Talmidav Shel Aharon
20-5768: Mitzvah N-15
March 24, 2008
Negative Mitzvah 15 – This is a negative commandment: Do not turn your attention to idolatry.
Hafetz Hayim: For Scripture says, “Do not turn to idols” (Lev. 19:4) It is forbidden to turn one’s attention to them in speech or thought, or even by observing. And it is forbidden to read the books of idol worshippers or to ask them how they worship: for as a result of that, one will give it his attention and reflect on it. Whoever turns toward it, in a way that involves some action, should receive whiplashes. It is in effect everywhere, at every time, for both men and women.
Once again, we see the great fear that the Sages had when it came to idolatry. The Sages of the Talmud lived in a world where paganism was endemic. Everyone was a pagan and they were all very interested in gaining new converts. It was a very seductive religion. If you were a farmer raising crops or cattle and the local religion said that if you make certain offerings you will be more successful. What could it hurt if you made a pagan offering in addition to your offerings to G-d? And if you have a good year, why not make the offering a regular part of your year? And if you skip a year of offering to G-d and you are still successful why, you might ask, do I need to keep up the offerings to G-d? A soldier in battle might think that if the pagan army is successful than their god must be more powerful than mine. A sailor in a storm could pray to every G-d and the one whom they pray to last, who gets to credit for ending the storm, will be the new god of the sailors. It sounds so ancient but do we do things really different. We have our lucky jersey that we wear to football games. We have a lucky suit we wear to important business meetings. It is really the same superstitions that we are trying to “de-paganize”.
Judaism is deeply opposed to both paganism and superstition. We see our world as ordered and operation according to the laws of the Torah. Examining paganism and learning about it would lead to worship and away from Judaism. This is the crux of the prohibition. This leaves us with a question relating to interfaith activities. I have said many times that Christianity and Islam are not considered to be pagan religions since they both worship one god. But where does that leave us when it comes to Hinduism, Shinto, Some forms of Buddhism or some American Indian religions? How can we build bridges of understanding if we do not get to know the faiths of others? A direct interpretation of this prohibition would certainly prohibit us from learning about the faiths of others. I do not look at this prohibition that literally. In certain interfaith situations, the issue is no longer conversion but understanding of others. No one is asking me to join them in a pagan ritual only to understand what that ritual means to them. Attending their rituals would still not be allowed, but learning about them would be permitted. I came across this many years ago when I was interested in meditation. At that time, to get a mantra, I needed to bring flowers and fruit and a white handkerchief. Since the teachers would not tell me what they planned to do with these items, I could only surmise that they were some kind of an offering and I declined to continue with that kind of meditation.
We see, from the many laws relating to paganism, that any type of contact is forbidden, even if we are not performing the ritual ourselves.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
19-5768: Mitzvah N-15
Talmidav Shel Aharon
19-5768: Mitzvah N-15
March 17, 2008
Negative Mitzvah 15 – This is a negative commandment: Eat or drink nothing from an offering to an idol.
Hafetz Hayim: For Scripture says, “Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land… and one will call you and you will eat of his sacrifice.” (Ex. 34:12, 15) Included in this is wine that was offered up as a libation to an idol. From an offering to an idol and wine of libation it is forbidden to have any benefit. If a person eats or drinks anything at all from an offering to an idol or from wine of libation, he should receive whiplashes. From a heathen’s general, unspecified wine it is forbidden to derive any benefit by the law of the Sages, and if one drinks a rivi’it, he should be flogged with whiplashes of disobedience. If a heathen deliberately touched the wine of a Jew, it is forbidden to have any benefit from it. And it is forbidden to eat at the feast of a heathen, which he makes as a banquet at the wedding of his son or daughter, in their company. Even if he eats his own food and a servant of his stands and attends upon him, it is forbidden. It is in effect everywhere, at every time, for both men and women.
Let us start with the entire quote from Exodus 34, which may help us understand why the Mitzvah is so strict. Verses 12-16 read, “Beware of making a covenant with the inhabitants of the lands against which you are advancing, lest they be a snare in your midst. No, you must tear down their altars, smash their pillars, and cut down their sacred posts; for you must not worship any other god, because the Lord whose name is Impassioned, is an impassioned God. You must not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for they will lust after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and invite you, and you will eat of their sacrifices. And when you takes wives from among their daughters for your sons, their daughters will lust after their gods and will cause your sons to lust after their gods.”
