Golden calf

This is not a sermon, although it might seem like one. One of the chief differences between Judaism on the one hand and Christianity and Islam on the other, is that the daughter religions worship exemplars of human behavior who are deemed "perfect." Although Judaism has its share of heroes, none of them are "perfect," they all have flaws. For example, Moses, one of the greatest individuals recorded in the Bible, supposedly struck a rock in order to produce water for the thirsty children of Israel wandering in the desert, and God accordingly punished him. The punishment seems out of proportion to the crime, since Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land, but only saw it from afar. Nevertheless the message was that Moses was a fallible human being and was not perfect. Similarly King Solomon, although very wise, was jealous of David, and David, when King, coveted the wife of his officer Uriah and so had him sent to the front line where he would likely be killed so he could "acquire" his wife.

By contrast, Jesus Christ and Mohammed were supposedly perfect. They never sinned and their lives are held up as exemplars to their followers. They were if you like "golden" in all their characteristics. The Rabbis of Judaism warned the people against accepting such a perfect human as their leader. All humans are flawed and Judaism recognizes this, and that is why no human being has ever been elevated to the level of God in Judaism. Now some might argue that Jesus is considered to be "the son of God" in Christianity, and Mohammed is definitely not to be confused with Allah, he is his messenger. But, the bowing down to statues of Christ on the Cross and the general adulation of Mohammed (to the extent that drawing a likeness of him merits the death penalty) in these religions is forbidden in Judaism.

The Rabbis like to draw examples from the Bible, and it was made clear that worshipping the Golden Calf in Sinai was unacceptable to the new religion being born there. Worshipping any idol or human was forbidden, since no human can be perfect. Throughout history there have been humans who have sought to be considered as Gods, Hitler and Stalin come to mind. Another person vying for the position is Pres. Obama. He appears to consider himself above the fray of everyday life, but approaches everything from a high-minded attitude. He is prepared to deal with Iran even when the leader of that regime spouts offensive opinions and threatens destruction. He has changed the US policy on nuclear weapons, and he thinks this will affect the Iranian regime. Pres. Wilson and PM Chamberlain in an earlier period made the same kind of mistake. No one is perfect!