~ One Hundred Words on the Torah Portion - Re'eh

כי יסיתך אחיך... לאמר נלכה ונעבדה אלהים אחרים... מאלהי העמים אשר סביבתיכם הקרבים אליך או הרחקים ממך וגו'

“If your brother entices you… saying, “Let us go and serve other gods… from the gods of the nations that surround you, those near to you and those far from you…” (Devarim 13:7-8)

The Talmud comments that we can know the nature of the distant gods from our knowledge of the nearby gods. Just as we know that the nearby gods are patently false, so too are the more “exotic” gods from far away.

There is an old saying, “Never meet your heroes, because they are sure to disappoint you.” Sometimes we fantasize about “far away” possibilities but when we eventually come in contact with that possibility we realize that it really had no substance.

The take away is to think twice about our far-fetched interests.