From here we see clearly that the issue is assimilation. That we will see them worship their gods and we will join them and our children will be married and our sons will be led astray and we will eventually forget our God and become pagans. You may think this is far fetched but consider: In the pagan world, each location had a god that was responsible for making sure that the crops grew and the cattle were healthy. If you were plagued with lousy crops and sick cattle, you might begin to wonder if there might be something to the local religion that has affected your cattle and if you joined in a sacrifice and things got better, well, I guess they were right and we were wrong. Or perhaps it would be more likely we would say, I will join them, after all, it is better to be safe than sorry. After all, they could be right and we are wrong! If you don’t like the psychological approach than maybe history can inform us. In Parshat Balak (See Numbers chapter 25) we have just such a seduction by the followers of Baal-peor. We see it again in chapters 17-19 of Kings I and we know from the history of the third century of the common era that Jews were not allowed to have Christian servants because they might cause them to forsake their Christianity and become Jewish. We see that contact with another faith that is a majority faith, brings about assimilation. The threat was very real.
How did Judaism respond? By making sure that we had no contact with pagan religion. We did not attend their temples. We did not eat their sacrifices. We did not drink pagan wine and did not socialize with them. It was all too dangerous for our faith.
It is forbidden by the Sages to even sell to pagans three days before their festivals since it could be assumed that stuff bought three days or less before a festival was going to be served on that festival and we could derive no benefit from it, including the money we earned selling the food to them.
Wine was a particular problem. The manufacturing of wine was steeped in superstition and religion. In thanks to wine gods, libations would be poured out in front of idols as an offering to the gods. This wine would then be bottled and sold. If it was sold to a pagan, that pagan could also pour some of it aside for pagan gods. It was best to only use wine manufactured and handled only by Jews. If a pagan knew this and touched your wine, that made the entire container useless and hand to be destroyed. To this day there are caterers who are directed to not let non-Jewish waiters pour wine at a Jewish party lest they make the kosher wine unsuitable.
To solve this problem, many Kosher wine makers took to “cooking” their wine. “Cooked” wine was not fit for a libation and could be handled by non-Jews. Alas, it also killed the taste of the wine. Jews wanted good tasting wine and non-Jews made all the good tasting wine. Does that matter? Well, remember, many monasteries and churches were in the wine making business and that could very well be a problem for Jews and wine. (A “revi’it equals 68.88 cubic centimeters or 2.33 fluid oz.).
More modern authorities have removed the issue of pagan wine since we don’t consider idol worship to be going on anymore. This leaves only the precaution of not letting non-Jews handle wine. The Rabbinical Assembly Law and Standards Committee investigated the process in 1964 and discovered that most wine is manufactured in an automated process that lets nobody handle the wine until it is sealed in bottles. Therefore there is no reason to be concerned with it being handled by non-Jews. The only real consideration was to support Jewish winemakers and wines made in Israel. It was determined that only Kosher wines should be used when a blessing is called for but not when consumed outside of ritual occasions. The opinion was raised again in 1985 when some questions were raised about the filtering and “fining” of wine using non-Kosher or dairy agents. Once again while there may be reasons to permit non-certified kosher wine, for ritual purposes and to support Kosher winemakers, only certified kosher wines should be used in Jewish rituals. Because there are all kinds of issues with agents used in the wine making process, it is best to only use certified Kosher wines. However, if one finds him or herself in a situation where only non-certified wines are served, it is permitted to drink them and not embarrass the host.
Once again I remind readers that Christians and Moslems are not considered to be pagans and the rules that once kept Jews away from their food and parties have long ago been overturned. In cases of Eastern religions such as Hindu and Shinto, one should be very cautious of their food and festivals. I am not an expert in such religions and do not feel I can comment on them for this purpose. If it becomes an issue, your rabbi should be consulted.
Synagogues and other Jewish institutions may have other reasons to be stricter about wine being served so be sure to ask before bringing wine into such institutions.
19-5768: Mitzvah N-15
March 17, 2008
Negative Mitzvah 15 – This is a negative commandment: Eat or drink nothing from an offering to an idol.
