The Worship of Elohey Masecha
"If you had been there at that time, you would have lifted the hem of your cloak to run after me to worship."
Rav Ashi fell into the same error we do. We believe we are so much more sophisticated than our ancestors and so wouldn't fall for what they do. In truth, they are our superiors in intellect, as well as spiritual aspiration. We are just so far away from that level that we can't even appreciate that. Rav Ashi, at least, could recognize his error when he merited to speak with Menashe in a dream.
Chizkiyau
Now let's talk about Menashe's father Chizkiyahu, who was his antithesis,- a great tzaddik: In his era, there was not even a young girl who was not completely familiar with the laws of purity because he stuck a sword in the doorpost of the study halls as a warning that all who do not immerse themselves in Torah would be struck down See Sanhedrin 94b
א"ר יצחק נפחא חובל עול של סנחריב מפני שמנו של חזקיהו שהיה דולק בבתי כנסיות ובבתי מדרשות
מה עשה נעץ חרב על פתח בית המדרש ואמר כל מי שאינו עוסק בתורה ידקר בחרב זו בדקו מדן ועד באר שבע ולא מצאו עם הארץ מגבת ועד אנטיפרס ולא מצאו תינוק ותינוקת איש ואשה שלא היו בקיאין בהלכות טומאה וטהרה
He also was extremely zealous about combating avoda zara. Accordingly, Melachin II 18:4 recounts:
ה֣וּא | הֵסִ֣יר אֶת־הַבָּמ֗וֹת וְשִׁבַּר֙ אֶת־הַמַּצֵּבֹ֔ת וְכָרַ֖ת אֶת־הָֽאֲשֵׁרָ֑ה וכִּתַּת֩ נְחַ֨שׁ הַנְּח֜שֶׁת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָֹ֣ה מֹשֶׁ֗ה כִּ֣י עַד־הַיָּמִ֚ים הָהֵ֙מָּה֙ הָי֚וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ מְקַטְּרִ֣ים ל֔וֹ וַיִּקְרָא־ל֖וֹ נְחֻשְׁתָּֽן
He abolished the high places, and smashed the monuments, and cut down the asherah, and crushed the copper serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the children of Israel were burning incense to it and called it Nehushtan.
They had made that relic of the desert days into an elohey maseacha - an manmade object of worship. Chazal say that he not only destroyed the copper serpent that Moshe made when the children of Israel needed to be healed from poisonous bites in the desert but also hid the book of cures that Shlomo compiled, actions among the three that the Sages applauded as per Pesachim 56a:
מ׳ תנו רבנן ששה דברים עשה חזקיה המלך על שלשה הודו לו ועל שלשה לא הודו לו גירר עצמות אביו על מטה של חבלים והודו לו כיתת נחש הנחשת והודו לו גנז ספר רפואות והודו לו
Thus Chizkiyahu stands as exhibit A that there are things of greater importance in our religion than health and cures that can avert death through natural means. It's important to note that the book's cures did work, and it was precisely because they did that Chizkiyau hid it because we are supposed to be the people of the Book of Torah and not of scientific cures.
Just to clarify: in our mesorah Torah trumps medicine, and Jewish life centers around Torah rather than health. But you may say that was in the Golden Age when we had the Temple, etc., so let's shift over to the post-churban period
The book of Daniel
There is a dispute among the commentators on sefer Daniel if the statue that Chananya, Mishael, and Azaraya refused to kneel before really was avoda zara. If it were, clearly they were required to give up their lives for that yehareg ve'al yaavor. But then so should have all the other Jews, and it seems like there was an aspect of lifenim mishuras hadin going on for them here.
Nevertheless, their resolve to flout the law in the name of their faith was the correct one. They did not misapply the dictum of dina demalchuta dina -- which applies solely to monetary laws , and not, as some believe to other laws --to allow themselves to compromise their religious integrity
They didn't say that Avraham went into the furnace, so they will, too. I've always wondered about that, and I think the answer is that that it was truly avoda zara there, and Avraham survived miraculously. They were not banking on being saved and so compared themselves to the frogs in Egypt who jumped into ovens to fulfill the ratzon Hashem. But they were saved.
Daniel himself put his life at risk by publicly praying during the three day emergency order by the king. Of course, that was all a plot set up to trap him, but he knew the law and still ran the risk to his life. He was thrown into the lion's den and miraculously saved.
Daniel 6:11
וְ֠דָֽנִיֵּאל כְּדִ֨י יְדַ֜ע דִּֽי־רְשִׁ֚ים כְּתָבָא֙ עַ֣ל לְבַיְתֵ֔הּ וְכַוִּ֨ין פְּתִיחָ֥ן לֵהּ֙ בְּעִלִּיתֵ֔הּ נֶ֖גֶד יְרֽוּשְׁלִֵ֑ם וְזִמְנִין֩ תְּלָתָ֨ה בְיוֹמָ֜א ה֣וּא| בָּרֵ֣ךְ עַל־בִּרְכ֗וֹהִי וּמְצַלֵּ֚א וּמוֹדֵא֙ קֳדָ֣ם אֱלָהֵ֔הּ כָּל־קֳבֵל֙ דִּֽי־הֲוָ֣א עָבֵ֔ד מִן־קַדְמַ֖ת דְּנָֽה:
And Daniel, when he knew that a writ had been inscribed, came to his house, where there were open windows in his upper chamber, opposite Jerusalem, and three times a day he kneeled on his knees and prayed and offered thanks before his G-d just as he had done prior to this.
The lesson here is not to expect miracles but to understand how far our people have gone to stand up for their faith -- even when they could have pointed out loads of excuses to comply in order to stay safe. While we do allow desecrating the Shabbos and the like for the sake of saving a life, it's a false assertion that Judaism puts saving a life above everything else.
We don't serve science, cures, or elohey masecha.
Hamevin yavin.
I posted this on the 9th. Less than a week later Liel Leibovitz published this perfectly on point piece about the fact that the confusion and fear has led people to equate religious practices with risky behavior leading to disgraceful finger-pointing and scapegoating. https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/religion-science-coronavirus. I urge you to read the whole thing:
"{The stories all read the same: Here again were the bearded men in black, fetishizing their benighted way of life and failing, in their medieval misapprehension of scientific principles, to fathom the threats posed by the virus. In so doing, they are a shonda and are nothing like us, sophisticated modern Jews who are savvy and smart and responsible. Shame on them.
In that spirit, allow me to offer a retort: In the fullest, truest, and most literal sense of these words, the Haredim have shown themselves this week to be the real American Jews, displaying dedication not only to the fundaments of faith but also to concrete American commitments like freedom, fairness or, for that matter, science.
The World Health Organization this week reversed its position and admitted that the only thing the lockdowns managed to achieve was condemn millions to poverty and misery.
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