Deuteronômio 4:19 Halacá: Mishneh Torah, Foreign Worship and Customs & Sefer HaChinukh

In the days of Enosh, the sons of man erred exceedingly, the advice of the wise man of that generation was nullified, and even Enosh himself was among the victims of that folly. Their mistake was this: Seeing, said they, that God created these stars and planets to rule the world, that He placed them high above to share honors with them, for they are ministers who render service in his presence, it is proper that they be praised and glorified and honored, this is the will of God, to exalt and honor him whom He exalted and honored, even as a king desires to honor those who stand in his presence, for such is the honor of the king. As soon as this matter was rooted in their heart, they commenced to erect temples in honor of the stars, to offer sacrifices to them, to praise and glorify them in words, and bow down to them in order to reach the will of God by this evil idea. This was the groundwork for the worship of stars. Thus was the statement of its adherents who knew the principles thereof; not that they asserted that there was no God save a particular star. This is as Jeremiah says: "Who would not fear Thee, O King of the nations? For it befitted Thee; Forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royalty, there is none like unto Thee. But they are altogether brutish and foolish; the vanities by which they are instructed are but a stock" (Jer. 10.7–8). As if saying: All know that Thou art Alone; but their mistake and foolishness is in supposing that this vanity is Thy will.¹Maimonides bases his contention on Gen. 4.26. G.

The primary warning concerning worship of stars is, not to reverence any among all creatures, no angel, no planet, no star, none of the four elements nor any of their offspring, though the worshiper be conscious that the Lord is God and, he be worshiping a given being as at the inception of the worship of Enosh and the people of his generation, behold him, he worships idolatry. It is respecting this very subject that the warning in the Torah was given, saying: "And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, thou be drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which, the Lord thy God hath alloted unto all the peoples under the whole heaven" (Deut. 4.19.), that is to say, lest thou spread out in thy mind's vision, beholding that these are guiding the universe, and that God portioned them out to all the world to live in perpetuity and not wane as the course of the universe is, and then say that to such it is right to bow down and to worship; even on this very subject He commanded and said: "Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived" (Ibid. 11.16.), that is to say, do not fall in error by the thought of your heart to worship these, to make of them a mediator between yourselves and the Creator.¹Sukkah, 45b; Sanhedrin, 63a. G.

And this negative commandment — meaning, the prohibition of thought about idolatry — is repeated in another place, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 11:16), “Guard yourselves, lest your hearts be seduced and you serve, etc.” [This is] meaning to say that if your heart spends much time in thinking about it, it will be a cause to divert you from the straight path and to be involved in its service. And it is also stated about this matter (Deuteronomy 4:19), “And lest you lift your eyes to the heavens and see, etc.” As the content [of this verse] is not that a man not lift up his eyes to the sky and observe the heavens, but [rather] the intention of the thing is that he not observe them with his heart’s eye — to know their power and their makeup in order to serve them. And [it is] like it is stated in another place (Deuteronomy 12:30), “and lest you inquire of their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, and I will do so, me too, etc.’” The verse prevents us from asking about the manner of their worship, since all of this is a cause to err about it.