Shoftim

This week’s sidra contains and interesting admonition, “Do not plant for yourself an Asherah.” 16:21
An Asherah was a type of tree, well-known among the people of the middle east which was tall, leafy and often worshipped.  Numens were thought to inhabit the tree and people worshipped at their base.
The Torah’s warning is not merely concerned with worshipping nature but demeaning God.  God’s essence inheres in all things but that does not mean all things are god.   God is above nature, the orchestrator of planets, life and ultimately unknowable.      
Why is this an important idea?  The Asherah is connected with the elevation and stature of humankind.  When we accept our limitations, know that we are fallible, often prejudiced, quick to be insulted and hurt we know that we, and nothing on this earth, is God.
It is good to appreciate the gifts of the Almighty through nature but not to confuse one with the other.  This is also why Judaism prohibits statues to be worshipped. That is the message of the asherah.  It is only a tree.

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