Not Following the Practices of the Nations
שלא ללכת בחוקות הגויים
In many verses the Torah warned Israel not to follow the practices (ḥukkot) of the nations, as it is stated (Vayikra 18:3): “You shall not copy the practices of the land of Egypt where you dwelt, or of the land of Canaan to which I am taking you; nor shall you follow their laws.” And so it is stated after the section on the forbidden sexual relations (Vayikra 20:22-24): “You shall keep all My laws and all My rules and do them, so that the land to which I bring you to dwell in will not spew you out. You shall not follow the practices of the nation that I am driving out before you, for it is because they did all these things that I abhorred them. And I said to you: You shall possess their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who has set you apart from the peoples.” And so it is stated (Shemot 23:24): “You shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor shall you do according to their deeds...” And so it is stated (Devarim 12:30): “Beware of being lured into their ways after they have been destroyed before you, and lest you inquire about their gods, saying: How did these nations worship their gods? I too will do the same.”
The meaning of the prohibition is not to try to imitate the non-Jews in their customs in order to be like them, for example by dressing or cutting one’s hair according to the clothing and haircuts distinctive to them, so that Israel will not be drawn after the culture and faith of the non-Jews and abandon the mitzvot of the Torah. A ḥok is a custom that became so entrenched that it turned into a binding practice. That is, beyond the prohibition of worshiping idols or honoring them, there is a prohibition of following the practices of the nations, meaning resembling the non-Jews by adopting customs that became entrenched in their culture.
Included in the prohibition is not to resemble the non-Jews by performing acts that are based on superstitions. For example, as cited in the Talmud (Shabbat 67b), there were non-Jews who were accustomed to say to a raven when it cawed: “Scream,” and to a female raven: “Whistle, and turn your tail toward me for good.” And if they heard a rooster that crowed with the voice of a raven, or a hen that crowed with the voice of a rooster, they saw this as a bad sign and instructed that it be slaughtered. Likewise, one who drank a beverage would say: “I will drink and leave over, I will drink and leave over,” as a segula so that a little drinking would benefit him like a lot. Similarly, people who raised chicks were accustomed to throw eggs against a wall as a segula for the chicks’ survival, and there were women who for this purpose danced before the chicks and counted seventy-one chicks. There were also women’s customs related to cooking food: when preparing a kutaḥ dish they danced before the dish so that it would succeed; when they cooked lentils they silenced the people so that they would not harm the cooking; when they cooked groats they shrieked so that it would cook well; and there were those who were accustomed to urinate before the dish so that it would succeed.
This prohibition is called in the language of the Sages “the ways of the Emorites” (darkhei ha-Emori) (Shabbat 67a-b), after the peoples of Canaan, who were also called by the general name “Emorites.” Similarly, anyone who practices a custom of the non-Jews that has no logical explanation or proven benefit, such that it is reasonable to assume that it is based on idolatrous customs or on a superstition that this custom will bring luck, transgresses the prohibition of “nor shall you follow their laws” and is liable to lashes.¹
Notes (1)
- The prohibition is called “the ways of the Emorites,” and it is derived from the verses cited above (in Avoda Zara 11a and in Ḥullin 77a, Rashi cited as the source the verse from Shemot 23:24; and in Shabbat 67a he cited Vayikra 18:3; the Sifrei derived the prohibition of non-Jewish clothing from Devarim 12:30). According to the Yere’im 313, the prohibition of “their laws” applies only to the customs cited in the words of the Sages in tractate Shabbat 67b and in Tosefta Shabbat ch. 7, “and one should not add to them.” They explained that the Yere’im follows his own view, that the prohibition is to imitate the seven peoples of Canaan and Egypt, and since they no longer exist, there are no additional forbidden practices. And some say that the prohibition is to imitate idol worshipers (Yad Peshuta on Rambam, Avoda Zara 11:1; see Da Ma She-tashiv 1:8). However, according to most poskim, the prohibition of “the practices of the nations” includes the practices of all the nations in all generations, and the words of the Sages are merely examples of forbidden practices (this is the basic assumption of all the poskim who discussed the matter in their responsa with regard to all non-Jews. And so wrote Kli Yakar, Vayikra 18:3, and Mayim Ḥayim of R. Ḥayim David Halevi 3:227. And so emerges from the words of the many poskim who wrote that the prohibition of “the practices of the nations” applies to Muslims even though they are not idol worshipers, among them: Rivash 158, Tashbetz 3:133, Pri To’ar 4:11).