Houses of Worship and Symbols

It is forbidden to enter idolatrous houses of worship, because the Torah forbade drawing near to idolatry and taking an interest in it lest one be enticed after it, as it is stated: “Do not turn to idols” (Vayikra 19:4). Because of the great importance and severity of the matter, the Torah repeatedly warned Israel not to be enticed after idolatry, as it is stated: “Take utmost care for your lives… and lest you lift your eyes to the heavens and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be led astray and bow down to them and serve them” (Devarim 4:15-19). And it is stated in the passage of ‘Ve-haya im shamo’a’ (ibid. 11:16): “Take care lest your heart be enticed, and you turn aside and serve other gods and bow down to them.” And it is stated (Devarim 12:30): “Beware lest you be ensnared after them, after they have been destroyed before you, and lest you inquire about their gods, saying: How did these nations serve their gods? I too will do likewise.”

One who enters a place of idolatry also neglects the Torah’s mitzva to destroy and uproot the name of idolatry, as it is stated (ibid. 7:26): “You must utterly detest and abhor it, for it is proscribed,” and it is stated (ibid. 12:3): “You shall tear down their altars, smash their pillars, burn their asherot in fire, and cut down the images of their gods, and you shall obliterate their name from that place.” Included in the mitzva is to treat idolatry with contempt and disgust and even to avoid mentioning its name (below 14:1); all the more so one should not enter its place of worship. If the one who enters also watches the worship, he resembles one who pays it honor, like one who embraces and kisses an idol, and in this too he transgresses a prohibition (Igrot Moshe YD 2:111, based on Rambam, Avoda Zara 3:6).

One who enters a house of idolatry and enjoys seeing its images also thereby transgresses the prohibition of benefiting from idolatry (SA 142:15; see Ḥokhmat Adam 84:16; above 10:8).

The Sages instructed to keep away from the entrance of a house of idolatry, as it is stated: “Keep your way far from her, and do not come near the entrance of her house” (Mishlei 5:8). The Sages expounded: “‘Keep your way far from her’ – this is heresy (minut); ‘and do not come near the entrance of her house’ – this is the government (wicked rule)… or a harlot (a brothel).” The same is the law regarding idolatry. One who needs to pass by the entrance of a house of idolatry or the entrance of a brothel has a mitzva to keep four cubits away from them, in order to express his revulsion toward them and to remove from himself any shadow of suspicion that he desires to be near them (Avoda Zara 17a; SA 150:1). It is related about the Amoraim of the Land of Israel, R. Ḥanina and R. Yonatan, that they were traveling and had to choose between a road passing by the entrance of a house of idolatry and a road passing by the entrance of a brothel, and they chose to take the road passing by the entrance of the brothel, because idolatry is worse (Avoda Zara 17b, Tosafot s.v. “nizil”; and see Eruvin 18b: “behind a woman but not behind idolatry”).

Included in the prohibition, it is forbidden to enter or approach the houses of worship of Christians, Hindus and Muslims. And although according to many, Christianity and Hinduism are permitted to the descendants of Noaḥ, since they associate [other entities with] belief in a supreme God, for Israel they are forbidden as idolatry, and therefore they are included in the Torah prohibition: “Do not turn to idols” (Vayikra 19:4), and it is forbidden for Jews to enter their houses of worship. And although in Islam there is no idolatry, most Muslims today have chosen to hate Israel, and the Sages said (Sifrei Zuta, Bamidbar 10:35): “Whoever is an enemy and hater of Israel is as if he is an enemy and hater of the Omnipresent,” and therefore there is a mitzva to keep away from them, as it is stated: “Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord, and loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with utter hatred; they have become my enemies” (Tehillim 139:21-22) (below halakha 5).