Hafetz Hayim: For Scripture says, “Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land… and one will call you and you will eat of his sacrifice.” (Ex. 34:12, 15) Included in this is wine that was offered up as a libation to an idol. From an offering to an idol and wine of libation it is forbidden to have any benefit. If a person eats or drinks anything at all from an offering to an idol or from wine of libation, he should receive whiplashes. From a heathen’s general, unspecified wine it is forbidden to derive any benefit by the law of the Sages, and if one drinks a rivi’it, he should be flogged with whiplashes of disobedience. If a heathen deliberately touched the wine of a Jew, it is forbidden to have any benefit from it. And it is forbidden to eat at the feast of a heathen, which he makes as a banquet at the wedding of his son or daughter, in their company. Even if he eats his own food and a servant of his stands and attends upon him, it is forbidden. It is in effect everywhere, at every time, for both men and women.
Let us start with the entire quote from Exodus 34, which may help us understand why the Mitzvah is so strict. Verses 12-16 read, “Beware of making a covenant with the inhabitants of the lands against which you are advancing, lest they be a snare in your midst. No, you must tear down their altars, smash their pillars, and cut down their sacred posts; for you must not worship any other god, because the Lord whose name is Impassioned, is an impassioned God. You must not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for they will lust after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and invite you, and you will eat of their sacrifices. And when you takes wives from among their daughters for your sons, their daughters will lust after their gods and will cause your sons to lust after their gods.”
From here we see clearly that the issue is assimilation. That we will see them worship their gods and we will join them and our children will be married and our sons will be led astray and we will eventually forget our God and become pagans. You may think this is far fetched but consider: In the pagan world, each location had a god that was responsible for making sure that the crops grew and the cattle were healthy. If you were plagued with lousy crops and sick cattle, you might begin to wonder if there might be something to the local religion that has affected your cattle and if you joined in a sacrifice and things got better, well, I guess they were right and we were wrong. Or perhaps it would be more likely we would say, I will join them, after all, it is better to be safe than sorry. After all, they could be right and we are wrong! If you don’t like the psychological approach than maybe history can inform us. In Parshat Balak (See Numbers chapter 25) we have just such a seduction by the followers of Baal-peor. We see it again in chapters 17-19 of Kings I and we know from the history of the third century of the common era that Jews were not allowed to have Christian servants because they might cause them to forsake their Christianity and become Jewish. We see that contact with another faith that is a majority faith, brings about assimilation. The threat was very real.
How did Judaism respond? By making sure that we had no contact with pagan religion. We did not attend their temples. We did not eat their sacrifices. We did not drink pagan wine and did not socialize with them. It was all too dangerous for our faith.
It is forbidden by the Sages to even sell to pagans three days before their festivals since it could be assumed that stuff bought three days or less before a festival was going to be served on that festival and we could derive no benefit from it, including the money we earned selling the food to them.
Wine was a particular problem. The manufacturing of wine was steeped in superstition and religion. In thanks to wine gods, libations would be poured out in front of idols as an offering to the gods. This wine would then be bottled and sold. If it was sold to a pagan, that pagan could also pour some of it aside for pagan gods. It was best to only use wine manufactured and handled only by Jews. If a pagan knew this and touched your wine, that made the entire container useless and hand to be destroyed. To this day there are caterers who are directed to not let non-Jewish waiters pour wine at a Jewish party lest they make the kosher wine unsuitable.
To solve this problem, many Kosher wine makers took to “cooking” their wine. “Cooked” wine was not fit for a libation and could be handled by non-Jews. Alas, it also killed the taste of the wine. Jews wanted good tasting wine and non-Jews made all the good tasting wine. Does that matter? Well, remember, many monasteries and churches were in the wine making business and that could very well be a problem for Jews and wine. (A “revi’it equals 68.88 cubic centimeters or 2.33 fluid oz.).
More modern authorities have removed the issue of pagan wine since we don’t consider idol worship to be going on anymore. This leaves only the precaution of not letting non-Jews handle wine. The Rabbinical Assembly Law and Standards Committee investigated the process in 1964 and discovered that most wine is manufactured in an automated process that lets nobody handle the wine until it is sealed in bottles. Therefore there is no reason to be concerned with it being handled by non-Jews. The only real consideration was to support Jewish winemakers and wines made in Israel. It was determined that only Kosher wines should be used when a blessing is called for but not when consumed outside of ritual occasions. The opinion was raised again in 1985 when some questions were raised about the filtering and “fining” of wine using non-Kosher or dairy agents. Once again while there may be reasons to permit non-certified kosher wine, for ritual purposes and to support Kosher winemakers, only certified kosher wines should be used in Jewish rituals. Because there are all kinds of issues with agents used in the wine making process, it is best to only use certified Kosher wines. However, if one finds him or herself in a situation where only non-certified wines are served, it is permitted to drink them and not embarrass the host.
