As a condition for inheriting the land of Israel, the Torah commands that all forms of idolatry must be destroyed.

"Do away with all the places where the nations whom you are driving out worship their gods... You must tear down their altars, break up their sacred pillars, burn their Asherah trees, and chop down the statues of their gods. You will obliterate their names from that place." (Deut. 12:2-3)

The Torah stresses that this obligation to destroy idolatrous artifacts is primarily in the land of Israel. As the Sages commented,

"'You will obliterate their names from that place' — in the land of Israel you are commanded to pursue idolatry [until it is totally eradicated], but not outside the land." (Sifri; see Maimonides, Laws of Idolatry 7:2)

Idolatry is clearly the antithesis of Judaism's monotheistic message. The imperative to fight idolatry should not be limited to a particular location. So why does the Torah connect the eradication of idolatry to the land of Israel?

Conflicting Worldviews

The conflict between monotheism and idolatry is a clash between two fundamentally different outlooks. Idolatry sees the world as divided and fragmented, a place where competing forces clash and struggle. In this bleak worldview, the material outweighs the spiritual, and life is reduced to the pursuit of physical wants.

Monotheism, on the other hand, teaches that the world has an underlying unity. As our sense of universal harmony and wholeness deepens, our longings for the spiritual grow stronger. Refined aspirations take on greater significance; the world advances and gains enlightenment.

The Land of Israel and Monotheism

The Sages wrote that "The very air of the land of Israel bestows wisdom" (Baba Batra 158b). Eretz Yisrael is bound to the spiritual life of Israel, the Torah; and the essence of the Torah's wisdom is the inner truth of a united reality. The special atmosphere of the land of Israel helps us sense the world's unified foundation. For this reason, absolute obliteration of idolatry is especially pertinent to the land of Israel.

Outside the land of Israel, the harmonious vision of a unified world cannot be fully revealed. A fragmented worldview, emphasizing division and isolation, reigns overwhelmingly. All aspects of life are pervaded by a grim sense of existential estrangement. Any attempt to recognize the hidden unity of the world is hindered by the 'impurity of the lands of the nations.' The lands outside of Israel are permeated with the stench of idolatry. The Sages wrote that "Jews who live outside the Land are idol-worshippers in purity"  (Avodah Zarah 8a) — i.e., they are unintentionally influenced by the milieu of foreign lands.

This distinction is also manifest in the difference between the Torah of Eretz Yisrael and the Torah of exile. The Torah outside the Land excels in detailed arguments and the subtle dialectics of pilpul. This reflects the general sense of divisiveness felt there (see Sanhedrin 24a). The Torah of the land of Israel, on the other hand, is influenced by a lofty wisdom which connects the details to their governing moral principles. "There is no Torah like the Torah of the land of Israel" (Bereishit Rabbah 16:7).

Only by residing in the land of Israel can one be truly saved from the disgrace of idolatry. The Torah explicitly makes the connection between living in the Land and monotheistic faith: "I took you out from the land of Egypt in order to give you the land of Canaan, to be your God" (Lev. 25:38).

(Adapted from Orot HaKodesh vol. II, pp. 423-424)

Copyright © 2006 by Chanan Morrison