When the torah tell us not to place an ashera – an avodah zarah tree next to the mizbeach, it adds: “that you will make for yourself”. Why is that pertinent or necessary? Chazal learn from these extra words that not only may we not place an ashera, we may not place any other permanent fixture in the Beis Hamikdash either. “That which you will make for yourelf” means “and also all that which you will make for yourself” (=is forbidden).
Rabbi Hirsch explains (at least this is what I understood. If this is not what he meant, then I’m saying it!) that an ashera tree was for the benefit of the god it was planted for. Indeed, it was not used as a platform for any other service we will do in the future, but was to satisfy the needs of the god being served. Our mizbeach is at a total variance with this idea; Hashem doesn’t need our alter and sacrifice: we do. We build a mizbeach for ourselves, for our own benefit, for by sacrificing to hashem we realize our relationship with Him and concretize our deepest destiny. Even farther, since we are not out to satisfy the needs of another, the only real service we can offer is that of ourselves – our giving and self-sacrifice. This is the real service of Hashem, giving Him our heart. That is what the torah refers to here; the mizbeach is what we build for ourselves. So an ashera next to a mizbeach built for ourselves is a mockery, a contradiction. An ashera is to satisfy the needs of the one we serve, and a mizbeach is because we need – not Him. How can they stand next to each other, without the ashera displaying how deeply ignorant we are all about ourselves.
This in itself; the recognition that we can never help out Hashem – for He lacks naught, gives us a new look on our service. It makes us realize that we are serving Him only for our own good. We are gaining each time we serve Him, and we ought to view serving Him as an honor and gift, frather than an obligation and duty. We would do well to cultivate this attitude!
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