Once again I remind readers that Christians and Moslems are not considered to be pagans and the rules that once kept Jews away from their food and parties have long ago been overturned. In cases of Eastern religions such as Hindu and Shinto, one should be very cautious of their food and festivals. I am not an expert in such religions and do not feel I can comment on them for this purpose. If it becomes an issue, your rabbi should be consulted.
Synagogues and other Jewish institutions may have other reasons to be stricter about wine being served so be sure to ask before bringing wine into such institutions.
Monday, March 10, 2008
18-5768: Mitzvah N-13 and 14
Talmidav Shel Aharon
18-5768: Mitzvah N-13 and 14
March 10, 2008
Negative Mitzvah 13 – This is a negative commandment: Do not swear in the name of an idol
Hafetz Hayim: For Scripture says, “and make no mention of the name of other gods” (Ex. 23:13) neither should one make a vow in the name of an idol. Included, as well, in this prohibition is the rule not to make a heathen swear by his object of veneration. And even to mention an idol’s name, not in the course of an oath, is forbidden. That is: a person should not tell his fellow man, “wait for me at the side of that certain idol.” and so forth. When an idol is written in the sacred Scriptures it is permissible to mention its name-for example, Pe’or, Bel, Nebo, and so forth. It is forbidden to cause others to vow or swear in an idol’s name. It is in effect everywhere, at every time, for both men and women.
Negative Mitzvah 14 – This is a negative commandment: Do not lead a town in Israel astray to worship idolatry.
Hafetz Hayim: For Scripture says, “neither let it be heard out of your mouth” (Ex. 23:13) if someone persuades an individual to worship idolatry, he is called an inciter. If one persuades many, he is called one who leads stray; and his death should be by stoning. Even if he did not worship an idol but only persuaded them until they worshipped it. It is in effect everywhere, in every time, for both men and women.
These two laws are just the logical conclusions of all the previous Mitzvot. There is no reason to call any idol by name especially in a vow when that deity is supposed to be the “guardian” of your vow. What would be the use of vowing in the name of a god that you do not believe in? It could only mean that you are trying to deceive someone by invoking a god that you believe has no power. If, on the other hand you do believe that the pagan god has the power to enforce your word, than you are guilty of idolatry. Similarly if you are having a dispute with an idolater, and he swears by his pagan gods, if you don’t accept the power of that god, you will not accept the word of the idolater either. If you do accept that vow, than you are guilty of idolatry. In short, it is a bad idea to even mention the name of pagan gods. You should just talk about something else. The only exception is, not surprisingly, you can use the name of pagan gods that appear in Jewish Scriptures. If the Bible can mention them, than we can too. If one is reading Torah and comes across the name, it is OK to mention it and to prove the point, the Hafetz Hayim even prints their names in his text! Once again I remind you that Christianity and Islam are not considered pagan and you can mention the names of people and rituals that are associated with them. I only caution Jews to be careful that they do not use the names sacred to these other faiths in a way that would be disrespectful.
The rules associated with a city that has gone over to idolatry are very severe. The inhabitants of that city are killed, the city is razed to the ground and even the plunder is forbidden. If you are the one that caused this catastrophe, than you are liable for death by stoning. If you, yourself did not worship an idol but you caused others to do so, you are still guilty and liable for capital punishment. I can see someone using this ruse to get a group of people killed because of some harm they have caused him. If you convince another person to become an idolater, than you are and inciter and could also be liable for punishment.
18-5768: Mitzvah N-13 and 14
March 10, 2008
Negative Mitzvah 13 – This is a negative commandment: Do not swear in the name of an idol
Hafetz Hayim: For Scripture says, “and make no mention of the name of other gods” (Ex. 23:13) neither should one make a vow in the name of an idol. Included, as well, in this prohibition is the rule not to make a heathen swear by his object of veneration. And even to mention an idol’s name, not in the course of an oath, is forbidden. That is: a person should not tell his fellow man, “wait for me at the side of that certain idol.” and so forth. When an idol is written in the sacred Scriptures it is permissible to mention its name-for example, Pe’or, Bel, Nebo, and so forth. It is forbidden to cause others to vow or swear in an idol’s name. It is in effect everywhere, at every time, for both men and women.
Negative Mitzvah 14 – This is a negative commandment: Do not lead a town in Israel astray to worship idolatry.
