are laying the groundwork for a grand war between Islam and the West (and of course Israel), in order to restore the world to its "appropriate" equilibrium, a world dominated by Islam.
On another level, and in an infinitely more subtly and fine way, one of the
challenges facing many Jewish communities today (a challenge that has pervaded
the history of all religion from the beginning of time), is a sense of tribalism
that found a nest among many devout Jews. This is the feeling that my way of
serving G‑d is the only true way, and if you have a different path, you are on
the "wrong team."
Many of us feel that in the construction of the "altars," the structures in
which we serve G‑d, there is room for only a single stone, a single path, a
particular flavor and style, to the exclusion of anything else that does not fit
our religious imagination or upbringing.
...the monotheistic path...welcomes the diverse altar, made of many distinct stones.
Yet, paradoxically, it is precisely the path of paganism and polytheism that
invite a singular altar, made of one stone, while the monotheistic path of a
singular G‑d welcomes the diverse altar, made of many distinct stones. Why?
Embracing Diversity
Paganism is founded on the notion that a human being creates god in his own
individual image. When G‑d is a product of my image, that G‑d is inevitably
defined by the properties of that image. Since no two human images are
identical, it follows that your god, the god of your image, cannot serve as my
god as well. My god must be worshiped in my way, based on my perception of who
he is and what he stands for. Therefore, my altar must be constructed of one
stone: my own.
The faith of Israel -– the progenitor of Christianity and Islam – on the other
hand, declares the oneness of G‑d and the plurality of man. The transcendental
G‑d of Judaism is the G‑d, who not only transcends the natural universe, but
also the spiritual universe articulated in every single heart, and who imparts
fragments of His truth into every human spirit. The challenge set forth by
Judaism is to see G‑d's image in one who is not in my image.
Judaism teaches that every person knows and feels something no one else does.
None of us knows all the truth and each of us knows some of it. Like a symphony
composed of many notes, each of us constitutes an individual note in the divine
symphony, and together we complete the music. If G‑d wanted you and me to
experience Him and serve Him in the same way, one of us would be superfluous.
Diversity within religion is not only a factor we must reluctantly accept; it is
a cause for genuine celebration. It grants us the opportunity to encounter G‑d,
since it is only in the face of the other that we can discover the part of G‑d
that we lack in our own face. The result of a relationship with a transcendental
G‑d is a growing appreciation of people's differences, not merely as tolerable,
but as the essence of a rich and rewarding human and religious experience.
"Diversity is the one true thing we all have in common, celebrate it every day," a wise man once said. There is a profound truth to this: Diversity, Judaism teaches, is the trace of an undefined G‑d on the human species.
Diverse Models of Worship
This may be the reason the Torah teaches us that the altar to worship G‑d must
be constructed from many different stones. This represents the Jewish vision
that the structures constructed by man to serve G‑d ought to be diverse and
individualistic.3
...people allow evil choices to totally eclipse the trace of G‑d
within them.
This does not mean that G‑d condones every act done in His name. The G‑d of the
Bible created absolute universal standards of morality and ethics that bind us
all. At times, people allow evil choices to totally eclipse the trace of G‑d
within them. To the Jewish people, G‑d presented an absolute system of Torah and
mitzvot. Yet within this framework, every human possesses his or her unique path
to Truth. One of the great masters put it this way: "The concrete laws of Torah
are the same for us all, but the spiritual experience of Torah, the feelings of
love and awe, contain infinite pathways, one for each person, according to his
individual identity". (Tanya, chapter 44) We
may compare it to the 88 keys of the piano that lend themselves to infinite
combinations.
Authentic religion must welcome, not fear, diversity and individualistic
expression. When you truly cultivate a relationship with G‑d, you know that in
the presence of other-ness, you can encounter a fragment of truth that you could
never access within your own framework.
[Based on Mei Haseloach vol. 1 to Shoftim 16:22. See also Midrash Raba Pinchas 8:2; Likkutei Moharan I, 34:4.]
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