Aliya Summary: Moshe admonishes the Israelites not to be lured by the
heathen abominable practices of the Canaanites, and to remain true to
the Torah; neither adding to nor subtracting from its laws. A person
professing to be a prophet who claims to bring instructions from G‑d to
worship idols must be put to death. This is true even if the individual
performs supernatural acts or accurately predicts the future. This
section also prescribes the death penalty for one who attempts to
entice others to idolatry, and the catastrophic price paid by a city
which has completely succumbed to idolatry.
In an
extremely loaded Aliya, sometimes the strongest messages are the ones
that don't need to be analyzed. The Passuk (13:5) says that You shall 1)
follow G-d, 2) fear Him, 3) keep His commandments, 4) heed His voice,
5) worship Him, and 6) cleave to Him. Since most of these directives
seem redundant, Rashi, Sifri and the Gemara team up to explain the
different references, as follows: 1) Follow G-d - basic understanding of
following the Mitzvot (commandments), 2) Fear Him - fear would be a
natural by-product of understand all that G-d controls and provides for
us, 3) Keep His commandments - follow the oral tradition (Rashi), 4)
Heed His voice - listen to the true prophets (relevant in times of the
prophets), 5) Worship Him - in the temple (relevant when temple was
around), and most relevant to us today, 6) cleave to him - Cleave to His
ways by bestowing kindness, burying the dead, and visiting the sick,
just as G-d did (Gemara).
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