Hafetz Hayim: For Scripture says, “neither let it be heard out of your mouth” (Ex. 23:13) if someone persuades an individual to worship idolatry, he is called an inciter. If one persuades many, he is called one who leads stray; and his death should be by stoning. Even if he did not worship an idol but only persuaded them until they worshipped it. It is in effect everywhere, in every time, for both men and women.
These two laws are just the logical conclusions of all the previous Mitzvot. There is no reason to call any idol by name especially in a vow when that deity is supposed to be the “guardian” of your vow. What would be the use of vowing in the name of a god that you do not believe in? It could only mean that you are trying to deceive someone by invoking a god that you believe has no power. If, on the other hand you do believe that the pagan god has the power to enforce your word, than you are guilty of idolatry. Similarly if you are having a dispute with an idolater, and he swears by his pagan gods, if you don’t accept the power of that god, you will not accept the word of the idolater either. If you do accept that vow, than you are guilty of idolatry. In short, it is a bad idea to even mention the name of pagan gods. You should just talk about something else. The only exception is, not surprisingly, you can use the name of pagan gods that appear in Jewish Scriptures. If the Bible can mention them, than we can too. If one is reading Torah and comes across the name, it is OK to mention it and to prove the point, the Hafetz Hayim even prints their names in his text! Once again I remind you that Christianity and Islam are not considered pagan and you can mention the names of people and rituals that are associated with them. I only caution Jews to be careful that they do not use the names sacred to these other faiths in a way that would be disrespectful.
The rules associated with a city that has gone over to idolatry are very severe. The inhabitants of that city are killed, the city is razed to the ground and even the plunder is forbidden. If you are the one that caused this catastrophe, than you are liable for death by stoning. If you, yourself did not worship an idol but you caused others to do so, you are still guilty and liable for capital punishment. I can see someone using this ruse to get a group of people killed because of some harm they have caused him. If you convince another person to become an idolater, than you are and inciter and could also be liable for punishment.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
17-5768: Mitzvah N-12
Talmidav Shel Aharon
17-5768: Mitzvah N-12
March 2, 2008
Negative Mitzvah 12 – This is a negative commandment: Do not worship an idol in the way that it is usually venerated.
Hafetz Hayim: For Scripture says, “you shall not serve them” (Ex. 20:5) Even if it is in a disrespectful manner, for example, urinating as worship for Peor; or throwing stones to Merkulis, it is punishable by stoning to death. If it was done without prior warning, it is punishable by karet (Divine severance of existence). And if it was done unwittingly, there is an obligation of a Hattat (sin offering). But if someone were to urinate to Merkulis, he would be free from penalty since such is not its usual way of worship, and it is an approach of disgrace.
If someone hugs and kisses an idol, or he sweeps and sands the ground before it, or he does some other act of homage, if he does them to any one of the species of idols he violates a prohibition, but whiplashes are not suffered for them, since it is a composite, omnibus prohibition (forbidding a variety of things and for violating such a prohibition whiplashes are not given.) If there are faucets of water in sculptured images before some idolatry, one should not put his mouth to them to drink, since he would seem to be kissing an idol. It is in effect everywhere, at every time, for both men and women.
Welcome to the weird world of Idolatry. It sometimes seems as if the Rabbis know of every bizarre ritual that was ever performed for some idol. I am not sure that the Hafetz Hayim ever studied what idolaters do, but for this lesson, I am sure that his understanding comes from the Talmud.
Last week we noted that one could not worship an idol the same way we would worship our G-d. Here we find the separate Mitzvah of not being permitted to worship an idol in its own style. This means we cannot do what is important to an idol even if we think that the action in question is not a ritual act, but a degrading one. We can have nothing at all to do with the idol, if the action could be construed as worship. This applies all the more so to times when paganism interferes with what we might normally do for other reasons.
Does this seem rather far-fetched? Not in a pagan world. In the Jan 2008 issue of National Geographic, in the story on Indonesia’s Volcanoes, on page 48 there is a picture of the sacred pool on the slopes of Mount Penanggungan, where men are bathing beside the sacred statues of Sri and Lakshmi, the consorts of the Hindu god Vishnu. One man is filling a water container from water that is spilling from the breast of the Hindu image. To drink water here would be kissing the breast of this pagan goddess. It would not get you whiplashes but it would be a violation of this Mitzvah. When I was thinking of bringing meditation into my life when I was stressed out in college, I came across Transcendental Meditation and though it might be useful to me. However, when they told me that to get my mantra, I would have to bring a handkerchief, some flowers and fruit, this prohibition came to mind. That the people who were to train me would not talk about what they would do with these items, just that they were for some “personal ritual” that did not involve me, I declined the ceremony and declined the meditation. You just never know when paganism will become an issue.
