Who Can Worship the Sun?

I have a treat for you today!

Back when I was at Revel, I had the pleasure of taking a class on Deuteronomy from Dr. Shnayer Z. Leiman (also known as Dr. Sid Z. Leiman- read his bio here). The man is a genius. Everything he says is gold. Go take all of his classes, and at minimum, go listen to all his lectures on YUTorah.

Anyway, he taught a fascinating class on Deuteronomy 4:19, which is found in this week’s parsha, V’eschanan. I found and scanned all my notes on the topic at this link (feel free to download and read/ print) and will include excerpts of his ideas below. Please note: any and all mistakes are mine, not Dr. Leiman’s.

The Verse

Let’s begin by taking a look at Deuteronomy 4:19.

וּפֶן־תִּשָּׂ֨א עֵינֶ֜יךָ הַשָּׁמַ֗יְמָה וְֽ֠רָאִ֠יתָ אֶת־הַשֶּׁ֨מֶשׁ וְאֶת־הַיָּרֵ֜חַ וְאֶת־הַכּֽוֹכָבִ֗ים כֹּ֚ל צְבָ֣א הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְנִדַּחְתָּ֛ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִ֥יתָ לָהֶ֖ם וַעֲבַדְתָּ֑ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר חָלַ֜ק יְהֹוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ אֹתָ֔ם לְכֹל֙ הָֽעַמִּ֔ים תַּ֖חַת כׇּל־הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃

And when you look up to the sky and behold the sun and the moon and the stars, the whole heavenly host, you must not be lured into bowing down to them or serving them. These your God יהוה allotted to other peoples everywhere under heaven;

Let’s now compare to Deuteronomy 29:25.

וַיֵּלְכ֗וּ וַיַּֽעַבְדוּ֙ אֱלֹהִ֣ים אֲחֵרִ֔ים וַיִּֽשְׁתַּחֲו֖וּ לָהֶ֑ם אֱלֹהִים֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹֽא־יְדָע֔וּם וְלֹ֥א חָלַ֖ק לָהֶֽם׃ they [the Israelites] turned to the service of other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not experienced*whom they had not experienced and whom God had not allotted to them.

The plain meaning of these verses would appear to suggest that these astral objects or deities are given to non-Jews to worship but not to you.

The Question

The Seven Noahide Laws are binding even on those who are not Jews! And one of the prohibitions is that one cannot worship idols. How, then, could this be the interpretation of Deuteronomy 4:19? How could God have permitted gentiles to worship the sun, moon and stars?

Possible Answers

The Gemara in Megillah 9b says the committee of Jews appointed to change the Bible into Greek had to change this verse. When translated into Greek, it became ‘they were appointed to provide light.’ The word להאיר was used. And this was done as a cover-up (because the original text was viewed as too provocative.)

Avodah Zarah 55a also tackles this topic. They offer several interpretations of Deuteronomy 4:19.

Rav says: What do the words אשר חלק mean? It means “to mislead them.” This is why these non-Jews might transgress one of the Seven Noahide Laws- because God appointed the astral bodies to mislead the non-Jews.

But Rashbam sees it differently. He follows the literal interpretation of the text.

אשר חלק - להאיר. ולפי עיקר הפשט: אשר הניח אותם לכל העמים לעובדם, כי אינו חושש בהם, אבל - אתכם לקח ה' ויוציא אתכם להיות לו לעם נחלה - ולעבדו והוא יהיה לכם לאלהים.

That he appointed- To provide light. And according to the literal translation: that He appointed for all the nations to serve them, because He is not concerned about them, but when it comes to you, the Israelites, God took you and redeemed you (frorm Egypt) to be His special chosen nation- and to serve Him and He alone will be your God.

So what exactly is avodah zarah [idol worship]? We turn to the Rambam in Hilchos Avodah Zarah 3:3 to explain. He says that the transgression of avodah zarah [idol worship] when it comes to a capital offense is if you worship the idol in the specific way it should be worshipped. (For example, a particular god might be worshipped by throwing stones at it, so if you throw stones at the idol in order to worship it, that counts.) Similarly, bowing, bringing offerings, incense offerings and pouring libations are all forms of worship.

So how can we harmonize these two ideas- where a Noahide is forbidden to worship idols, yet the verse states he is permitted to worship the astral beings?

The Kesav v’Kabbalah on Deuteronomy 4:19 explains that gentiles must recognize one God exists but are also permitted to worship intermediaries. A Noahide is forbidden to do avodah zarah [idol worship] but he can worship the sun, moon and stars if he recognizes these as intermediaries between him and God. This is permissible for him but forbidden for Jews.

Rabbi David Zvi Hoffman wrote a book called ‘The Attitude of the Shulchan Aruch to Non-Jews’ in German, and it has not been translated. He has the fullest discussion of this topic on pages 144-147 with long footnotes. He explores the question of what it means that non-Jews are not forbidden to worship God with שתוף - he says the majority view agrees with the Ramah and gives a long list of people who agree that it’s all right for a Noahide to have an intermediary to God.

But then he also states in his commentary on Deuteronomy that no Noahide could worship with שתוף- they were only allowed to reference God and the intermediary in their speech.

Dr. Leiman focused on the purpose of Hoffman’s authorship in each of his two works, and explained the discrepancy between Hoffman’s views that way.

He also compared Rabbi David Zvi Hoffman’s view to Maimonides’ view in Hilchos Melachim Perek Daled (4:4). In the uncensored text Maimonides writes:

Jesus thought he was the Messiah but was killed. Already predicted in Daniel that there would be a Jesus, breakaway- could there be a greater error? This man led to Israelites being persecuted by Christians, annulled the law, misled the world to worship God who is not God.

Our ways are not God’s ways. Why does God let Christianity/ Islam survive? They pave the way for monotheistic religions.

So Rabbi David Zvi Hoffman says God tolerated the worship of the sun, moon and stars (similarly to how God tolerates Christianity and Islam) because this was a step in the right direction. The other nations can worship God indirectly this way, but Jews cannot.

Personally, I think Rashbam’s approach is the most fascinating- where God truly did permit those who are not Jews to worship the astral bodies, and it is only we who are forbidden to worship in this manner.