Reverence, Yes; Worship, No

The Bible's warning about how we are to relate to our spiritual mentors

“You shall sanctify him (the Kohen/priest), for he offers the food of your G0D; he shall remain holy to you, for holy am I, G0D, Who sanctifies you.”
  —   Lev. 13:2

It is of interest that wherever the Torah (Bible) refers to the sanctity of the Kohen, it says, ''For I am G0D Who makes him holy'' (21:16, 22:9, 22:16). The exception is in the above verse which dictates that we revere the Kohen for his holiness, and closes with, ''For holy am I, G0D, Who sanctifies you.''

Inasmuch as it speaks about the sanctity of the Kohen, it would appear to be more appropriate to say, ''Who sanctifies him'' as it does elsewhere, rather than, ''Who sanctifies you.''

What we have here is a Torah guideline to help us avoid a serious error. We must be very careful how we relate to our spiritual leaders. There is a healthy, constructive attitude, but there can also be an unhealthy attitude.

We must, of course, have spiritual leaders. The Talmud says, ''Accept a teacher upon yourself'' (Ethics of the Fathers 1:6). This is binding on everyone. No person, not even a learned person, should be without an authoritative Torah guide. We are very vulnerable to be biased by personal interests that may distort our judgment. But although we must revere our spiritual leaders, we must be cautious that we do not deify or worship them.

There is a healthy attachment to a teacher or spiritual leader, but it is not beyond the possibility that, as a result of one's psychological needs, a person may turn such a relationship into ''hero worship,'' akin to the cult phenomenon which has unfortunately lured some young Jews.

I believe that hero worship is the consequence of a lack of self-esteem. Many people have unwarranted feelings of low self-esteem. The feeling of unworthiness is an intensely painful emotion. I elaborated on this in Angels Don't Leave Footprints and Let Us Make Man, describing a number of ways in which people may seek relief from this agony.

The dynamics of hero worship are quite simple. If I view myself as being unworthy and having little redeeming value, I may seek relief from this feeling by attaching myself to someone whom I think of as having great value. By identifying with that person and feeling myself to be one with him, I, too, can have value. This attachment may be reinforced if the hero is a person who seeks aggrandizement and encourages such attachment.

The attachment to the hero may be so strong that the person allows himself to be totally controlled by him. This is not the same as accepting guidance from a spiritual leader, but rather a total surrender of oneself. I suspect that something like this may have occurred in the episode of the worship of the Golden Calf.

Our sages tell us that it was the eirev rav, the Egyptians who accompanied the Israelites in the Exodus, who were responsible for the Golden Calf. These people had been idolaters and had no concept of an abstract G0D. They had formed a ''Moses cult,'' and when they thought Moses had died, they replaced him with an idol.

The best prevention against developing hero worship is a healthy self-esteem. There should be no need of so desperate a defensive maneuver as to fuse oneself with a hero and lose one's identity. Having a feeling of worthiness can forestall such a pathological identification.

This may be the message in the verses cited in regard to the Kohen. He should be respected and revered because G0D has sanctified him. However, we should remember that our self-worth does not emanate from the Kohen.

Rather, it comes from G0D; ''for holy am I, G0D, Who sanctifies you.'' We have great value independent of the Kohen, because G0D has sanctified us and has instilled a soul, a part of His essence, within us. We, therefore, identify with G0D, rather than with a flesh and blood person, and we should have no need for hero worship.

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Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D. is a psychiatrist and ordained rabbi. He is the founder of the Gateway Rehabilitation Center in Pittsburgh, a leading center for addiction treatment. An Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, he is a prolific author, with some 70 books to his credit, including, "Twerski on Chumash" (Bible), from which this was excerpted (Sales of this book help fund JWR).