As for the matter of whiplashes, punishment in Judaism depends on the law being clear about what is prohibited. When a law is written with many different parts and prohibitions, it is hard to know which laws are for punishment or if you have to do all of them for punishment. Therefore we don’t punish at all, just note that the matter is forbidden.
Christianity and Islam are not usually considered pagan religions. They are also monotheistic and these rules do not apply to them. This does not mean that we should co-opt their rituals, as this would be a serious breach of etiquette. It just is not respectful to have Christian or Islamic images in a Jewish home.
If you are doing something in front of the image that could not be considered a form of worship for that image, you are not in violation of this commandment even if that action could be construed as a form of worship to a different image.
17-5768: Mitzvah N-12
March 2, 2008
Negative Mitzvah 12 – This is a negative commandment: Do not worship an idol in the way that it is usually venerated.
Hafetz Hayim: For Scripture says, “you shall not serve them” (Ex. 20:5) Even if it is in a disrespectful manner, for example, urinating as worship for Peor; or throwing stones to Merkulis, it is punishable by stoning to death. If it was done without prior warning, it is punishable by karet (Divine severance of existence). And if it was done unwittingly, there is an obligation of a Hattat (sin offering). But if someone were to urinate to Merkulis, he would be free from penalty since such is not its usual way of worship, and it is an approach of disgrace.
If someone hugs and kisses an idol, or he sweeps and sands the ground before it, or he does some other act of homage, if he does them to any one of the species of idols he violates a prohibition, but whiplashes are not suffered for them, since it is a composite, omnibus prohibition (forbidding a variety of things and for violating such a prohibition whiplashes are not given.) If there are faucets of water in sculptured images before some idolatry, one should not put his mouth to them to drink, since he would seem to be kissing an idol. It is in effect everywhere, at every time, for both men and women.
Welcome to the weird world of Idolatry. It sometimes seems as if the Rabbis know of every bizarre ritual that was ever performed for some idol. I am not sure that the Hafetz Hayim ever studied what idolaters do, but for this lesson, I am sure that his understanding comes from the Talmud.
Last week we noted that one could not worship an idol the same way we would worship our G-d. Here we find the separate Mitzvah of not being permitted to worship an idol in its own style. This means we cannot do what is important to an idol even if we think that the action in question is not a ritual act, but a degrading one. We can have nothing at all to do with the idol, if the action could be construed as worship. This applies all the more so to times when paganism interferes with what we might normally do for other reasons.
Does this seem rather far-fetched? Not in a pagan world. In the Jan 2008 issue of National Geographic, in the story on Indonesia’s Volcanoes, on page 48 there is a picture of the sacred pool on the slopes of Mount Penanggungan, where men are bathing beside the sacred statues of Sri and Lakshmi, the consorts of the Hindu god Vishnu. One man is filling a water container from water that is spilling from the breast of the Hindu image. To drink water here would be kissing the breast of this pagan goddess. It would not get you whiplashes but it would be a violation of this Mitzvah. When I was thinking of bringing meditation into my life when I was stressed out in college, I came across Transcendental Meditation and though it might be useful to me. However, when they told me that to get my mantra, I would have to bring a handkerchief, some flowers and fruit, this prohibition came to mind. That the people who were to train me would not talk about what they would do with these items, just that they were for some “personal ritual” that did not involve me, I declined the ceremony and declined the meditation. You just never know when paganism will become an issue.
As for the matter of whiplashes, punishment in Judaism depends on the law being clear about what is prohibited. When a law is written with many different parts and prohibitions, it is hard to know which laws are for punishment or if you have to do all of them for punishment. Therefore we don’t punish at all, just note that the matter is forbidden.
Christianity and Islam are not usually considered pagan religions. They are also monotheistic and these rules do not apply to them. This does not mean that we should co-opt their rituals, as this would be a serious breach of etiquette. It just is not respectful to have Christian or Islamic images in a Jewish home.
If you are doing something in front of the image that could not be considered a form of worship for that image, you are not in violation of this commandment even if that action could be construed as a form of worship to a different image.
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