THE LAWS AGAINST IDOLATRY

B"H

The following mitzvot are quoted from The Concise Sefer HaChinuch by Rabbi Asher Wasserman

With Haskamah from 

HaRav Avraham Pinchas Berkowitz shlita

HaGaon HaGadol R. Chaim Kanievsky shlita

HaGaon HaGadol R. Dov Yaffe shlita

HaGaon HaGadol R. Nissim Karelitz shlita

HaGaon HaGadol R. Moshe Shaul Klein shlita

HaGaon HaGadol R. Yitzchok Zilberstin shlita

Mitzvah 426 Do not show favor or mercy towards those who worship idols.

ולא תחנם

And you shall not show them any favor (Devarim 7.2)

Explanation: Do not show any favor or mercy towards those who worship idols, and do not regard as admirable or correct even one thing that they do.  Distance from your mind the slightest assumption, and never suggest verbally that one can learn or benefit from such people.  Do not look upon idol-worshippers as serving any useful purpose or as possessing any positive trait or quality, In fact, our Sages taught that one is even forbidden to say about an idol worshipper that he is a nice or pleasant person.

Mitzvah 457 Do not show love or regard for anyone who entices others to worship false deities

לא תאבה לו

Do not show any regard for him (Devarim, 13.9)

Explanation: do not pay attention to the words of anyone who entices people to worship false god. Do not show him any affection or regard.

Someone is considered to have enticed to idol worship not only if he advocates the actual worship, but even if he simply praises the deity’s so=called “deeds”. If his intent is to cause people to serve the deity and go out from under the wings of the Shechinah, he is considered as having enticed others to idol worship.

Mitzvah 458 Do not stop hating someone who entices others to worship false deities

ולא תשמע אליו

And do not hearken to him (Devarim 13.9)

Do not refrain from taking full vengeance on anyone who entices people to worship false gods.  In return for the evil that he sought to commit, do not stop hating him and show no mercy on him.

Mitzvah 459 Do not rescue from danger anyone who entices others to worship false deities

ולא תחוס עינך עליו

And do not let your eny have any pity on him (Devarim 13.9)

Explanation: If someone who was enticed to worship false gods sees the enticer in any sort of danger, he is forbidden to take pity on him and save him.

Mitzvah 460 Do not defend or say anything on behalf of someone who entices others to worship false deities

ולא תחמל

And do not show mercy (Devarim 13.9)

Explanation: If someone was enticed to worship false gods, he is forbidden to say anything positive about the one who enticed him, or defend him in any way.

Mitzvah 461 If enticed to idol worship do not refrain from publicizing any negative thing you know about the one who enticed you.

ולא תכסה עליו

And do not cover up for him (13.9)

Explanation: If someone was enticed to worship false gods, he is forbidden to remain silent about anything negative that he knows about one who enticed him.  He must come forward and publicize all of the offender’s guilt and shortcomings.

From the many admonishments about someone who entices to idol worship, we can infer that we have a mitzvah to hate wanton violators of other commands, too. That is, it is sometimes clear that there is no hope for a person, for his actions are exceedingly corrupt and abominable. He refuses to listen to any teacher or authority, and prefers instead to scorn their words.  His goal is only to do damage.  It is a mitzvah to hate such people.  One should never defend them or say anything positive about them.

B"H

The purpose of the Erev Rav, that left Egypt with us, was to attach to and become part of Am Yisrael in order to destroy us from within by leading us to idolatry and destroying our relationship with Hashem. They minimally achieved this with the episode of the golden calf. The result of the sin of the golden calf was the death of Moshe before entering the land and the postponement of the complete redemption.  We are still waiting for the complete redemption because the sin of the golden calf hasn't been completely rectified. The erev rav are still within us, still leading us to idolatry, still damaging our relationship with Hashem and still delaying the redemption. 

We have many enemies, Yishmael, Esav, Amalek but the Erev Rav is the greatest of them all because they are our leaders religious and political and they prevent us from destroying our other enemies. We must remove the Erev Rav from among us before we can destroy our enemies. We must remove the Erev Rav from among us before we can have the complete redemption. 

In his book EVEN SHELOMO, the Vilna Gaon, ztk’l wrote that the selection and purification of Israel will not be complete until the Erev Rav separates from Israel completely, because they (Erev Rav) are very attached to the Jews and the Jews learn from their actions.

In the Tikkune Zohar (97a) it is written: “All the exile and the destruction of the Beit ha Mikdash and all the suffering, all of it came through Moshe’s acceptance of the Erev Rav, and all wicked people and evildoers in each generation come from them, meaning from their souls, for they are reincarnations of those who left Egypt and this is what the Gemara (Beitza 32) refers to: “They come from the Erev Rav”.

The purpose in our bringing about the ingathering of the exiles is to set up faithful people for the sake of the unification of the two moshiachs (i.e., Moshiach Ben Yosef and Moshiach Ben Dovid) in the gates of Jerusalem. This is in order to return the Divine Presence to bring about the redemption, the true redemption and sanctification of God's Name. According to our teacher, the Vilna Gaon, z"l, we can bring about, with the help of God and through these strong people, these two moshiachs, and to learn well all the levels and their purposes in practical terms. The general purpose of the two moshiachs, Moshiach Ben Yosef and Moshiach Ben Dovid, throughout all the generations has been to protect and fight against the three 'heads' of the K'lipos, Eisav, Yishmael, and the Erev Rav. The specific role of Moshiach Ben Yosef is against Eisav who is the k'lipah of the left, the main purpose of Moshiach Ben Dovid is against Yishmael, the k'lipah of the right, and together they go against Eisav and Yishmael who are the ox and the donkey from the side of impurity. The joining of Eisav and Yishmael is the result of Armelius, the sar of the Erev Rav, who are able to destroy Israel and the entire world, may God have mercy. The main drive of the Erev Rav is to unify Eisav and Yishmael and to separate the two moshiachs. Therefore, our main service and battle is to break and to remove the strength of the Erev Rav, the k'lipah of Armelius the Evil, from Israel; the Erev Rav is our greatest enemy, the one who separates the two moshiachs. The k'lipah of the Erev Rav works only through deception and roundabout ways. Therefore, the war against the Erev Rav is the most difficult and bitterest of all. We must strengthen ourselves for this war, and anyone who does not participate in the battle against the Erev Rav becomes, de facto, a partner with the k'lipah of the Erev Rav, and was better off not being born in the first place.

(Kol HaTor, Chapter 2, Section 2, Letter 'bais')