R' Meir Elkabas

The Root of Idolatry: A Lack of Joy

The Torah’s command to destroy idolatry highlights a deep spiritual truth: you cannot build holiness on top of corruption. The evil must first be removed before the good can flourish. As long as the “smartphone of idolatry” is still in hand, so to speak, the heart and mind remain too distracted to hear words of truth.

Reb Noson, in Likutey Halakhot, Nefilat Apayim #4 (based on Likutey Moharan Lesson 24), explains that the real source of idolatry and false ideologies lies in a lack of genuine joy. When a person is not happy, they search for empty pleasures to fill the void. These pursuits always lead to disappointment, frustration, and ultimately spiritual dead-ends. Idolatry, both ancient and modern, offers people a way to justify clinging to their desires while avoiding true connection to Hashem.

But Rebbe Nachman reveals five powerful tools to break free from sadness and restore simcha:

1. Acting silly or telling jokes – even a forced joy can open the door to authentic happiness. 

2. Dancing, music, and clapping – engaging the body and senses in joy awakens the heart. 

3. Finding the good points – refusing to define life only by its failures, but actively noticing the points of good. 

4. Giving thanks to Hashem – appreciating everything as a gift and miracle, even the smallest, cultivates gratitude. 

5. Connecting to the joy of the future – remembering that in the final redemption, all will be revealed as good, and that light can already shine into the present. 

Reb Noson emphasizes that these five paths to simcha are not side practices but the very antidote to idolatry. When a Jew experiences genuine joy in serving Hashem, there is no need to seek fulfillment in foreign ideologies. “Pekudei Hashem yesharim, mesamchey lev” — the mitzvot of Hashem are upright, bringing true joy to the heart.

Thus, the five forms of idol destruction listed in Parshat Re’eh are not arbitrary. Each one reflects a type of misplaced desire and despair, and their eradication is matched by the Jewish mission: to embody true simcha, a joy rooted in mitzvot and connection to Hashem.