The Torah admonishes us not to listen to the false prophesies of a prophet who encourages us to turn away from Hashem. While the prophet’s message might be very subtle, the heresy is still present. Regrettably, the common man might not see through the beautiful picture that he paints, but false remains false, regardless of the presentation and background. We are told to follow only Hashem, to fear Him and observe His mitzvos. This is the only protection against those who would do us harm. A similar posuk is found in Parashas Eikev, “Hashem, your G-d, shall you fear, Him shall you serve” (Devarim 10:20). Interestingly, there it is written in lashon yachid, singular, while here the Torah writes in lashon rabim, plural. What is the distinction?
The Gerrer Rebbe, the Imrei Emes, presented this question in his opening comments at the first Kenessiah Gedolah, held in Vienna in 1923. The theme of the convention was achdus, unity, serving as the opening forum for the nascent Agudath Israel movement. The Rebbe explained that the parsha of navi sheker, false prophet, emphasizes the plural because, in order to succeed in battle against one who entices others to go astray, we must fight as a unified group. It is not enough that individuals issue calls and pleas; the entire observant community must band together as a strong unified force to fight the heresy and lies of the self-loathing iconoclasts who will stop at nothing to subvert us away from Hashem.
This is not the fight of the individual. These agnostics are enemies of the Jewish People and G-d. They are strong and filled with hatred. They have the backing of all of those too weak to stand up for themselves and declare their disdain for the Torah way. Therefore, they hide behind a cloak of civility, allowing others to do their dirty work for them. We must maintain a united front, or else they will become stronger by feeding on our own weakness.
